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Braddock, Pennsylvania
Borough
Braddock Carnegie Library, May 2010
Location in Allegheny County and the U.S. state of Pennsylvania
Location in Allegheny County and the U.S. state of Pennsylvania
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Braddock, Pennsylvania is located in Pennsylvania
Braddock, Pennsylvania
Braddock, Pennsylvania
Location in Pennsylvania
Braddock, Pennsylvania is located in the United States
Braddock, Pennsylvania
Braddock, Pennsylvania
Location in the United States
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Allegheny
Settled 1742
Incorporated June 8, 1867
Government
 • Type Borough Council
Area
 • Total 0.66 sq mi (1.71 km2)
 • Land 0.56 sq mi (1.46 km2)
 • Water 0.10 sq mi (0.25 km2)
Elevation
764 ft (233 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 1,721
 • Density 3,056.84/sq mi (1,179.85/km2)
Time zone UTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
15104
Area code(s) 412
FIPS code 42-07992
School District Woodland Hills

Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, 10 miles (16 km) upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 census, a 91.8% decline since its peak of 20,879 in 1920.

History

The town is named for General Edward Braddock (1695–1755). The Braddock Expedition, particularly his crossing of the Monongahela River on July 9, 1755 at this place, led to the British general's own fatal wounding and a sound defeat of his troops who had been moving against the French at Fort Duquesne. This battle, now called the Battle of the Monongahela, was a key event at the beginning of the French and Indian War.

The area surrounding Braddock's Field was originally inhabited by the Lenape, ruled by Queen Allequippa. In 1742, John Fraser and his family established the area at the mouth of Turtle Creek as the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. George Washington visited the area in 1753-1754. It was the site of Braddock's Defeat on July 9, 1755.

Braddock's first industrial facility, a barrel plant, opened in 1850. The borough was incorporated on June 8, 1867. The town's industrial economy began in 1873, when Andrew Carnegie built the Edgar Thomson Steel Works on the historic site of Braddock's Field in what is now North Braddock, Pennsylvania. This was one of the first American steel mills which used the Bessemer process. As of 2010, it continues operation as a part of the United States Steel Corporation. This era of the town's history is depicted in Thomas Bell's novel Out of This Furnace.

Braddock is also the location of the first of Andrew Carnegie's 1,679 (some sources list 1,689) public libraries in the US, designed by William Halsey Wood of Newark, New Jersey, and dedicated on March 30, 1889. The Braddock Library included a tunnel entrance for Carnegie's millworkers to enter a bathhouse in the basement to clean up before entering the facilities (which originally included billiard tables). An addition in 1893, by Longfellow, Alden and Harlow (Boston & Pittsburgh, successors to H.H. Richardson), added a swimming pool, indoor basketball court, and 964-seat music hall that included a Votey pipe organ. The building was rescued from demolition in 1978 by the Braddock's Field Historical Society, and is still in use as a public library. The bathhouse has recently been converted to a pottery studio; the music hall is currently under restoration.

During the early 1900s many immigrants settled in Braddock, primarily from Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary.

Braddock lost its importance with the collapse of the steel industry in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. This coincided with the drug of the early 1980s, and the combination of the two woes nearly destroyed the community. In 1988, Braddock was designated a financially distressed municipality. The entire water distribution system was rebuilt in 1990-1991 at a cost of $4.7 million, resulting in a fine system where only 5% of piped water is deemed "unaccounted-for.". From its peak in the 1920s, Braddock has since lost 90% of its population.

Since 2005, colorful mayor John Fetterman has launched a campaign to attract new residents to the area from the artistic and creative communities. He has also initiated various revitalization efforts, including the nonprofit organization Braddock Redux.

Fetterman has appeared in various media to discuss his vision of Braddock's needs, including PBS, The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, CNN, Fox News, CNBC, and The New York Times. In the UK, The Guardian and the BBC have reported on him. He has also had his own episode on Hulu's original series A Day in the Life.

Since 1974, Braddock resident Tony Buba has made many films centering on the borough and its industrial decline, including Struggles in Steel. In September 2010, the IFC and Sundance television channels showed the film Ready to Work: Portraits of Braddock, produced by the Levi Strauss corporation. This film interviews many of the local residents and shows their efforts to revitalize the town.

Geography

Braddock is located at 40°24′13″N 79°52′7″W / 40.40361°N 79.86861°W / 40.40361; -79.86861.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2), of which, 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (13.85%) is water. Its average elevation is 764 ft (233 m) above sea level.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1870 1,290 —
1880 3,310 156.6%
1890 8,561 158.6%
1900 15,654 82.9%
1910 19,357 23.7%
1920 20,879 7.9%
1930 19,329 −7.4%
1940 18,326 −5.2%
1950 16,488 −10.0%
1960 12,337 −25.2%
1970 8,795 −28.7%
1980 5,634 −35.9%
1990 4,682 −16.9%
2000 2,912 −37.8%
2010 2,159 −25.9%
2020 1,721 −20.3%
Sources:

2020 census

Braddock borough, Pennsylvania – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 1980 Pop 1990 Pop 2000 Pop 2010 Pop 2020 % 1980 % 1990 % 2000 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 2,892 2,433 872 489 317 51.33% 51.96% 29.97% 22.65% 18.42%
Black or African American alone (NH) 2,641 2,165 1,910 1,555 1,219 46.88% 46.24% 65.64% 72.02% 70.83%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 0 20 4 14 5 0.00% 0.43% 0.14% 0.65% 0.29%
Asian alone (NH) 0 11 6 3 7 0.00% 0.23% 0.21% 0.14% 0.41%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) N/A N/A 0 4 1 N/A N/A N/A 0.19% 0.06%
Some Other Race alone (NH) 18 9 9 5 13 0.32% 0.19% 0.31% 0.23% 0.76%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH) N/A N/A 67 49 117 N/A N/A 2.30% 2.27% 6.80%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 83 44 44 40 42 1.47% 0.94% 1.51% 1.85% 2.44%
Total 5,634 4,682 2,910 2,159 1,721 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

According to the American Community Survey in 2020, Braddock has an employment rate of 34.2%, a median household income of $23,050, 3.7% of the population has no health care coverage, with 10.7% of the population possessing a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Education

Woodland Hills School District is the local school district.

In popular culture

  • A&P's first supermarket opened in Braddock in 1936.
  • George A. Romero's 1978 horror film Martin takes place in Braddock and was largely filmed there.
  • Parts of the 1996 TV film The Christmas Tree, Sally Field's TV directorial debut, were shot in the Braddock Carnegie Library.
  • Levi Strauss & Co., the maker of Levi's jeans, chose the borough for its "youth" commercial campaign which was televised in late 2010 and 2011.
  • The 2010 film One for the Money used the shuttered University of Pittsburgh Medical Center facility in Braddock as the "Trenton Police Headquarters".
  • Thomas Bell's historical novel Out of This Furnace is set in Braddock during the 1890s to the 1930s.
  • Out of the Furnace, a film starring Christian Bale released in 2013, was shot in Braddock.
  • Helen Campbell's novel Turnip Blues, detailing the lives of Depression-era immigrants, is set in Braddock.

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Braddock (Pensilvania) para niños

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