McKees Rocks, also known as "The Rocks", is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia C ...

in western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, along the south bank of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

. The population was 5,920 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the

Pittsburgh metropolitan area Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, ...

. In the past, the city was known for its extensive

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

interests. There were large

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

machine shops, and

manufacturers Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

and

passenger car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

s. Other factories in the city manufactured springs, enamel ware,

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

, wall materials,

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

, nuts and bolts, malleable

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejecte ...

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. ...

s and

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which ...

s, tin ware,

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

, and

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

s. The

Pittsburgh, Allegheny and McKees Rocks Railroad The Pittsburgh, Allegheny and McKees Rocks Railroad is a switching railroad that serves industrial complexes in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. It formerly served the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (former Pittsburgh and Western Railway) yard across t ...

is located in an area along the river known as the "Bottoms". The borough is within the Sto-Rox School District, which serves McKees Rocks and neighboring

Stowe Township Stowe Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,362 at the 2010 census. It is located in the Sto-Rox School District, which serves both Stowe Township and the neighboring borough of McKees Ro ...

. The local high school is Sto-Rox High School. The

McKees Rocks Bridge The McKees Rocks Bridge is a steel trussed through arch bridge which carries the Blue Belt, Pittsburgh's innermost beltline, across the Ohio River at Brighton Heights and McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, west of the city. At long, it is the long ...

, which carries traffic between McKees Rocks and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, is the longest bridge in

, at . McKees Rocks has one of the largest Indian mounds in the state, built by the Adena and Hopewell peoples a thousand years before Europeans entered the area. McKees Rocks is also known for being the birthplace of former Ohio Governor

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

and late television salesperson Billy Mays.

History

For thousands of years, Native Americans inhabited the region. The

Adena culture The Adena culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 500 BCE to 100 CE, in a time known as the Early Woodland period. The Adena culture refers to what were probably a number of related Native American societies sharing ...

built a large earthwork

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically highe ...

here, which was a burial site. It was augmented in later years by members of the

Hopewell culture The Hopewell tradition, also called the Hopewell culture and Hopewellian exchange, describes a network of precontact Native American cultures that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from ...

. This was the largest such mound in the state. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History excavated half the mound in 1896. Its archaeologists traced the construction history and unearthed the remains of 33 people. The mound crowned a high bluff that overlooks Chartiers Creek and the Ohio River. The bluff under the mound was quarried for municipal paving some time after the archaeological dig, eliminating what remained of the Indian burial site. This site was considered by

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

as a possible location for Fort Pitt, which he eventually ordered built on the site of the destroyed French

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed a ...

in what is now Pittsburgh's

Point State Park Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. Built on land acqu ...

. Around 1749, the French Canadian explorer Pierre Joseph Celoron de Blainville visited the area and discovered a "written rock" inscribed with markings he believed were made by Native Americans. Celeron named the place after the rock, and it eventually became known as McKees Rocks. Writing in 1918, historian John Boucher stated that the inscriptions had "long since faded away, if indeed they were anything other than marks made by English fur traders." The borough derives its name from trader

Alexander McKee Alexander McKee ( – 15 January 1799) was an American-born military officer and colonial official in the British Indian Department during the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War. He achieved the ...

, who also served as an Indian agent. He was given a tract of land in 1764 for his services during the French and Indian War. The name also related to a rocky projection into the river at this site. In 1769, the name McKees Rocks was placed on an official deed, and that year is considered to be its founding date. In 1892, it was incorporated as a

. In 1900, 6,353 people resided in the borough; in 1910, 14,702; in 1920, 16,713; and in 1940, 17,021 people inhabited McKees Rocks. After industrial restructuring caused a loss of jobs in the city, the population declined, to 6,104 at the 2010 census. Mann's Hotel, which was possibly one of the oldest buildings in the Pittsburgh area,Torsten Ove,
Historic Mann's Hotel will become history
, ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...

'', Saturday, August 08, 2009. was located at 23 Singer Avenue in McKees Rocks. It was believed to have been built around 1803, although some sources put the construction in the 18th century. It is rumored that George Washington stayed there when he was surveying the Indian mound. On October 12, 2009, Mann's Hotel was condemned due to neglect and had to be demolished because of its deteriorating condition. McKees Rocks was the site of one of the pivotal labor conflicts of the early 20th century, the 1909 McKees Rocks Strike. In the summer and early fall of 1909, some 5,000 workers of the

Pressed Steel Car Company The Pressed Steel Car Company was a builder of railroad cars and equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that was founded in 1899, and had facilities in Pittsburgh and Chicago. It operated until 1956. Early history The Pressed Steel Car C ...

's plant at McKees Rocks went on strike, joined by 3,000 others who worked for the Standard Steel Car Company of

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

and others in New Castle. The strike, led by organizers of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

(IWW), was repressed by armed security guards and the state militia, resulting in at least a dozen deaths. The conflict involved participants on both sides. In 1940, three decapitated bodies were found in boxcars in McKees Rocks during a routine train inspection. Despite similarities to a series of murders that had occurred in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

during the same time period, the murders were never solved.

Geography

McKees Rocks is located at (40.470218, -80.063674). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and , or 6.31%, is water.

