History Spotlight

The History of Martin School By Evelyn Gerry (Sec'y East Kensington P. T. A.) From the Dispatch Golden Jubilee Edition Nov. 21, 1941 The first log school in this district was located near the old Indian Trail, midway between the present Girl Scout Little House and Seventh Street Road, close to the brown of' the hill. It was built on Martin's property. This school, built in the early eighteen hundreds, and first used for a dwelling, was rather sparsely furnished. For desks app

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MT. VERNON When the settlers came to Western Pennsylvania, Mt. Vernon was a part of a large Indian hunting ground. A well-known Indian trail traversed the hill on the way east from the Allegheny River and Pucketos Creek to the frontier places of refuge for the early settlers at Fort Hand and Carnahan's Blockhouse, near the Kiskiminetas River. There they ambushed the settlers and destroyed their cabins and crops. Westmoreland County was legislativ

The community of Arnold, PA is located on land that had once been hunting reserves of the Iroquois Indians. Robert McCrea purchased 300 acres in 1781 naming the area “Resolution.” It was later owned by William Jack who passed it on to Wilson Jack. Major Andrew Arnold (1794-1860, born in Kittanning) is considered the first settler. He had served in the military as an Indian fighter. He inherited the land from Wilson Jack in 1852 living between 2nd and 3rd Avenues near 17th Str

Thanks to George Guido and the VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH for the reprint of this Aug. 2022 Remember When article on the Aluminum City Terrace. Remember When: New Ken’s Aluminum City Terrace still going strong 81 years since inception. By George Guido As World War II approached, New Kensington was truly “The Aluminum City.” In 1940, there were 7,500 people employed at ALCOA facilities in the city at the riverfront aluminum works, the powder plant along the river in Plum and at the

With the cold weather our attention is on sledding and skating memories from the past. Two local sledding favorites were Walnut Street in NK and Drey Street in Arnold. In the past Walnut Street was blocked off from the top to the former New Kensington High School on Ridge Avenue. No cars were permitted during sledding and hay bales were placed on lower Walnut Street at the intersection with Constitution Blvd. in order to stop the sleds. Another sledding area was the current Dr

The Santa Claus of the Coalfields               Fred Broad was a large gentleman, said to top the scales at 250 pounds. He was referred to as Santa Claus by many, not for his size, but for his generosity. In the early 1900’s, Broad gained notoriety as a heavy weight boxer. He ran a saloon in New Kensington and operated a real estate business in the Allegheny Valley. On May 15, 1919, the bituminous coal miners went on strike in an effort to obtain better wages and working cond

Tri City Historical Society’s first History Spotlight features the society’s new home. After a recent move, TCHS is now located in Aluminum City Arts at 200 Freeport Road NK, adjacent to St. Peter’s Church.  ACA is the creation of Brian Defelices and Ernesto Camacho who have masterminded a cultural hub in their building. In addition to art spaces, ACA will house TCHS, a bookstore, frame shop, and become a go to location for social events. This storied building was the origina