Vandergrift, Pennsylvania facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
Borough
Houses in Vandergrift
Location of Vandergrift in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Vandergrift, Pennsylvania Location in Pennsylvania
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Westmoreland
Settled	1895
Government
• Type	Borough Council
Area
• Total	1.42 sq mi (3.68 km²)
• Land	1.36 sq mi (3.52 km²)
• Water	0.06 sq mi (0.15 km²)
Elevation	879 ft (268 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	5,205
• Estimate (2019)	4,875
• Density	3,581.93/sq mi (1,383.45/km²)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Zip code	15690
Area code(s)	724 Exchanges: 567,568,571
FIPS code	42-79776
Website	Vandergrift Borough.org

Vandergrift is a borough in Westmoreland County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, approximately 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Pittsburgh. Early in the 20th century, it had the largest sheet steel mill in the world.

On June 28, 1915, the Borough of Vandergrift Heights was consolidated with Vandergrift. In 1900, 2,076 people lived here; in 1910, 3,876. The 1915 consolidation almost doubled Vandergrift's population when Vandergrift Heights added approximately 3,438 new residents (1910 population). By 1940, 10,725 people lived in Vandergrift. The population was 5,455 at the 2000 census, and 5,205 in 2010.

Etymology

History

In the 1890s the Apollo Iron and Steel Company ended a bitterly contested labor dispute by hiring replacement workers from the surrounding countryside. To avoid future unrest, however, the company sought to gain tighter control over its workers not only at the factory but also in their homes. Drawing upon a philosophy of reform movements in Europe and the United States, the firm decided that providing workers with good housing and a good urban environment would make them more loyal and productive. In 1895, Apollo Iron and Steel built a new, integrated, non-unionized steelworks and hired the nation's preeminent landscape architectural firm, Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot, to design the model industrial town: Vandergrift.

Vandergrift, Pennsylvania – before and after

July 1895, before construction of the town

May 1896

Mosher (1995) shows how Vandergrift was representative of the new industrial suburbs of Pittsburgh. Caught up in a dramatic round of industrial restructuring and labor tension, Pittsburgh steelmaker George McMurtry hired Frederick Law Olmsted's landscape architectural firm in 1895 to design Vandergrift as a model town. McMurtry believed in what was later known as welfare capitalism, with the company going beyond paychecks to provide for the social needs of the workers; he believed that a benign physical environment made for happier and more productive workers. A strike and lockout at McMurtry's steelworks in Apollo, Pennsylvania, had prompted him to build the new town. Wanting a loyal workforce, he developed a town agenda that drew upon environmentalism as well as popular attitudes toward capital's treatment of labor. The Olmsted firm translated this agenda into an urban design that included a unique combination of social reform, comprehensive infrastructure planning, and private homeownership principles. The rates of homeownership and cordial relationships between the steel company and Vandergrift residents fostered loyalty among McMurtry's skilled workers and led to McMurtry's greatest success. In 1901 he used Vandergrift's worker-residents to break the first major strike against the United States Steel Corporation.

St. Gertrude Roman Catholic Church and the Vandergrift Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), of which, 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (5.34%) is water.

Climate

Vandergrift has a continental climate with cold winters averaging 22 degrees in January and 82 in July.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1900	2,076	—
1910	3,876	86.7%
1920	9,531	145.9%
1930	11,479	20.4%
1940	10,725	−6.6%
1950	9,524	−11.2%
1960	8,742	−8.2%
1970	7,889	−9.8%
1980	6,823	−13.5%
1990	5,904	−13.5%
2000	5,455	−7.6%
2010	5,205	−4.6%
2019 (est.)	4,875	−6.3%
Sources:

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,455 people, 2,414 households, and 1,489 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,389.9 people per square mile (1,698.5/km²). There were 2,772 housing units at an average density of 2,230.8 per square mile (863.1/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 94.43% White, 3.45% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 1.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.37% of the population.

There were 2,414 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.7 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $26,935, and the median income for a family was $35,984. Males had a median income of $29,781 versus $20,829 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,285. About 12.0% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.9% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over.

Ancestries

People of Italians, accounting for 25.8% of the population. People of Irish ancestry are another sizable group, at 16.4%. The largest block of Eastern European ancestries include Polish, at 8.3% and Slovak, at 6.6%.

Arts and culture

Entertainment

- Casino Theater

- Riverside Drive In

- Victorian Vandergrift Museum & Historical Society

Festivals and parades

May

"Vandergrift Cleanup Day".
"Vandergrift Ethnic Days". The carnival and ethnic food festival takes place at Kennedy Park and is sponsored by Vandergrift Fire Companies Nos. 1 and 2.
Memorial Day. A parade begins at Vandergrift Elementary School and proceeds down Grant Ave. to a veteran's memorial service at the Casino Theatre.

June

"Vandergrift Fine Arts Festival".

August

"Festa Italiana di Vandergrift".

September

"Tour de StrongLand ".

October

"Vandergrift Oktoberfest". This usually a three-day festival held in Kennedy Park by the Vandergrift No. 2 Volunteer Fire Department.

November

"Lightup the Night". This is the annual Christmas parade and celebration on Grant Ave. the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Religion

64.19% of Vandergrift residents are affiliated with a religious congregation. Of those affiliated, 55.4% are Roman Catholic, 12.2% are Methodist, 9.9% are ELCA Lutheran, 6.5% are Presbyterian, 16% are "other".

Other

Public Transportation

The Westmoreland County Transit Authority provides service to Vandergrift directly via the Route 15 bus. It runs Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm between New Kensington and Avonmore. It stops at McMutury Towers, Jackson/Longfellow Avenues, and Grant/Sumner Avenues six times a day. About 2 miles from downtown Vandergrift, the Route 14F bus, from New Kensington to Pittsburgh, and the Route 12 bus, from New Kensington to Greensburg, both stop in the Allegheny Plaza parking lot below Save-A-Lot. Visit the WCTA website for details on schedules, fares, and service alerts.

Economy

Sports

Vandergrift borough is the owner of Davis Field, the former football home of the Cavaliers, Kiski Area School District's football team. A baseball field and football practice field also lie between Davis Field and Kennedy Memorial Park, which sits at the corner of Jackson and Walnut Streets. The fields serve local little league and midget football play.

Education

Public

Vandergrift is within the Kiski Area School District.

Private

The former St. Gertrude School in Vandergrift, which was established in 1922, served students in kindergarten through sixth grade, until it officially transitioned to a regional school with a new name in fall 2005. The formal announcement and dedication of the Cardinal Maida Academy took place with a special Mass November 27, 2005, at St. Gertrude Parish, and Cardinal Adam J. Maida, whose episcopal motto is “To Make All Things New,” returned to his roots in the Diocese of Greensburg to help a small Catholic school celebrate a new beginning.

Transportation

Notable people

Jaira Burns (born 1997), American singer-songwriter
Angelo Donghia (1935–1985), American interior designer
Anthony E. Gallo (born 1939), American playwright
Steve Jastrzembski (1939–2009), American football player
Mendes Napoli (born 1951), American businessman and talent agent
Lou Palatella (born 1933), American football player
William Perry (born 1927), American mathematician, engineer, businessman, politician, and former United States Secretary of Defense
David Roselle (born 1939), American mathematician and academic administrator who served as the ninth President of the University of Kentucky and the 25th President of the University of Delaware.
James Veneris (1922–2004), American soldier captured by the Chinese during the Korean War, and refused to return to the United States afterwards