Points of interest

The multimillion-dollar, Father Ryan Cultural Arts Center opened in 2008, at 420 Chartiers Avenue, adjacent to the F.O.R. Sto-Rox Library (at 500 Chartiers Avenue). It offers many creative and performing arts courses to the public. The "Bottoms" neighborhood is the site of the McKees Rocks Indian Mound, designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

. The oldest human bones in eastern North America have been discovered here during an excavation.

Surrounding and adjacent neighborhoods

McKees Rocks is made up of several neighborhoods, such as West Park, Meyers Ridge, and "The Bottoms". McKees Rocks has two borders by land: Kennedy Township to the west and

to the north. Chartiers Creek separates McKees Rocks from two Pittsburgh neighborhoods and have connectors to both: *

Windgap A wind gap (or air gap) is a gap through which a waterway once flowed that is now dry as a result of stream capture. A water gap is a similar feature, but one in which a waterway still flows. Water gaps and wind gaps often provide routes which ...

to the southwest via Wind Gap Bridge. However, this is not a direct connection as a very small border of Kennedy Township separates the two communities in the middle of the bridge. * Esplen to the south and southeast via Linden Ave. Bridge Across the Ohio River, McKees Rocks runs adjacent to two other Pittsburgh neighborhoods: * Brighton Heights to the northeast via

. As with Wind Gap, this is not a direct connection as Stowe Township separates the two neighborhoods in the middle of the bridge. *

Marshall-Shadeland Marshall-Shadeland is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has a zip codes of both 15212 and 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1 (North Neighborhoods). The neigh ...

to the southeast and under the east end of the bridge

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 6,622 people, 2,905 households, and 1,652 families residing in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 6,377.5 people per square mile (2,458.4/km²). There were 3,402 housing units at an average density of 3,276.4 per square mile (1,263.0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 82.71%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 14.06%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.26% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.41% from other races, and 1.86% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 1.09% of the population. The census of 2010 revealed there were 6,104 residents. The population density was 6003.25 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 62.17%

, 35.26%

, 0.57% Asian, and 0.34% from other races.

or Latino of any race were 1.65% of the population. There were 2,905 households, out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 21.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.1% were non-families. 37.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.96. The population included 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 38. For every 100 females, there were 89.1 males; for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $22,278, and the median income for a family was $29,063. Males had a median income of $25,872 versus $23,402 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the borough was $13,858. About 20.5% of families and 25.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 38.8% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Myron Brown Julian Myron Brown (born November 3, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. At 6'3" (1.90 m), 180 lb (82 kg) shooting guard, he played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before playing around t ...

, Slippery Rock University basketball star and NBA player * Tom Clements, quarterbacks coach of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

Chuck Fusina Charles Anthony Fusina (born May 31, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) for seven seasons during the 1970s and ...

, Penn State, USFL, and NFL football player *

, 69th

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 2011 to 2019, former Congressman, and presidential candidate in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Catherine Baker Knoll Catherine Baker Knoll (September 3, 1930 – November 12, 2008) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. She was the 30th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, serving under Governor Ed Rendell from 2003 to 2008, when she di ...

, 30th

Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania The lieutenant governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lieutenant governor is elected for a four-year term in the same year as the governor. Each party picks a candidate for lieutenant governor independently ...

(2003-2008) * Carl Kosak, author * Al Kozar, Major League Baseball infielder *

Ted Kwalick Thaddeus John Kwalick (born April 15, 1947) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) and World Football League (WFL). He played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1969-1974 and the Oakland Raiders from 1975-1977 ...

, Penn State all-America football player and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

all-Pro tight end; member of the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

* Bob Ligashesky, special teams coordinator for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is Ott ...

* Billy Mays, television pitchman and Oxi-Clean spokesman, known for his bearded face and distinct voice. * Jeff Smith, cartoonist, best known as the creator of the self-published comic book series ''

Bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

''Biography: Jeff Smith
. Scholastic. Retrieved July 23, 2013. * Paul Spadafora, former IBF world lightweight boxing champion, known as the "Pittsburgh Kid" *

Olive Thomas Olive Thomas (born Oliva R. Duffy; October 20, 1894 – September 10, 1920) was an American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model. Thomas began her career as an illustrator's model in 1914, and moved on to the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' th ...

, silent film actress, and the original

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...

In popular culture

McKees Rocks is the fictional setting of the novels '' Duffy's Rocks'' by Edward Fenton, ''

Riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

'' by

William Trautmann William Ernst Trautmann (July 1, 1869 – November 18, 1940) was founding general-secretary of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and one of 69 people who initially laid plans for the organization in 1904. He was born to German parents in ...

, and more than a dozen novels by the crime writer K. C. Constantine.

Gallery

File:McKeesRocksBridgePA.jpg, The

from Island Avenue File:McKeesRocksBridge.jpg, Another view of the

File:MancinisBakery.jpg, Mancini's Bakery (since 1926) File:MckeesRocksMoundSignPA.jpg, McKees Rocks Mound historical marker File:TheRocksofMckeesRocksPA.jpg, "The Rocks" of McKees Rocks File:PittsburghandLakeErieRailroadLocomotiveShops.jpg, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Locomotive Shops

References

External links

*
Community Development Corporation

Sto-Rox School District
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mckees Rocks, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania populated places on the Ohio River Populated places established in 1764 Pittsburgh metropolitan area Boroughs in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 1892 establishments in Pennsylvania