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1948 Donora smog

1948 in Pennsylvania1948 in the environment1948 natural disasters1948 natural disasters in the United StatesEnvironmental disasters in the United States
History of PittsburghOctober 1948 events in the United StatesSmog eventsU.S. Steel

The 1948 Donora smog killed 20 people and caused respiratory problems for 6,000 of the 14,000 people living in Donora, Pennsylvania, a mill town on the Monongahela River 24 miles (39 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. The event is commemorated by the Donora Smog Museum. Sixty years later, the incident was described by The New York Times as "one of the worst air pollution disasters in the nation's history." Even 10 years after the incident, mortality rates in Donora were significantly higher than those in other communities nearby.

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1948 Donora smog
Meldon Avenue,

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N 40.17624 ° E -79.85547 °
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Donora Public Library

Meldon Avenue 510
15033
Pennsylvania, United States
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Eldora Park

Eldora Park was an amusement park that opened in 1901 in Eldora, Pennsylvania. It survived for three decades before closing from poor economics and declining attendance. Eldora Park was located in the Black Diamond area of Carroll Township between Charleroi, Donora and Monongahela in Washington County. It was on the Pittsburgh Railways Company's interurban trolley that ran from Roscoe to Pittsburgh. It was a popular location for outings for mine worker unions, schools, community associations, and for family reunions. The park had a merry-go-round, a roller coaster, a motion picture tent called the Electric Theatre, slides, swings, picnic tables, a restaurant, and a dance pavilion. The park's Figure Eight roller coaster is believed to have been designed by Frederick Ingersoll, a native Pittsburgher who designed, built, and operated a roller coaster at Kennywood Park called the Figure Eight and opened Luna Park, Pittsburgh in 1905. The popularity of Eldora Park's amusement park declined in the 1920s, while the dance hall continued to host big bands through the 1930s. Lawrence Welk, Frank Lombardo, and The Golden Gate Five (a popular local band) were among the headliners. Steve Woodward, Guy Moffitt and Tom Sloan were financial backers credited with building the park on property formerly owned by the Wickerham family, one of the pioneer families in the area.The Depression, World War II, declining ridership on the trolley, and interest in other forms of entertainment, are all credited with the park's demise. The dance hall was used as a roller skating rink before the park closed in the 1940s. The park was chartered to the Charleroi Girl Scouts in the mid 1940s and used as a day camp called Camp Charwood into the 1970s. After camp sites (10'x12' railed tent platforms) were built in the woods on the property, Charwood also saw overnight camping through at least the late 1960s. Great Hall, as the dance hall was then called, was also used by the Girl Scouts for roller skating and, in bad weather, for various other activities.

Belle Vernon Area School District
Belle Vernon Area School District

The Belle Vernon Area School District is a midsized, rural, public school district located approximately 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in rural Westmoreland County and Fayette County. The present school district was formed by a merger of the previous Belmar (having itself been the result of a merge between the Belle Vernon and Marion school districts) and Rostraver school districts in 1965. The district serves five political subdivisions located in 2 counties: Washington Township, Fayette City, North Belle Vernon, Belle Vernon, and Rostraver Township. Belle Vernon Area School District area is 42.2 square miles (109 km2). Belle Vernon Area School District in southwestern Pennsylvania lies midway between the cities of Pittsburgh on the north, Uniontown on the south, Washington to the west, and Greensburg to the east. Belle Vernon Area School District had a population as of 2000 of 20,127 residents. By 2010, the district's population declined to 18,912 people. The educational attainment levels for the School District population (25 years old and over) were 91% high school graduates and 21.6% college graduates. The district is one of the 500 public school districts of Pennsylvania. According to the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, 35.3% of the district's pupils lived at 185% or below the Federal Poverty Level as shown by their eligibility for the federal free or reduced price school meal programs in 2012. In 2013, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, reported that 23 students in the Belle Vernon Area School District were homeless. In 2009, the district residents’ per capita income was $18,808, while the median family income was $43,201. In the Commonwealth, the median family income was $49,501 and the United States median family income was $49,445, in 2010. In Westmoreland County, the median household income was $50,736. By 2013, the median household income in the United States rose to $52,100. In 2014, the median household income in the USA was $53,700.Belle Vernon Area School District operates four schools: Rostraver Elementary School, Marion Elementary School, Belle Vernon Area Middle School and Belle Vernon Area High School. The district also offers an online education alternative called BVA eAcademy for pupils in 7th to 12th grades. High school students may choose to attend the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center which is located in New Stanton, Pa, for training in the construction and mechanical trades. The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit IU7, located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania provides the district with a wide variety of services like: specialized education for disabled students and hearing; state mandated recognizing and reporting child abuse training; speech and visual disability services; criminal background check processing for prospective employees, as well as professional development for employees.