Editing McKeesport, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
===Early history===
David McKee emigrated from Scotland and was the first permanent white settler at the forks of the [[Monongahela River|Monongahela]] and [[Youghiogheny River|Youghiogheny]] Rivers, the site of present-day McKeesport, in 1755. Around the time of the [[French and Indian Wars]], [[George Washington]] often came to McKeesport to visit his friend, [[Queen Alliquippa]], a [[Seneca people|Seneca]] Indian ruler. The Colonial Government granted David McKee exclusive right of ferrage over those rivers on April 3, 1769, called "McKee's Port".<ref>{{cite web | title =David McKee 1710–1795| work =hmdb.org| url =https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=29962  | access-date =October 23, 2018}}</ref>

His son, John McKee, an original settler of [[Philadelphia]], built a log cabin at this location. After taking over his father's local river [[ferry]] business, he devised a plan for a city to be called McKee's Port in 1795.<ref>{{cite web | title =The Founding of McKeesport| work =familytreetracer.com| url =http://www.familytreetracer.com/McKFounding.htm| access-date =October 23, 2018}}</ref> John set out his proposal in the ''[[Pittsburgh Gazette]]'', as part of a program under which new residents could purchase plots of land for $20.00. A lottery was used to distribute the plots to avoid complaints from new land owners concerning "inferior" locations.

===19th century===
[[File:The first one hundred years of McKeesport. An historical and statistical description of the city from its inception until its centennial in 1894 (1894) (14782598034).jpg|thumb|left|Downtown McKeesport in 1894]]
McKeesport, then part of [[Versailles Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Versailles Township]], began to grow in 1830 when [[Coal mining|mining]] of the large deposits of [[bituminous coal]] in the region began. The first schoolhouse was built in 1832, with James E. Huey as its schoolmaster.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

McKeesport was incorporated as a borough in 1842, and the city's first steel mill was established in 1851. The [[National Tube Works (McKeesport, Pennsylvania)|National Tube Works]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=[[University of Pittsburgh]] Labor Legacy |title=Workers at US Steel's National Works McKeesport, PA 1870 – 1960 |url=http://exhibit.library.pitt.edu/labor_legacy/SpecialTopicsII.html |access-date=20 October 2021}}</ref> opened in 1872, and in the years directly following, according to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], McKeesport was the fastest growing municipality in the nation.<ref>{{cite web | title =History | work =mckeesport.org| url =http://www.mckeesport.org/history.php  | access-date =May 12, 2007  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070324224304/http://www.mckeesport.org/history.php |archive-date = March 24, 2007}}</ref> Families arrived from other parts of the eastern United States, Italy, Germany, Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, with most working at the National Tube Works.

===20th century===
[[File:National Tube Works Company, McKeesport, 1888.jpg|thumb|Bird's-eye view of the National Tube Works in 1888]]
McKeesport rose to national importance during the 1900s as a center for manufacturing steel.  In 1899, the National Tube Works Company was consolidated with twenty other pipemaking firms in the northeastern United States to form the National Tube Company.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warren |first1=Kenneth |title=Big steel : the first century of the United States Steel Corporation, 1901–2001 |date=2001 |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-8229-4160-6 |page=12}}</ref> In 1901, the National Tube Company and nine other major American steel companies merged to form [[U.S. Steel]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1901/03/10/archives/the-merger-of-iron-and-steel-interests.html "The Merger of Iron and Steel Interests"], by James C. Bayles, ''New York Times'', March 10, 1901.</ref>
The city's population continued to grow steadily, reaching a peak of 55,355 in 1940. The subsequent decline since then is attributable to the general economic malaise that descended upon the region when the steelmaking industry moved elsewhere.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

On [[1944 Appalachians tornado outbreak|June 23, 1944]], an [[Fujita scale|F4]] tornado struck the southern part of McKeesport, killing 17 people. Many multiple-story residences collapsed. In all, 88 homes in the city were destroyed, 306 were damaged, and 400 other buildings were damaged or destroyed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grazulis |first1=Thomas P. |title=Significant tornadoes, 1680–1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events |date=1993 |publisher=Environmental Films |location=St. Johnsbury, Vermont |isbn=1-879362-03-1 |page=915}}</ref>

Thirteen years before both faced off in some of the most memorable televised Presidential debates, future presidents (and contemporary [[U.S. House of Representatives|U.S. Representatives]]) [[Richard M. Nixon]] and [[John F. Kennedy]] met in McKeesport for their first of five debates on April 22, 1947, to debate labor issues related to the Taft-Hartley Act.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2011/11/27/The-Next-Page-The-Nixon-Kennedy-debate-in-McKeesport-1947/stories/201111270212|title=The Next Page: The Nixon-Kennedy debate ... In McKeesport, 1947}}</ref>

On May 21, 1976, downtown McKeesport experienced the largest fire in the city's history, referred to as the "Famous Fire", due to the fire beginning in the "Famous Department Store" on Market and Fifth Streets. The fire destroyed seven downtown structures, heavily damaged more than 12 others, and started fires in at least 10 homes due to hot embers blowing more than a half mile due to heavy gusting winds. Around 1,000 firefighters from more than 40 neighboring fire companies responded to [[Mutual aid (emergency services)|assist]], and a contingent of the [[Pennsylvania Army National Guard]] were deployed. The McKeesport Daily News reported the next day that "only shells and piles of rubble" remained "where city landmarks once stood."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2016/05/16/McKeesport-s-Famous-fire-remembered/stories/201605160010|title=Forty years later, McKeesport's 'famous' fire remembered|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|language=en|access-date=2019-06-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tubecityonline.com/history/1976fire.html|title=Local History @ tubecityonline.com|website=www.tubecityonline.com|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref>

National Tube closed in 1987, along with other U.S. Steel plants in the Mon Valley. The city, with the help of regional development agencies, has conducted efforts to revitalize the former mill sites.<ref>{{Citation
| title = McKeesport on the move| newspaper = Post-Gazette| location = Pittsburgh, PA| date   = September 27, 1984| url    = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Wa9RAAAAIBAJ&dq=regional-industrial-development&pg=4146%2C6143615}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| title =Brownfield sites get $8M for redevelopment| newspaper =Business Times| location =Pittsburgh, PA| date =October 13, 2005| url =http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2005/10/10/daily25.html?jst=b_ln_hl| url-status =live| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20131111022536/http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2005/10/10/daily25.html?jst=b_ln_hl| archive-date =November 11, 2013| df =mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cjr.org/special_report/year-of-fear-mckeesport-pennsylvania.php/|title=Year of Fear, Chapter Three: Red Streets v. Blue Streets in McKeesport|website=Columbia Journalism Review|language=en|access-date=2020-04-02}}</ref>