Braddock, Pennsylvania

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Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, Script error: No such module "convert". upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 census, a 91.8% decline since its peak of 20,879 in 1920.[1][2]

History

File:Braddock's Battlefield LCCN2006677780.jpg
Braddock's Field

Braddock is named for General Edward Braddock (1695–1755), commander of American colonial forces at the start of the French and Indian War.[3] The Braddock Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne (modern day Pittsburgh) from the French led to the British general's own fatal wounding and a sound defeat of his troops after crossing the Monongahela River on July 9, 1755. This battle, now called the Battle of the Monongahela, was a key event at the beginning of the French and Indian War.

The area surrounding Braddock's Field was originally inhabited by the Lenape, ruled by Queen Alliquippa.[4]

In 1742, John Fraser and his family established the area at the mouth of Turtle Creek as the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains.[4] George Washington visited the area in 1753–1754. It was the site of Braddock's Defeat on July 9, 1755.

Braddock's first industrial facility, a barrel plant, opened in 1850.[4] The borough was incorporated on June 8, 1867.[5] The town's industrial economy began in 1873, when Andrew Carnegie built the Edgar Thomson Steel Works on the historic site of Braddock's Field in what is now North Braddock, Pennsylvania. This was one of the first American steel mills which used the Bessemer process. The mill is still in operation as a part of the United States Steel Corporation. This era of the town's history is depicted in Thomas Bell's novel Out of This Furnace.

Braddock is also the location of the first of Andrew Carnegie's 1,679 (some sources list 1,689) public libraries in the United States, designed by William Halsey Wood of Newark, New Jersey, and dedicated on March 30, 1889. The Carnegie Free Library of Braddock included a tunnel entrance for Carnegie's millworkers to enter a bathhouse in the basement to clean up before entering the facilities (which originally included billiard tables). An addition in 1893, by Longfellow, Alden and Harlow (Boston & Pittsburgh, successors to Henry Hobson Richardson), added a swimming pool, indoor basketball court, and 964-seat music hall that included a Votey pipe organ. The building was rescued from demolition in 1978 by the Braddock's Field Historical Society, and is still in use as a public library. The bathhouse has recently been converted to a pottery studio; the music hall underwent extensive restoration and musical performances will be presented in 2025.[6]

During the early 1900s many immigrants settled in Braddock, primarily from Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary.

File:Condemned houses in Braddock, Pennsylvania.jpg
Condemned houses in Braddock, 2009

Braddock lost its importance with the collapse of the steel industry in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. This coincided with the crack cocaine epidemic of the early 1980s, and the combination of the two woes nearly destroyed the community. In 1988, Braddock was designated a financially distressed municipality under Act 47. The entire water distribution system was rebuilt in 1990-1991 at a cost of $4.7 million, resulting in a fine system where only 5% of piped water is deemed "unaccounted-for".Script error: No such module "Unsubst". As of the early 2020s, Braddock's population is approximately 90% reduced from a peak of about 20,000 in the 1920s.[1][2] In July of 2023, the city officially exited Act 47 status.

John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock from 2006 until his 2019 inauguration as Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, launched a campaign to attract new residents to the area from the artistic and creative communities.[7] He also initiated various revitalization efforts, including the nonprofit organization Braddock Redux.[8] In the 2022 midterms, Fetterman became the first US Senator from Pennsylvania to hail from Braddock, and the second member of Congress, after Matthew A. Dunn.

Since 1974, Braddock resident Tony Buba has made many films. One of his earlier films is Struggles in Steel.[9] In September 2010, the IFC and Sundance television channels showed the film Ready to Work: Portraits of Braddock, produced by the Levi Strauss corporation. This film interviews many of the local residents and shows their efforts to revitalize the town.[10]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of Script error: No such module "convert"., Script error: No such module "convert". of which is land and Script error: No such module "convert". (13.85%) of which is water. Its average elevation is Script error: No such module "convert". above sea level.[11]

Braddock has two land borders, with North Braddock from the north to the southeast, and Rankin to the northwest. Across the Monongahela River to the south, Braddock is adjacent to Whitaker and West Mifflin.

Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Template:Sronly%±
18701,290—
18803,310Script error: No such module "String".%
18908,561Script error: No such module "String".%
190015,654Script error: No such module "String".%
191019,357Script error: No such module "String".%
192020,879Script error: No such module "String".%
193019,329Script error: No such module "String".%
194018,326Script error: No such module "String".%
195016,488Script error: No such module "String".%
196012,337Script error: No such module "String".%
19708,795Script error: No such module "String".%
19805,634Script error: No such module "String".%
19904,682Script error: No such module "String".%
20002,912Script error: No such module "String".%
20102,159Script error: No such module "String".%
20201,721Script error: No such module "String".%
Sources:[12][13][14][15][1][16]

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2020 census

Braddock borough, Pennsylvania – Racial and ethnic composition
<templatestyles src="Nobold/styles.css"/>Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 1980[17] Pop 1990[18] Pop 2000[19] Pop 2010[20] Pop 2020[21] % 1980 % 1990 % 2000 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 2,892 2,433 872 489 317 51.33% 51.96% 29.97% 22.65% 18.42%
Black or African American alone (NH) 2,641 2,165 1,910 1,555 1,219 46.88% 46.24% 65.64% 72.02% 70.83%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 0 20 4 14 5 0.00% 0.43% 0.14% 0.65% 0.29%
Asian alone (NH) 0 11 6 3 7 0.00% 0.23% 0.21% 0.14% 0.41%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) N/A N/A 0 4 1 N/A N/A N/A 0.19% 0.06%
Other race alone (NH) 18 9 9 5 13 0.32% 0.19% 0.31% 0.23% 0.76%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) N/A N/A 67 49 117 N/A N/A 2.30% 2.27% 6.80%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 83 44 44 40 42 1.47% 0.94% 1.51% 1.85% 2.44%
Total 5,634 4,682 2,910 2,159 1,721 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

According to the American Community Survey in 2020, Braddock has an employment rate of 34.2%, a median household income of $23,050, 3.7% of the population has no health care coverage, with 10.7% of the population possessing a Bachelor's degree or higher.[22]

Government

Presidential Elections Results[23][24][25]
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
style="text-align:center; style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|2020 style="text-align:center; style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|9% 82 style="text-align:center; style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|89% 784 0.6% 6
style="text-align:center; style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|2016 style="text-align:center; style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|9% 82 style="text-align:center; style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|89% 822 2% 18
style="text-align:center; style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|2012 style="text-align:center; style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|7% 66 style="text-align:center; style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|93% 933 1% 4

The borough is represented by the Pennsylvania State Senate's 45th district, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' 34th district, and Template:Ushr in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Education

Woodland Hills School District is the local school district.

Media

Notable people

In popular culture

See also

References

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  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ BraddockRedux.org, accessdate September 4, 2009
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Braddock Film Gets Additional Airing, WDUQ News
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ [1], Braddock borough, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 2020 Census Data, retrieved November 14, 2022
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ John Major, The Autobiography, HarperCollins (1999), pp. 2–3.
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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