Through ups and downs of 125 years, Monessen marches on

By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
The City of Monessen is in the midst of its 125th year.
If the first 125 years of this city on the Monongahela River are any indication, the next 125 years will probably be a wild ride full of ups and downs — but more than anything else it will be full of people who just love this town.
In the beginning
H. Dallas McCabe of East Side Land Company and Col. James M. Schoonmaker, and some others, wanted to expand the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad south in 1897. In doing so, McCabe surveyed the land that would become Monessen. At the time, it was in Rostraver Township.
Schoonmaker brought industrialist William H. Donner and his American Tin Plate Co. to town and Monessen was incorporated as borough Sept. 3, 1898.
Monessen was chosen as a name to combine “Mon,” for the river that runs through it, and “essen,” after an industrial city in Germany.
“I think we’re always finding new things that happened here, or a new person who was born here,” said Dan Zyglowicz, president of the Greater Monessen Historical Society. “All of these important people were in some way connected to Monessen.”
Zyglowicz gave the examples of Blanche Thebom, an American operatic mezzo-soprano, Academy Award Winner Frances McDormand, five military generals and a host of others who were all born here.
The town grew in terms of size, population and industry until it was incorporated as a city Sept. 16, 1921.
At its peak, Monessen was 20,000-residents strong.

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