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Wednesday 10am - 2pm Thursday 10am - 2pm Friday 10am - 2pm

Greater Monessen Historical Society

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Monessen, PA
Greater Monessen Historical Society

Recipient of the 2010 ARTHUR ST. CLAIR AWARD for historic preservation.

06/09/2026

On Saturday, June 6, 2026, Monessen Public Library celebrated their 90th anniversary. The Historical Society provided historic Monessen photos for the event. Congratulations to 90 years of service to Monessen and the Mon Valley!

05/21/2026

Today, we celebrate the birthday of Monessen Founder, William Henry Donner, who built Monessen's first industry -- the National Tin Plate Company in 1897. Donner also was the only founder to actually live in Monessen. He built a three story, twenty-five room home on Parkway that overlooked his tin mill. He served on the first school board that built Monessen's first school building, the McKinley, and was instrumental in the creation of the water company. His daughter, Elizabeth married Elliott Roosevelt, the son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, in the social event of 1932. Donner supported pioneering medical research, including that of Nobel Prize-winner Dr. Ernest O. Lawrence at the Donner Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley. The work of that laboratory, applying physics, chemistry, and mathematics to medicine, marked the beginning of atomic medicine.

05/10/2026

Wishing all mothers, a very happy day!

05/08/2026

We remember V E Day, May 8, 1945, and recall those who fought to defeat N**i Germany. As the ranks of our World War II soldiers diminish, continue to cherish their memories and achievements.

05/07/2026

As we near the anniversary of VE Day, we want to remind our friends that the Museum Shoppe has copies of: Tin Men Steel Soldiers: The price paid in WWII by a Pennsylvania mill town: True stories of the lives and losses of 82 men.
$19.95

Eighty-two men from the Pennsylvania mill town of Monessen never returned alive from WWII. They were killed in battle, shot down in aircraft, lost on the high seas, or succumbed to accidents and illnesses. They lost their lives in Europe, North Africa, on Pacific islands, at sea, and stateside. Some were brought home and buried with honors in the city’s cemeteries. Some remained overseas, interred in American military cemeteries. Others were never recovered, lost at sea. More than 90% of the lives lost were first generation Americans, the sons of immigrants of the early 1900’s.

In 1941 the bustling industrial city of Monessen was only 43 years old when the United States entered World War II. Located 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, Monessen had grown to a population of 20,000 by the start of the war. Immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe as well as from other states had been arriving in Monessen since the 1900’s in search of the economic opportunities offered by the city’s steel and tin mills. While surviving the Great Depression they experienced hardscrabble lives… lives that still offered more hope in Monessen than in the places they left behind.

When the war began, Monessen families sent their sons to serve in the armed forces of America. More than 3,500 Monessen citizens would serve between 1941-1945 … over 15% of the city’s population. Some were soon stationed in far off places around the globe. Some traveled to the homelands of their parents to oppose the aggressors. Others did their jobs while stationed in the US.

Tin Men Steel Soldiers recounts the personal story of each of the city’s 82 lives lost in service to their country. Every story tells of their family heritage and of their life in Monessen, as well as the circumstances surrounding their loss during WWII. Their stories are each told separately in the chronological order of their loss within the historical context of the war as it progressed.

It is said that we die twice, once when we take our last breath, and the second time, when our name is last spoken. By telling the stories of these men, their names may continue to be spoken by future generations, giving life to their spirits and their legacies.

Author John Turanin is a grandson of immigrants who arrived in Monessen in the early 1900’s. For each of the 82 Monessen WWII “Fallen”, he has researched their life and written their story, now published in this volume. The Heritage Museum will be open on Saturday, May 9, from 10 AM to 1 PM. Stop in to get a copy or order online! With John Turanin .

05/06/2026

The Monessen Heritage Museum will be open this Saturday, May 9, from 10 AM to 1 PM. The Museum Shoppe will feature a 25% off Mother's Day sale on all cookbooks. There will be free gift wrapping on all purchases. Shop Local!

05/01/2026

Wishing you a very Happy May Day! Who remembers May Day celebrations in Monessen?

04/29/2026

The Monessen Heritage Museum will be open on Saturday, May 2 and 9, from 10 AM to 2 PM. The Museum Shoppe will feature a 25% off Mother's Day sale on all cookbooks. There will be free gift wrapping on all purchases. Shop Local!

04/16/2026

This Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Monessen Public Library , there will be a genealogy program for everyone. Please come and learn how to research our family history.

04/11/2026

Sending our wishes for a Joyous and Blessed Easter to our Orthodox friends!

Address

505 Donner Avenue
Monessen, PA
15062

Opening Hours

Wednesday	10am - 2pm
Thursday	10am - 2pm
Friday	10am - 2pm

Telephone

+17246848460

Website

http://www.monessenhistoricalsociety.com/

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