McKees Rocks and Stowe

This is Part I of a series of photographs documenting McKees Rocks and Stowe Township.  McKees Rocks is a historic railroad town about three miles west of downtown Pittsburgh. While the town was settled as early as the 18th century, its greatest period of prosperity came with the opening of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad in McKees Rocks in the 1880s. Many immigrants came to McKees Rocks during this time and worked in the various industries, including the Pressed Steel car plant.  Around the turn of the 20th century, the urban suburbs in Stowe Township sprang up and provided housing for workers, families, and gentry of the overcrowded and polluted industrial town. 

McKees Rocks and Stowe Township are composed of various walkable urban neighborhoods:

"The Bottoms" (McKees Rocks) -- In the shadow of the McKees Rocks Bridge and the Adena Indian Mound is a neighborhood called The Bottoms, a surviving urban relic of the industrial age. Here many immigrants came to work in the P&LE Railroad, Pressed Steel factories, and associated industries during the late 19th century and early 20th century.  The work was laborious and dangerous.  Many workers died due to poor safety regulations, leading to the bloody McKees Rocks Strike of 1909.

"Norwood" (Stowe Township) -- hilltop neighborhood overlooking McKees Rocks and Stowe Township, with beautiful views of downtown Pittsburgh. This neighborhood is known to some as the "Mt. Washington of McKees Rocks."

"West Park" (Stowe Township) -- streetcar suburb of McKees Rocks built up around 1900, with intact and functioning business district, and many brick detached homes built for the middle class of the time.

"Presston" (Stowe Township) -- a company town built for the workers of the Pressed Steel railroad car plant.  Built circa 1899, the neighborhood is composed of many identical rows of modest frame, semi-detached houses.

"Pittock" (Stowe Township) -- a small residential neighborhood composed of older working class homes, located near Island Avenue and the Neville Island Bridge.

View of Presston from Island Avenue.

View of Presston

View of West Park from Norwood

Island Avenue

Island Avenue

Looking toward Island Avenue and The Bottoms (McKees Rocks Bridge in distance).

Factories and warehouses near Island Avenue

19th century Victorians on Island Avenue.

Historic factories and warehouses near Island Avenue

The old brewery

The Presston footbridge (closed)

Looking from Boquet Street toward Island Avenue, with view of Pittsburgh skyline in distance.

Looking toward Island Avenue

View of West Park from Norwood.

Located in West Park, this is the original Club House for  the McKees Rocks Driving Park. The race track operated from 1893 to 1900.  The building is now a private residence.

Soon to be demolished Victorian commercial buildings on Chartiers Avenue.

One of the grand old homes from McKees Rocks' heyday as a booming railroad town.

Cute little Victorian on Bruce Street

Overgrown home on 2nd Street

Houses on 2nd Street in McKees Rocks

Abandoned apartment building located on Boquet Street.

View from Alexander Street, looking toward Island Avenue.  The old P&LE Railyards and the Pittsburgh skyline are in the distance.

View from Alexander Street, looking toward The Bottoms.  The McKees Rocks Bridge is in the distance.

Norwood

Sunset over McKees Rocks

P&LE Railroad buildings, before they were demolished in 2011.

Crumbling row houses in West Park

Island Avenue

Click here to continue to McKees Rocks and Stowe (Part II)