BRADDOCK, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

'Braddock' is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 10 miles (16 km) upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 2,912 at the 2000 census.

Contents

Name

Geography

History

Demographics

Notable Residents

Trivia

Further Reading

References

External links

Name

The town is named for General Edward Braddock (1695-1755). The Braddock Expedition, particularly his infamous crossing of the Monongahela River on July 9, 1755 at this place led to his own fatal wounding and a sound defeat of his British troops who had been moving against the French at Fort Duquesne. This battle was a key beginning in the French and Indian War.

Geography

Braddock is located at (40.403619, -79.868700).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.7 km² (0.6 mi²). 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (13.85%) is water.
Its average elevation is above sea level .

History

The area surrounding Braddock's Field was originally inhabited by the Delaware Indians, ruled by Queen Allequippa. In 1742, John Frazier and his family established the area at the mouth of Turtle Creek as the first permanent settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. George Washington visited the area in 1753-1754, and was the site of Braddock's Defeat on July 9, 1755.
Braddock's first industrial facility, a barrel plant, opened in 1850, and the borough was incorporated on June 8, 1867^[1]. The town and its industrial economy began in 1873, when Andrew Carnegie built the Edgar Thomson Steel Works on the historic site of Braddock's Field. This was the first steel mill using the Bessemer process in America. It continues operations today as a part of the United States Steel Corporation. This era of the town's history is best known from the novel ''Out of This Furnace'' by Thomas Bell.
The early population figures were these: 1890, 8,561; 1900, 15,654; 1910, 19,357; 1920, 20,879; 1940, 18,326. From its peak in the 1950s, Braddock has since lost 90% of its population^[2].
Braddock lost its importance and with the collapse of the steel industry in the US in 1984. This coincided with the crack cocaine epidemic of the early 1980s, and the combination of the two woes nearly destroyed this community. Today, the community exists as a shadow of its former glory. With high violent crime and virtually no economic opportunity, Braddock is struggling to make its way into the new century. The entire water distribution system was rebuilt in 1990-1991 at a cost of $4.7 million resulting in a fine system where only 5% of piped water is "unaccounted-for".
Since 2005, mayor John Fetterman has been focused on attracting new residents to the area from the artistic, urbanist, and creative communities.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,912 people, 1,161 households, and 695 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,007.7/km² (5,159.9/mi²). There were 1,624 housing units at an average density of 1,119.7/km² (2,877.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 30.12% White, 66.52% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.69% from other races, and 2.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.51% of the population.
There were 1,161 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.4% were married couples living together, 31.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.24.
In the borough the population was spread out with 31.5% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 84.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.1 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $18,473, and the median income for a family was $20,669. Males had a median income of $26,333 versus $19,867 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $13,135. About 34.4% of families and 35.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 54.4% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.

Notable Residents

★ Henry Clay Drexler - Navy Cross and Medal of Honor recipient

★ Matthew A. Dunn - former member of the United States House of Representatives

★ Joseph M. Gaydos - former member of the United States House of Representatives

★ Vernon Irvin - Chief Marketing Officer for XM Satellite Radio, highest ranking African American executive in the technology industry

★ Melville Kelly - former member of the United States House of Representatives, established the ''Braddock Leader'' newspaper

★ Billy Knight - Executive Vice President and General Manager of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks

★ Joseph A. McDonald - steel industry executive

★ Art Pallan - radio celebrity

★ James L. Quinn - former member of the United States House of Representatives

★ Frank S. Scott - first member of the United States armed forces to lose his life in an aircraft accident^[3]

★ Lauren Tewes - actress best known for playing Cruise Director, Julie McCoy, on ''The Love Boat''

★ Thomas Bell - American novelist, famous for his novel ''Out of This Furnace'' which is set in Braddock

Trivia

★ Braddock was home to Andrew Carnegie's first steel mill (1873) and first free library (1887)

★ The first A&P supermarket opened in Braddock in 1936

★ Thomas Bell's novel ''Out of This Furnace'' is set in Braddock during the Industrial Revolution

Further Reading

# Monongahela, 1754-1755: Washington's Defeat, Braddock's Disaster, Chartrand, Rene, , , Osprey Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-84176-683-6

References

1. "Allegheny County - 2nd Class"
2. Braddock, Pennsylvania
3. Corporal Frank S. Scott

External links

★ Mayor's Site

★ Pittsburgh City Paper feature story about Braddock's urban decay, and the recent influx of artists drawn to the city by current mayor, John Fetterman

★ Braddock Carnegie Library