New exhibit revives memories of McKeesport’s heyday

By JIM BUSCH

For the Mon Valley Independent

A new Fifth Avenue exhibit was unveiled Saturday at the McKeesport History and Heritage Center.

Museum Manager Dave Moore, who is originally from the Poconos, told the gathering at a members-only reception that he didn’t realize McKeesport’s Fifth Avenue was one of the largest and busiest commercial centers in Allegheny County. 

He said the exhibit will give visitors an impression of “what it was like to walk down Fifth Avenue during the boom years of the 1950s, 1960s and before.” 

In addition to retail stores, the exhibit also features downtown businesses such as taverns, the Penn-McKee Hotel and the McKeesport Daily News. 

Moore praised the volunteers who helped with the project and said the museum is in the planning stages of an exhibit on the history of arts and entertainment in the McKeesport area. 

“Our goal is to send visitors home with a story about local history that they didn’t know when they arrived,” Moore said. “The objects on display are only material things; it is the stories about the people who were here before us that make them interesting. Our job is to tell those stories.” 

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