Who We Are

A young man who moved some years back to a new job in Western Pennsylvania wrote his mother about his first impressions: Dear Mom, he said. Pittsburgh is a strange place. People actually line up on the sidewalk to get on the bus, he continued. When you get into a crowded elevator, everyone is on a first-name basis by the time you hit the fifth floor! And would you believe drivers actually yield to one-another at four-way stop signs?

His impressions, although slightly exaggerated, point out that Western Pennsylvania indeed is a friendly place to live and work. And yes drive. We in Aliquippa share that heritage in particular. Our town is a town where people talk to their neighbors, where the concept of family extends beyond residential property lines. That’s because we Aliquippans come from a heritage that is uniquely American: A blend of people from all races and nationalities sharing the same experiences over our 250-year history.

So, if you live in Aliquippa, you’re family …

Many of us come from multiple generations of workers who sweated in the J&L plant’s BOF shop and pickling plant, poured and molded steel together and shared our lunch buckets. Our families came together on a daily basis for any manner of social activity from shopping on Franklin Avenue to picnicking and swimming in a town park.
(See ‘History’ on this site.)

We’re proud of the people who came from our midst … like the great musician composer Henry Mancini from West Aliquippa … and football legend Mike Ditka, who once coached our high school football team. These names speak of our heritage because we are a city of immigrants: English from our 18th-19th century origins and Irish, Italians, Germans, Slovaks and Poles in successive waves of people who came to work in the mill in the early decades of the 20th Century. The city was further enriched in the post World War II era by a wave of African American families, many from the South, to get jobs in the steel mill.

Our town in Western Pennsylvania is an exciting place to live, work and grow. Explore our site and you will discover a unique combination of diverse lifestyle, community spirit and economic potential that few American communities can offer.