Category: General Nonsense, History || By

There was a very interesting story by Patrick Cloonan in Saturday's Daily News about the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's visit to McKeesport. And I don't just say that because I was mentioned.

But the very first line bugged me. It said that McKeesport was then "the fifth-largest city in Western Pennsylvania."

I've seen variations of this line for years on websites and in news articles. It set me to wondering, what exactly does it mean to be the "fifth-largest city in Western Pennsylvania"?

And during its heyday, was McKeesport ever one of the largest cities in Pennsylvania?

Well, it definitely wasn't in 1962, when Kennedy visited McKeesport. According to the 1960 Census, McKeesport had about 45,000 people, making it the 15th-largest city in Pennsylvania and the 20th-largest municipality in the commonwealth. (Five townships and 14 cities were larger than Our Fair City.)

I looked this up in my 1963-64 edition of the Pennsylvania Manual. (What? You don't have a copy of the 1963-64 Pennsylvania Manual? You should totally get one. It's fascinating Saturday night reading if your copy of Grit fails to arrive.)

In 1960, the four largest cities in "Western Pennsylvania" --- assuming a line is drawn right down the middle of the state, dividing it into east and west halves --- were Pittsburgh, Erie, Altoona and Johnstown. McKeesport, under that definition, did rank as the fifth-largest in "Western Pennsylvania."

. . .

Now, to really pick a nit, the story also says that in 1962, "McKeesport was still the second largest city of Allegheny County," implying that McKeesport isn't any more.

Well, in 2012, McKeesport is still the "second-largest city" of Allegheny County. Besides Pittsburgh, there are 11 boroughs or townships in Allegheny County larger than McKeesport --- Baldwin Borough (by 66 people, according to the 2010 census), Bethel Park, McCandless, Monroeville, Moon, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Plum, Ross, Shaler and West Mifflin.

But they're not cities. There are only four cities in Allegheny County --- Pittsburgh, McKeesport, Clairton and Duquesne. Unless Clairton or Duquesne get sudden growth spurts, or someplace such as Penn Hills or Mt. Lebanon decides to convert to third-class city forms of government, McKeesport will remain the second-largest city in Allegheny County.

. . .

For the record, the largest cities in Pennsylvania in 1960, in order, were Philadelphia (2 million), Pittsburgh (604,000), Erie (138,000), Scranton (111,000), Allentown (108,000), Reading (98,000), Harrisburg (79,700), Bethlehem (75,000), Altoona (69,000), Chester (64,000), Wilkes-Barre (63,500), Lancaster (61,000), York (54,500), Johnstown (53,900), McKeesport (45,000) and New Castle (44,700). (Some figures are rounded off.)

Townships larger than McKeesport in 1960 were Upper Darby (93,000), Lower Merion (59,420), Bristol in Bucks County (59,298), and Abington in Montgomery County (55,831).

. . .

Now, if you really want me to nerd it up, I can also tell you how McKeesport voted in the 1962 elections for U.S. senator and governor, and the names of all four councilmen.

Oh, OK, you twisted my arm. In 1962, McKeesport went for Democrats Joe Clark Jr. for U.S. Senate and Richardson Dilworth for governor. Clark was re-elected to his second term in 1962, but Dilworth was defeated by William W. Scranton.

Members of council (as of January 1964) were Dr. Robert Kaplan, Sam Vidnovic, Harold Blid and Harry Helmstadter. Wonderful book, that 1963-64 Pennsylvania Manual.

You should type something in the 'comment'-field. Be sure to click on 'Post Comment' to store it permanently.