Donora, Pennsylvania
| Donora | |
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| Borough | |
Concrete houses in the Cement City neighborhood
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| Etymology: portmanteau of "William Donner" and "Nora Mellon" | |
 Location of Donora in Washington County |
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 Donora
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| Coordinates: 40°10′33″N 79°51′41″W / 40.17583°N 79.86139°WCoordinates: 40°10′33″N 79°51′41″W / 40.17583°N 79.86139°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Washington |
| Established | 1900 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Donald "Piglet" Pavelko |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.0 sq mi (5 km2) |
| • Land | 1.9 sq mi (5 km2) |
| • Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 4,781 |
| • Density | 2,400/sq mi (920/km2) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-4) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 15033 |
| Area code(s) | 724 Exchange: 379 |
| Website | DonoraBoro.org |
Donora is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River.
Donora was incorporated in 1901. Donora got its name from a combination of William Donner and Nora Mellon, banker Andrew W. Mellon's wife. Donora's nickname is "The Home of Champions" mainly because of the large number of famous athletes who have called Donora their home. Agriculture, coal-mining, steel-making, wire-making, and other industries were conducted in Donora early in its history. In 1910, 8,174 people lived there; in 1920, 14,131; and in 1940, 13,180 people lived in Donora. According to U.S. census figures, the population was 5,653 in 2000 and 4,781 in 2010. Donora is a Rust Belt place which has lost most of its industrial capacity. It is in the "Mon valley" 5 miles (8.0 km) downriver from Charleroi and 25 miles (40 km) upstream of Braddock.
Recently, Donora and other Mid-Mon Valley communities have seen an economic re-emergence as a result of the increased economic activity in the area of the newly emerging Marcellus Shale natural gas industry. Local government leaders hope that the natural gas boom will renew the prosperity that was once a trademark of the Mon Valley region.
In 1794, the Whiskey Insurrectionists held several meetings at Fells Church, which is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Donora,.
A trolley line opened in Donora on December 15, 1901, linking First and McKean and Fifteenth Street and Meldon. It was extended in 1911 to Black Diamond to connect to the Charleroi to Pittsburgh interurban trolley. The line was abandoned on May 5, 1953.
The town was the scene of the infamous Donora Smog of 1948. Between October 26 and October 31, 1948, an air inversion trapped industrial effluent (air pollution) from the American Steel and Wire plant and Donora Zinc Works. "In three days, 20 people died... After the inversion lifted, another 50 died, including Lukasz Musial, the father of baseball great Stan Musial. Hundreds more finished the rest of their lives with damaged lungs and hearts. But another 40 years would pass before the whole truth about Donora's bad air made public-health history." Today, the town is home to the Donora Smog Museum which tells the impact of the Donora Smog on the air quality standards enacted by the federal government in subsequent years.
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Wikipedia