This is where I was born and raised back in its heyday.
Natrona Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers circa 1848 on the bank of the Allegheny River some 25 miles upstream from its confluence with the Monongahela River where it forms the Ohio River in the center of Pittsburgh.

The town grew in significance and became an industrial powerhouse.
Decline set in somewhere around 1970 or so.

I had not visited for three years (covid) but was able to drive the distance with my daughter to visit with my two surviving sisters last week.

Saturday I took a walk around part of town with a Pentax K110 D digital camera for these images. I noted some real contrasts between what was no longer there from the old days... empty lots where businesses, government buildings, schools and churches once thrived, along with crumbling derelict structures, mixed in with real attempts at revitalization, restoration, and rehab. Much of it will never come back. But there are signs of hope for a living community in the future.

The cream colored house to the right of center in image P0326 is where I grew up. My grandfather built it circa 1920 and it remained in our family for nearly 100 years. My father ran a bakery shop in the back and a store in that front section through the 1950's.

Please click on thumbnails to see enlarged.
All images are ©2022 E.J.Kowalski.
Thank you! Ed