ALIQUIPPA, PENNSYLVANIA

What was once a small booming mill town, now can’t

get any worse.

The late 1800s into the 1900s

In the late 1800s, when the Pittsburgh region was emerging as a major steel making hub, population upriver in Pittsburgh exploded with new European immigrants to fill steel working jobs.

By 1900, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp., which had established itself on Pittsburgh's South Side, sought expansion downriver. The company bought the Ohio River island and by 1909 had demolished the amusement park, filled in the back channel and began erecting what would become the largest, integrated steel mill in the world, stretching seven miles along the river. In the process, J&L expanded Woodlawn, an unincorporated village in neighboring Hopewell Township. It was incorporated as a borough in 1908, and homes and businesses were erected to accommodate a new immigrant influx of steel workers.

Aliquippa Works going full blast in 1956

Aliquippa at its finest

Bird’s Eye View of the booming mill town

These were the 2 main grocery stores in Aliquippa.

Aliquippa was the place to be.

During the middle of World War II when demand for steel was highest to feed the victory effort, as many as 9,000 people were employed at the J&L Works, and Aliquippa had a population of 27,000.

The economy of the town became more broadly based in the mid 1900s as service businesses grew, nourished by increased workers' wages. New middle-class and upper-middle class housing developed west of the downtown section with second-generation members of steel workers' families taking on professional and management jobs to support the area's economy.

Franklin Ave – The main street in Aliquippa

The End of Big Steel

The collapse came one day in 1984 when LTV Corp., the corporate successor to J&L, issued a statement that it would close most of the Aliquippa Works, almost immediately laying off about 8,000 workers.

As sudden as it was, the action was not unexpected. J&L was gone, and LTV was already in reorganizational bankruptcy. Big Steel plants all along the Monongahela and upper Ohio river valleys already had fallen like a line of giant dominoes. The Aliquippa Works was the last and greatest one to fall in Pennsylvania.

Aliquippa then…and now.

The impact was almost immediate. With the flow of workers' daily traffic gone, downtown Aliquippa became a near ghost town. Stores along Franklin Avenue were shuttered in rapid succession as customers disappeared.

Since then, Aliquippa has progressively gotten worse and worse. It is strong in tradition as far as football goes because the only thing kids know now is the streets. They have two things to figure out and that is how to survive and if they survive, how to make it big through basketball or football.

Aliquippa then, and now. This is the hardware store and movie theater (left). As you can see from the picture on the

right, both establishments are now boarded up.

Some of the ones who survived and made it big.

Five NFL First Round Picks…. Mike Ditka Ty Law Sean Gilbert Darrelle Revis Jonathan Baldwin

The article below is from our local newspaper and how ESPN recognizes the history of Aliquippa’s athletes.

Let’s take 5 minutes now to read this interesting article.

Local NewspaperArticle

The heart of football beats in Aliquippa

The article below tells you how over five decades of economic decline and racial conflict, a Western PA mill town has found unity and hope on the football field.

Let’s take a moment to read it and we will discuss the article after.

Sports Illustrated Article

“There are 2 seasons in Aliquippa, football season and not football season.” – Coach Mike Zmijanac.

Despite a population of about 12,000 people, Aliquippa has one of the richest football traditions of any city in the country. Among those who played football for Aliquippa are Jets corner Darrelle Revis, Ty Law, and our own Coach Ditka. Reilly discovers the football secret to this small, steel town. Let’s watch….

ESPN Video

A poster of some coaches and players from Aliquippa's glorious past. They are, clockwise from top, Don Yannessa, Frank Marocco, Pudgy Abercrombie, Ty Law, Darrelle Revis,

Sean Gilbert and Mike Zmijanac.

Let’s watch some video clips. Do you recognize anyone in them? Sports Illustrated Video

--This is a video clip from Sports Illustrated on how Aliquippa was once a flourishing mill town and how it is now full of violence and drug abuse. In the video clip you will see how high school football, and the stars it produces, gives reason for hope.

ESPN Video on Mike Ditka--Mike Ditka returns to his hometown of Aliquippa, PA and meets with the high school football team.

What now?

Now that we have learned about Aliquippa’s past and its strong football tradition, let’s move into our next unit which is football.

Thank you for watching!