Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, ten miles (16 km) above the mouth of the Monongahela river. The population was 2,912 at the 2000 census. The town is named for General Edward Braddock (1695-1755). The Braddock Expedition, particularly his infamous crossing of the Monongahela River on July 9 1755 at this place lead to his own fatal wounding and a sound defeat of his British troops who had been moving against the French at Fort Duquesne. This battle was a key beginning in the French and Indian War.
Braddock was probably first settled about 1795. It was incorporated in 1867. The town and its industrial economy began in 1873 when Andrew Carnegie founded there The J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works. This historic steel mill remains a part of the United States Steel Corporation. This era of the town's history is best known from the novel Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell.
The early population figures were these: 1890, 8,561; 1900, 15,654; 1910, 19,357; 1920, 20,879; 1940, 18,326. Braddock lost its importance with the collapse of the steel-making industry in the US in 1984.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.7 km² (0.6 mi²). 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (13.85%) is water.
There were 1,161 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.4% were married couples living together, 31.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.1% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.24.
In the borough the population was spread out with 31.5% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 84.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.1 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $18,473, and the median income for a family was $20,669. Males had a median income of $26,333 versus $19,867 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $13,135. About 34.4% of families and 35.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 54.4% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the
"Braddock, Pennsylvania".
Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world