Donora: Cement City
The April program meeting for the Bridgeville Area Historical Society was an interesting presentation on a progressive (at least at that time) planned development in Donora early in the twentieth center. The speaker was Brian Charlton, a self-described “conceptual historian” whose talk was focused on connecting concepts: social, economic, industrial and demographics. Mr. Charlton’s credentials include teaching history in the Belle Vernon School District, serving as curator of the Donora Smog Museum, and being a co-author of the Arcadia publication, “Donora”. His specific subject was “Cement City”, a Donora neighborhood that includes about eighty residences constructed from concrete. The speaker…