Monessen

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Monessen, "The City on the Hill."  The Westmoreland County town that was founded and grew from industry.  The city that symbolizes the tragedy of the Rust Belt.


It's hard to find the best way to write about Monessen.  The Monongahela Valley town is a living example of how the decline of the steel industry decimated a community.  Yet, through all the blight and lost businesses of what was once a city of over 20,000 residents, there's still some hope, even if it's tinged with nostalgia.

An abandoned parking deck from a time when Downtown Monessen was a destination. The parking deck was still in use as late as 2016.

Monessen hasn't been the same since the early 1970s when Page Steel and Wire closed shop.  The biggest blow came when Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel left town in the mid-1980s.  The loss of the city's major employers put Monessen in a tailspin from which it has never recovered.

The former First National Bank and Trust Company building (and former home of a gymnastics company) is a remnant of Monessen's more prosperous past. 

Over the last four decades, Mayors have come and gone, none lasting more than one four-year term.  Leadership has been controversial or absent.  One mayor offended residents by insulting the city during a presidential election, while another missed 20 consecutive town council meetings.  His plans for Monessen were ambitious - forgiving back taxes if rundown properties were brought up to code.

A nearly deserted Schoonmaker Avenue in Downtown Monessen.

Driving, walking through, or exploring Downtown Monessen reveals a story of a prosperous past intertwined with the tragedy of the Rust Belt.  The dozen or so blocks along and between Donner and Schoonmaker Avenues are a mix of early 20th-century brick multi-use low-rises that housed former department stores, offices, and apartments.  Many are in various operable states, ranging from fully functioning, vacant, or in total disrepair.  Blight has been a decades-long issue in Monessen.

The First Methodist Episcopal Church (now The United Methodist Church of Monessen) was built in 1930.

Like so many communities in the Mon Valley, there are countless churches.  Ethnicities from throughout Europe came to Monessen in the 19th and early 20th Century.  Greek and Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, Baptist, and more all had churches in Monessen.  Some remain, a few have been repurposed, and others sit empty.

The former Eisenberg's Department Store has been transformed into apartments.

Despite the gloom, there are green shoots of hope.  The former Eisenburg's Department Store, closed in 1997, has been converted into an 11-unit apartment building, thanks to the Mon Valley Initiative.  Numerous blighted homes and commercial buildings have been demolished, with a handful of vacant lots replaced with modular homes as part of an affordable housing program.  A much-needed sewage system upgrade is underway. It's a start, but there is more to be done.

Monessen Stadium - where the Greyhounds play.

I have three strong memories of Monessen: First, frequent dinners at La Eda's, an Italian restaurant on Grand Boulevard.  Second, traveling to watch Brentwood play Monessen for a football game at Monessen Stadium.  Finally, Mom taking us to Eisenberg's to shop for clothes at the start of the school year.

La Eda's remains a family favorite.

It is memories like these that find me returning to Monessen and her sister communities when I return home to Western Pennsylvania to visit.  It leaves me conflicted - remembering how it once was, saddened by what it has become, and unsure about where it is going.  The story of Monessen - of those who have left and those who remained - is found throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.  It defines us all, growth, setbacks, and how we respond to them.


Monessen could easily be forgotten and left to wither on the vine. Yet, there's still a heartbeat, and while it may never be as strong and prosperous as it once was, shouldn't we give that patient every chance to recover? 

All photos taken by the post author - November 2023 - June 2025.

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