I visited the Bridgeville Area History Center this week to borrow a copy of the 1907 R. L. Polk Business Directory for Bridgeville in support of one of my projects – a series of maps of Washington Avenue down through the years. I am starting with the Sanborn 1906 Insurance map as a source and wanted to identify the commercial institution at each street address. As soon as I entered the building it was obvious something special was happening. As it turned out, a gentleman named Ron Jesiolowski had just brought in an intriguing artifact, hoping someone there could help…

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One of the best things about the gradual relaxation of the pandemic restrictions is the fact that our high school brunch group is now able to get together in person again. We normally meet twice a month; our most recent get-together was the third time since things began to improve. Following the forty-fifth reunion of our (1949) high school class in 1994, Sam Capozzoli suggested that the guys who still lived in the area should get together once a month; nine of us began to have brunch on the first Wednesday of each month at Denny’s in Heidelberg. The idea…

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I have enjoyed the “2nd Saturday Civil War Series” at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall for a number of years, originally in person and more recently virtually. When I learned that the series was returning to live presentations this month, I immediately put a note on my calendar. As the date grew closer, my interest in the event increased significantly. The subject – “The West Virginia State Guard in the Civil War: 1863 – 1865” – was attractive enough to ensure my attendance. In addition, I learned that the presentation would be preceded by a half hour…

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The Bridgeville Area Historical Society provides the community with many valuable services, the most popular of which may well be its monthly series of historical programs. Most of these are “one-shot” deals, a speaker with specific knowledge on a particular event or subject; others are return visits by versatile presenters whom we know will excel regardless of their subject.  Dr. John Aupperle is such a presenter; his annual visit is always eagerly anticipated and he never fails to meet our expectations. He is an accomplished Methodist minister, as well as being a professor of comparative theology at Saint Vincent College….

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Ed Chabala has been a major supporter of the Bridgeville Area Historical Society since its inception. I visited the History Center last week to pick up his recent donations – high school yearbooks from 1945 and 1947, a photograph of the 1941 football team, and an aerial photograph of Mayer Field in 1940. I also dropped off my collection of Bridgers (1944 through 1949) to supplement the Society’s collection of the monthly publications of Bridgeville High School. This experience has led me to reflect on the large amount of artifacts and documents the Society possesses related to our beloved school,…

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A very welcome visit by my younger daughter Sara and my grandson Ian McCance has me wondering if indeed the isolation we have all experienced for the past many months will finally end. They live in Fort Collins, Colorado. Normally I see them three or four times a year; this time it has been a long eighteen months. During that time Ian has graduated from high school, enrolled at Colorado University at Boulder, and fought his way through two semesters of a hybrid education in his Freshman year.    Family is easily our highest priority. We spent the first two…

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One of the Senior Design projects our students in the Civil Engineering Department at Pitt implemented this term was an extensive study of the feasibility of reversing the tendency of Canonsburg Lake to slowly transition from a healthy body of water into a permanent wetland. I distinctly remember when “the aluminum dam” was constructed, forming what is now known as Canonsburg Lake. I remember my father taking my brother and me there fishing in its earlier days. I remember going to plays at the Little Lake Theater in the 1960s. My curiosity made it easy for me to decide to…

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A recent article in the Post-Gazette reported on the dedication of the Gladden Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) remediation facility and its effect on Millers Run. For as long as I can remember, this stream, running through the heart of South Fayette, has been a bright orange color, and perhaps the most glaring example of the pollution generated by AMD throughout the Chartiers Creek watershed. My response was to drive to the “mouth of Millers Run” and see for myself. The sight from the bridge carrying Brockwell Street over Millers Run just above the point where it enters Chartiers Creek was…

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The last Tuesday in April presented me with a conflict. The good news was that our Book Club, which has been meeting remotely for over a year was going to convene at Norm Cohen’s home, in person. The bad news was that the Bridgeville Area Historical Society was holding a program meeting that I wanted to attend, at the same time. Fortunately more good news showed up when Tim McNellie filmed the presentation and posted it on “Bridgeville.org”. I knew I would be interested in the presentation as soon as I saw its title, “Day-by-day with the 123rd Pennsylvania Volunteers:…

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One of my favorite experiences each term is serving as a mentor for a team in Pitt’s Civil Engineering Senior Design Project program. Despite the complications of pandemic social distancing, the program has managed to continue to provide each graduating senior with a valuable “near-real-world” engineering experience as a member of an integrated design team. The project assigned to the team I mentored dealt with the feasibility of renovating a major historical building in Brownsville, the Monongahela Railroad Union Station. Combining three of my passions – history, railroading, and engineering – it was an ideal fit for me. The Monongahela…

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