Monongahela to mark its 250th birthday
Holly Tonini
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
A view of Main Street in Monongahela
Observer-Reporter
Observer-Reporter
JIM MCNUTT
This Observer-Reporter file photo shows a scenic view of Monongahela from Monongahela Manor on October 19, 2004.
JIM MCNUTT
This Observer-Reporter file photo shows a scenic view of Monongahela River from the roof of Monongahela Manor in Monongahela on October 19, 2004.
Capt. William Catlin of Monongahela was among the first black men in the United States to be permitted to serve in a National Guard.
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
U.S. Army Gen. Carl E. Vuono during a visit to his hometown of Monongahela following victory in the Persian Gulf War of 1991.
Don DeVore of Monongahela
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
By Scott Beveridge
Staff writer
sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com
MONONGAHELA – Monongahela businessman Don DeVore recalls his father taking his family to the Smithsonian to see President George Washington’s diary entry about a visit to his ancestors.
Washington jotted down in the 1760s something about visiting the Devours in present-day Forward Township along the Monongahela River where the DeVore family once operated a ferry.
“We found it,” DeVore said, noting Washington misspelled his last name using the French version.
“He stayed a few days and he had a wonderful time,” DeVore added, noting the time in history when it was illegal to live in the Mon Valley, as it was under Native American control.
That all changed after the British signed the New Purchase treaty that allowed Europeans to claim land in the region in 1769, a year many municipalities now use as the birth year of their towns, including Monongahela. Wheeling, W.Va., also celebrates its 250th anniversary this year.
DeVore, whose family name has been in the Monongahela area for more than 250 years, will be featured in day one of the city’s anniversary schedule of events in early August.
The city has kind of a murky history because Monongahela consisted of only one documented house in 1769.
That house, which was built by Joseph Parkinson, stood near where Pigeon Creek spilled into the Monongahela River along present-day West Main Street.
“There were people living here in the 1750s. They just didn’t have deeds,” said Terry Necciai, a Monongahela architect and historian.
The treaty resulted in a mad-dash to Philadelphia in 1769 of people who were already settled in the region hoping to claim title to the property they had cleared and developed, Necciai said.
“Thousands of people showed up,” he said.
Some people in Monongahela have expressed confusion about what the town is actually celebrating with a packed schedule of events Aug. 8-11, organizer Laura Magone said.
“I tell them it’s 50 years since the last celebration,” Magone said, referring to 1969 when the city marked its bicentennial with the construction of the one-of-a-kind Noble J. Dick Aquatorium along the river.
Monongahela would go on to be incorporated as a borough in 1833, known then as Williamsport, and renamed Monongahela City about four years later. Monongahela officially became a city in 1873, Necciai said.
DeVore, who owns a local hardware store, will lead off the opening ceremonies of the celebration with the opening of a time capsule at 11 a.m. Aug. 8 in Chess Park.
Washington Symphony Orchestra will perform at 7 p.m. the following day at the aquatorium.
Gary Racan and the Studio E Band will perform at the aquatorium at 7 p.m. Aug. 10, followed by a lighted-boat parade and fireworks.
On Sunday, Aug. 11, Monongahela Area Historical Society will attempt to set a world record by displaying the largest-ever wedding cookie table, beginning at 1 p.m. in Chess Park. Weddings will also be held at that time in the park.
Monongahela is known for a number of milestones, historic events and famous people; some of them are listed, below:
- The Whiskey Rebellion against a federal tax on whiskey produced by farmers was quelled in Monongahela during a persuasive speech by statesman Albert Gallatin in 1794 as the rebels were surrounded by troops assembled by President George Washington.
- Chemist Edward Goodrich Acheson invented a process to manufacture artificial diamonds still used today in abrasives and cutting tools, later trademarked as Carborundum. He began developing the process in 1884 in a building behind his house at 908 W. Main St. The house is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.
- The city was home to Elizabeth Jennie Carter Adams who became the first African American to graduate from California University of Pennsylvania, earning her teaching certificate in 1881. She defied the odds at a time when the local newspaper had published an editorial doubting that black children could be educated.
- Monongahela was home to Civil War veteran Capt. William Catlin, who in 1871, joined the Pennsylvania National Guard and served in the first such all-black unit in the United States.
- The Anton brothers of Monongahela became the premier U.S. manufacturers in the 1890s of wick lamps used by coal miners. By 1898 the George Anton copper Star brand became the best-selling lamp in America because of its quality and attractive design featuring a bald eagle.
- Harrison D. “Joe” Mason, who invented the Pennsylvania State University mascot Nittany Lion in 1904, is buried in Monongahela Cemetery.
- Jackie Ormes, who was born in 1911 and raised in Monongahela, became the first nationally-syndicated African-American cartoonist, beginning in 1937. Her characters in cartoons published in black newspapers attempted to break down racial and gender biases.
- Monongahela native Paul A. Simmons became the first black federal judge in Western Pennsylvania in 1978 after having served on the bench in Washington County Court of Common Pleas.
- Monongahela is the birthplace of retired U.S. Army Gen. Carl E. Vuono, who was chief of staff during the Persian Gulf War of 1991. The Monongahela Bridge has been renamed to honor Vuono, who grew up on Park Avenue.
- Fred Cox, who was born in Monongahela, was a kicker for the Minnesota Vikings from 1963-77 and he would go on to invent the Nerf football.
- It also is the former hometown to Joe Montana, a 1974 Ringgold graduate who went on to lead the San Francisco 49ers to win four Super Bowls. Twin bridges along the Mon-Fayette Expressway that tower over Route 88 in Union Township have been named in his honor.