Mon Valley Photo Tour, Part II: Donora

[eschaton]

Beautiful!

Since discovering Jim Thorpe, I have been wondering if maybe, possibly, one Mon Valley town could remake itself in similar tourist trap fashion. Donora, based upon built structure alone, looks a likely suspect.

[PreservationPioneer]

Wait until you see Monongahela. It's part 3 of the photo tour and I've saved the best for last. Monongahela is a really nice town that is managing to revitalize itself relatively well. It's the oldest city in the Mon Valley and has a lot of history which would make it a good candidate. Brownsville would probably be my top choice if we could save one Mon Valley town, but it's kind of rough. Monongahela is going to surprise you all, I think.

[John Dark]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Wait until you see Monongahela. It's part 3 of the photo tour and I've saved the best for last. Monongahela is a really nice town that is managing to revitalize itself relatively well. It's the oldest city in the Mon Valley and has a lot of history which would make it a good candidate. Brownsville would probably be my top choice if we could save one Mon Valley town, but it's kind of rough. Monongahela is going to surprise you all, I think.

Not me! I used to live there, and have been back many times in the last decade.

[ferraris]

Do you try to time most of your shots to avoid having people in them? Or is that just a byproduct of so many of your tours being in places that have suffered population loss?

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

Do you try to time most of your shots to avoid having people in them? Or is that just a byproduct of so many of your tours being in places that have suffered population loss?

I'm not usually paying attention to whether there are people in my shots or not. I am more interested in documenting the buildings before they are lost. It can be awkward to take pictures with people in them, because they almost always ask, "What are you taking pictures for?" and sometimes not in a nice way. That said, I don't avoid taking pictures with people in them, however I try to avoid pictures with cars or trucks flying by or blocking buildings. I will say that some interesting conversations have come about when people have asked me why I was taking pictures. I captured a few people in Donora. There were only a couple people on the street, and the ones you see in the photos were the only people I saw.