- Last Updated on Saturday, 02 July 2016 18:27
July 2016 News was released by the Monessen Historical Society.
Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburg
The Monessen Heritage Museum hosted the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh on Saturday, June 11, during a tour of Elizabeth and Monessen. They visited the “Old Monessen”eExhibit and listened to a presentation by Matt Shorraw, a GMHS volunteer and member of the Preservationists group. They also investigated a basement room in the Milsom/Endicott Johnson Building, with an inlaid ceramic floor, hand painted ceilings and ornate fountain that is believed to have served as a speakeasy during the Roaring Twenties. The group then visited the former Monessen Savings and Trust Company building and former St. Leonard’s Roman Catholic Church, which were both designed by Pittsburgh architect, Marius Rousseau. The tour ended with a drive to Monessen’s Sixth Street Park, the Charleroi Monessen Bridge, the GMHS caboose in the Industrial Park and Monessen City Park.
Roaring Twenties Fundraiser
To commemorate the 95th anniversary of Monessen changing from a borough to a city in 1921, the Historical Society will hold a Roaring Twenties fundraiser dinner on Saturday, September 17, 2016. The dinner will be held in Jozwiak Hall, in the St. Vincent DePaul Society building on Grand Boulevard. Tickets are $30 each. The meal will consist of dinner favorites popular in the Roaring Twenties. Guests are encouraged to dress in period clothing reminiscent of the twenties. Only a limited amount of tickets will be sold! Stop at the Museum today or call 724-684-8460.
Autumn Exhibit at the Heritage Museum
The autumn exhibit at the Heritage Museum will focus on the five former ethnic Roman Catholic churches of the city, which were consolidated together to form the Epiphany of the Lord Church 25 years ago. Monessen’s Catholic heritage goes back to 1900 and the founding of St. Leonard’s Church, which was built to serve the Irish Catholic population of the new borough. The other churches were: Most Holy Name of Jesus (Slovak); St. Cajetan (Italian); St. Hyacinth (Polish); and St. Anthony (Croatian). If anyone has photos of church events and parishioners, please bring them to the Museum during regular business hours or send scans to: monessen@verizon.net.
Annual Founders Day Celebration
Check out our Facebook page to watch Tim Donner deliver his annual message on behalf of the William Henry Donner Family. Tim is the great-grandson of Industrialist W. H. Donner, who built Monessen’s first industry, the National Tin Plate Company, in 1897. The Donners built a three story twenty-five room home on Parkway, which overlooked their tin mill. Tim holds an honorary seat on the GMHS Board of Directors.
The annual Founders Day celebration will be a two day event held on August 13-14, 2016 at Monessen City Park. There will be Civil War re-enactors, food booths, children’s activities, a rock climbing wall, entertainment and wine tasting, which is new for this year’s celebration. The annual event salutes Colonel James Schoonmaker, a Medal of Honor recipient during the Civil War and Our Founder. Mark your calendars.
Genealogy Forum
GMHS co-sponsors the Mon Valley Genealogy Forum, along with Monessen Public Library & Cultural Center each month. The group meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the Library. New members are welcome. The meetings are free and cover new research sites and “genealogy” in the news, as well as group discussion on family trees.
Other News
Check us out on Facebook under “Greater Monessen Historical Society” to keep abreast of events and see photos of previous ones. Also, the web page has been updated: http://monessenhistoricalsociety.com/.
The “Old Monessen” exhibit at the Heritage Museum will be on display until the end of July, 2016. Free admission!
