CLAIRTON

NAME: Clairton
COUNTY: Allegheny
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Summer: hot; Sping/Fall: Pleasant; Winter: Cold
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Spring-Summer-Fall
COMMENTS: Though only a semi-ghost, Clairton is so full of abandoned and crumbling buildings that it merits as one of the best ghostly towns in Western Pennsylvania. Entire blocks of the old downtown are abandoned or boarded up; near the old steel mill is a row of completely derelict storefronts and bars.
REMAINS: Lots of crumbling and abandoned brick structures
Clairton’s existence began just after the turn of the 20th century when the United States Steel Corporation acquired a large tract along the west side of the Monongahela River, about 13 miles south of Pittsburgh. The city peaked in the late 1950s when the population approached 25,000. The collapse of the steel industry left a large portion of the population jobless, and large parts of the city have descended into poverty and crime. The city lacks the funding to carry out the demolition of condemned buildings, so empty storefronts an abandoned houses plague the area. Current population of around 5,000. Submitted by: Mark Hotz


Abandoned Store Fronts
Courtesy Mark Hotz


Abandoned Store Fronts
Courtesy Mark Hotz

 


Abandoned Store Fronts
Courtesy Mark Hotz

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