Monongahela: A special place to live and raise a family
Jim McNutt/O-R View of Monongahela from Ridge Road across the Monongahela River
Scott Beveridge/O-R Claudia Williams, owner of C.J.’s Furniture in Monongahela, with her associate, Pam Lucas
Jim McNutt/O-R Route 88 motorists are greeted by this sign as they enter the city of Monongahela.
Jim McNutt/O-R Marcia Homa, owner of Red Boot Antiques in Monongahela, arranges a silver tea set in her West Main Street shop.
Courtesy of Monongahela Aquatorium Filled seats and the mooring of boats have become a familiar sight during the summer concert season at the Noble J. Dick Aquatorium in Monongahela.
Courtesy of Monongahela Aquatorium Filled seats and the mooring of boats have become a familiar sight during the summer concert season at the Noble J. Dick Aquatorium in Monongahela.
Scott Beveridge/O-R The funeral chapel in historic Monongahela Cemetery, which is known for having a large variety of old-growth trees
U.S. Army Gen. Carl E. Vuono during a visit to his hometown of Monongahela following victory in the Persian Gulf War of 1991
MONONGAHELA – C.J.’s Furniture was making a delivery to a new customer two months ago in Canonsburg, and the residents were astonished to see the owner of the business walk into their home with the purchase.
“They were surprised to see me walk through their front door,” said Claudia Williams, who owns the independent furniture store, something that is rare to survive in a Mon Valley downtown.
It’s a business in a historic storefront at 142 W. Main St. that helps to make Monongahela a special place, where new construction on Main Street is no longer uncommon, either.
“There’s so much happening downtown,” said Tony Botino, president of Monongahela Area Chamber of Commerce.
Monongahela was originally known as Parkinson’s Ferry when it was among the earliest settlements in the area, dating to circa 1770. It was where former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin settled the Whiskey Rebellion on Aug. 14, 1792, as thousands of federal troops were bearing down on the farmers who opposed a federal tax on the spirits they produced. The city is also home to the Acheson House on West Main Street, a national landmark where carborundum was invented in 1891 by Edward Goodrich Acheson as he was conducting experiments with electricity to create artificial diamonds.
Today, Monongahela is partly defined by a quaint gazebo in Chess Park where many couples exchange wedding vows and the Noble J. Dick Aquatorium, which is home to a successful outdoor summer concert season.
“There is something special about this community,” Botino said. “You don’t find a lot of small towns like this that are vibrant.”
The historic Monongahela Cemetery, established in 1863, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2013. Designed in a Gothic style with circular roads by Pittsburgh architect John Chislett, the cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places because of its large variety of old-growth trees.
While Monongahela is the hometown of Joe Montana, who led the San Francisco 49rs to win four Super Bowls, it also 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.
Monongahela Mayor Bob Kepics credits a crackdown on drugs, especially heroin, that began in the city about eight years ago for the economic revival of the small city where nearly 4,300 people make their home. The downtown district went from having 14 empty storefronts to just a few last summer when a developer was building a small strip mall on West Main Street.
“You can walk up and down the sidewalks without someone bothering you,” Kepics said.
The downtown is peppered with a string of stores that sells antiques and collectibles.
The Monongahela Area Historical Society has a museum at 230 W. Main St. in the heart of the downtown, where visitors can see rotating exhibits and local archives, some of which are more than 200 years old.
More than $1.8 million was invested in remodeling the aquatorium since 2011 and adding docks to the riverfront stage. The stage’s biggest draw is the Fourth of July fireworks.
Kepics said Williams is part of the nonprofit group Aquatorium Innovations that manages the stage, and he credits her with bringing a lot of people to town. He also said her furniture store has been a long fixture in the town because of her business sense.
“It’s hard work, long hours, devotion, product knowledge and customer care,” Williams added.
Botino said there are a number of other factors that help to bring “a consistent flow of traffic” to Monongahela, including the fact that there are three heavily traveled roads that converge in Monongahela – Routes 136, 88 and 837.
The aquatorium, Chess Park and “of course the Monongahela River” come together to create a special place to live and raise a family, Botino said.
“I’d like to see us do more, to keep raising the bar.”
The 2016 aquatorium concert schedule can be found at http://www.monaquatorium.org/.