Clairton is a city in Allegheny County, Pa., along the Monongahela River. It is home to Clairton Works, the largest coke manufacturing facility in the United States.

At the turn of the 20th century, Crucible Steel Company acquired a large tract along the Monongahela River, about 13 miles south of Pittsburgh. Soon thereafter, the Carnegie Steel Company (which later became U.S. Steel) built an integrated steel mill and coke production facility, which eventually became one of the world’s largest.

With the decline of the steel industry in the 1980s, Clairton began to experience severe employment problems and a declining tax base, which spurred major economic distress to the community. Pennsylvania’s Department of Community Affairs designated Clairton as a distressed municipality in 1988.

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