Posts Tagged ‘McKees Rocks’
The Rocks rock
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
McKees Rocks, and the Borough’s circumstance, was discussed at some length in yesterday’s post so rather than repeat all of it I’d ask you to just scroll back to that one as an introduction to the place these photos were gathered. Suffice to say that this particular section of McKees Rocks, called the Bottoms, is largely an industrial zone with a smattering of centuried homes and a collection of rather interesting looking churches. I was just driving around the industrial zone slowly, seeing what’s what and where that might be found. Scouting, basically.
The big player down here, other than a CSX intermodal yard, is a company which manufactures rail cars and rail ‘stuff’ called ‘Standard Forge Products.’ Venture Capital money is flowing through this economic sector right now, seeking to consolidate all the remaining national players in the space into a single conglomerate.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots were gathered on New Year’s weekend, if you’re curious as to why the place was so thoroughly deserted. I’m planning on a few return trips here when the place is buzzing during the work week. I’d also like to get a good look inside some of the intriguing Slavic churches that I spotted on the way in here.
Of course, given all of those terrifying statistics about McKees Rocks, maybe I’ll convince somebody to come along with me to watch my back. Saying all that, there is an interesting discussion thread at Reddit which gathers observations from locals about the place.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As is my habit, a Google map of points of potential interest was created prior to the drive over here. I had several things way-pointed, and mostly stayed sitting behind the driver’s wheel while shooting. I got out of the car a few times, of course, but this was mainly a ride rather than a walk.
Walking a distance is still a somewhat elusive goal for me in this post broken ankle recovery period. The other night I managed to scuttle about 1,500 feet, and then I needed to sit down. It hurt for two days. It wasn’t pain from the ankle that was biting, although there was some (it’s omnipresent), rather it was soreness from the atrophy of muscles in the upper thighs, no doubt caused by me sitting in a wheelchair for two months.
Back next week with more, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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Bottoms up
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
McKees Rocks is a borough municipality pretty close to the center of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and it’s found alongside the Ohio River and to the west of Downtown Pittsburgh and all the sportsball stadiums. It’s a fairly dangerous place, I’m told, and according to the official statistics you’ve got a 1 in 61 chance of becoming a victim of a violent crime hereabouts. In the rest of Pennsylvania that chance is 1 in 357 (which includes… Philadelphia…). McKees Rocks is considered to be safer than just 1% of all U.S. cities, and the violent crime rate here is 16.47%.
The people who live here are stressed economically. McKees Rocks’ has a high real estate vacancy rate of nearly 20%, despite the average rental unit going for about $1,200 a month, and there are a surprising number of its residents who are living alone – nearly 61%. Average per capita income here is lower than in 99.6% of the country, let alone the local Pittsburgh region. 2/3’s of the kids who grow up here will do so in dire poverty.
There is a higher rate of childhood poverty in McKees Rocks than in 98% of all communities in these United States. 7.1% of the population in McKees Rocks speaks Polish exclusively at home, with 88.5% of them speaking English, and there’s a concentrated population of Slavs (Yugoslav and Polish) here. There’s also quite a few Spanish speakers, a growing population of South East Asians hailing from the subcontinent of India, and a sizable African American contingent that resides here as well. Add in the standard northeastern mix of immigrant descendants – Irish, Italians, German, etc. and you’ve got the recipe.
I’ve been meaning to take a ride through here for a while. Sounds like my kind of place. Dire, industrial, dangerous…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the McKees Rocks bridge, spanning a series of rail tracks, pictured above. It’s the longest span offered by a bridge in Allegheny County, at 7,293 feet and the thing was built in 1931. It overflies the Ohio River, and is currently receiving a good amount of maintenance by road crews. The tracks are CSX’s, which they share with the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad (one of the railroad ‘white whales’ which I haven’t seen or photographed yet). A lot of that CSX traffic, which I often photograph along the Monongahela River at that brewery I like, originates here.
This section of McKees Rocks is called ‘The Bottoms.’ Historically speaking, this area was about iron and steel and manufacturing locomotives – engines, cars, that whole deal. They’re still doing that here, I’d mention, but on a far smaller scale than formerly. There’s a highly desecrated but notable Native American burial mound nearby, but it’s inaccessible and on private property, and is protected by antiquities law.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Nearby, found on the Ohio River, is a landform called ‘Neville Island.’ I’ve taken a few looks at the place, but it’s definitely something I want to get all granular about in the future. Lots of heavy industry and rail infrastructure on that island. Fascinating place.
As a note: I’m not doing a tour of Pittsburgh’s most challenged neighborhoods currently. You might think so after a few posts from Hazelwood last week, and now a visit to the McKees Rocks Bottoms. Instead, since I’m stuck with taking the car with me everywhere right now due to the ankle recovery deal, I’m trying to hit some areas a little bit further away than I can walk to and others where walking about might incur unexpected consequences.
Back tomorrow with more, at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
McKees Rocks
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As it happened, I found myself scouting about in the McKees Rocks community where I encountered another staggering religious building. That’s the Archangel Gabriel Parish’s St. Mary, Help of Christians Church, which is part of the Pittsburgh Roman Catholic Diocese. This was one of the times when I randomly point the car’s nose in one direction or another to see what’s what in an area I haven’t visited yet.
The home town of Oxi-Clean salesman Billy Mays and cartoonist Jeff Smith, McKees Rocks is a municipal subdivision (a Borough) of Allegheny County, as is the City of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was a “run and gun” sort of explore, and the towers of the Church acted as a navigational instrument for my somewhat ephemeral visit. That’s some church, I have to say. Must be magnificent within it.
Another one for my list of places to try and find a way to get the camera into sometime in the future, when the stars are right.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One continued on his way, following the Allegheny River back towards Downtown Pittsburgh and eventually back to the South Hills where HQ is found in the Borough of Dormont.
I continue to be amazed by Pittsburgh and it’s environs.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
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