A forgotten and little know Uprising and Racial Riot by Black Troops during WWII in Mercer County Pa.
Yes its hard to believe during WWII troops raising there voices in revolt in the US but that's exactly what happened in Mercer county. during WWII
While the Port Chicago explosion and revolt is widely known by black troops and a movie made about how Black troops where mistreated it was the same here .
It started while troops where training and awaiting deployment to overseas assignments .
at the Shenango Personnel Replacement depot which later became camp Reynolds .
which was located near Transfer Pa. which is North of Lake Shenango
https://campreynolds.com/history-page/history-page.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Reynolds
It was a hot summer and Black Troops where badly mistreated at Camp Reynolds especially at the PX Store where unlike White Troops which had full use and buying of items Black Troops where allowed water and a moon pie that was it .
Blacks also where quick to be picked up on a minor Day Pass violation or other simple matters. made to wear leg chains when taken to a local restaurant for meals often to be eaten outside if southern officers where eating
There was also only one small black only theater and if there was room in white theater they had to sit in the back.
Full Jim Crowe laws where being enforced. It was Mid July 1943
Black Troops had enough and a melee occurred when they tried to enter the whites only PX
it was quickly put down by white and black MP who where on duty. 2 soldiers where taken to
onsite confinement and when those already there on charges heard what happened they broke out and started the fight all over again. This time armed with weapons and in the end 1 black soldier was killed.
but estimates are as high as 35.
Rioters where quickly rounded up and sent overseas to fight and its if the incident never happened . very little information or pictures is available. because of this blemish on the US Army Command
Yes those are Seagulls you see flying around the Highland Park Bridge in Pittsburgh
I have a friend who came down from Erie Pa area where they have plenty of Seagulls which everyone thinks of them as a coastal bird.
Well imagine her surprise when she saw them here in Pittsburgh as she drove over the Highland Park Bridge here in Pittsburgh during a winter time to come an visit for the weekend when temps in Erie plunged 20 below zero . 35 degrees did not seem so bad.
Yes for decades now a large group of Seagulls makes its winter time home here in Pittsburgh . Thou you mainly see them at the Highland Park Bridge and Lock and Dam where river stays clear of ice occasionally you will find them down at Pittsburgh Point Park as in Picture above
When Lake Erie freezes over that's when you see the most gulls they come down to Pittsburgh on holiday and have plenty of fish from Allegheny River and higher temps than Erie and much less snow usually than Lake Erie area .
Some have decided to stay year around as they like it here. So you can imagine peoples surprise when you see one hanging around the Highland Park Bridge .
Penn Hills Stonehenge Mystery what where these foundations for?
As you ride down Robinson Blvd. in Penn Hills toward Wilkinsburg until this year when they where torn down and ground into land fill sat strange concrete pillars and foundations which marked a building being
built but was never completed
They deteriorated to point they had to be torn down but what where they for?
Well at one time there where plans for a grand church to be built funds where raised and construction started and then stopped restarted and stopped for good.
The pastor had supposedly absconded with the funds.
A much smaller church sits above for worship and not sure if its even connected .No one wants to talk about this sad chapter and there are just rumors and whispers .
Now its all gone to be totally forgotten
Strange looking items around a River Dam in Beaver county .what purpose did the serve and same for the dam
As you take Pa 18 from New Brighton to Beaver Falls you will run across the strange remnants of an other Era.
A small dam in the beaver river one of many and even stranger steel and objects sticking out of it.
The remnants are from the old 10th st bridge which once crossed across the dam .
But this is only part of the tale the dam is a remnant from the Pennsylvania Canal and went all the way to Erie at one time.
Most people do not realize we had an extensive canal system in Pa as well as later railroad and Trolleys
All Thru Pa and Ohio you will find remnants here and there of the past
Sometime deep in the woods .
A forgotten period in History is said Abraham Lincoln secretively traveled along the canal as well
More than a bridge to visit at Kinzua a newly opened Train museum that's haunted
Not far from and on same road as the Kinzua Bridge Visitors Center 2 brothers have developed a small Train Museum and Gift Shop known as The Big Level
The Seasonal Business
Full of Pictures Railroad Lanterns and other nostalgia the approx. 3000 sq foot Museum is a fun place to explore With hopes to expand over the next couple years its worth the time to check out .
Is it a railroader who was in an accident along the now abandoned line that runs behind the store or is it of Native American origin?
Either way it makes for an interesting time .
I recently came across evidence of a wreck on the line which could have been close by so who knows either way check them out this summer
Strange Mysterious brick buildings with Tin roofs in middle of farmers Fields . What did they do or serve in Tristate
A friend of mine recently purchased a large property out by Pittsburgh International Airport and had this building on it Very similar to the building in picture below located in a farmers field in Washington County Pa.
At first we thought it had something to do with the Airport ,but after exhaustive research we could find nothing . No utility said it was theirs either but what could it be. The family members knew nothing about it and the ancestor who owned the property had long ago passed .
Well after belonging to a FB Group about AT&T Long lines Service which I was part of in alarm industry back in the McCullough Loop days I finally figured it out after seeing similar pictures posted in that group . Unofficially these buildings are known as K-Carrier Huts or simply K- Huts and they where part of the Cold War Era AT&T Long lines communications system which consisted of Hardened Microwave Tower Sites which served as back up to a multi pair Buried Coaxial Cable which ran all across the country to provide critical phone and video communication and path for certain government Data.
While most of the AT&T Long lines History is available on line including You Tube not much can be found on these huts as some of Landlines is still classified .
Thou most of the landlines system was decommissioned in late 90s early 2000s and replaced with fiber-optics and Satellites some of it in more rural areas is still in use.
What is available to the public is that these K huts as they where known served as Amplification boosters to the Coaxial system .
When the buildings where decommissioned and sensitive equipment removed they where given to the farmers to use. Most now have started to deteriorate and nothing to see inside.
The Pa. Turnpike Killer A Nightmare for Truckers who took late night Breaks in the 50s
Even today thou most of the turnpike is now 6 lanes wide there are still 4 lane sections where truck drivers can pull over and take a break or even sleep overnight . But back in the 1950's that proved fatal to several when a mysterious killer was targeting them for a robbery. Those rest stops still exist to this day
Today smart drivers even if there at an official Truck Stop will take precautions to make sure no one can force their doors open when sleeping using seat belts and freight straps.
But in 1953 on July 25th Lester Woodward was stopped along Turnpike near Irwin and shot in the head and killed after being robbed . and then again July 28th near Donegal Harry Pitts was Robbed and killed then July31 a driver on US 30 near Lisbon Ohio was robbed and shot but managed to survive all with a 32 caliber hand gun . Drivers quickly formed wolf Packs and traveled together and rested together carrying guns knives baseball bats etc to protect themselves from this murderer
After an intense effort by State Police Detectives in October of 53 they caught a break and traced some stolen goods to a pawn shop and made an arrest in New Mexico on October 13th
Police would arrest a Pa. local who lived near the Pa Turnpike in Ohiopyle
John Wesley Wable 26 would be tried convicted and executed for the crimes at Rock-view Penitentiary in 1955
https://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/wable-john-wesley.htm
The turnpike saw a significant loss of revenue over this incident as many avoided traveling it that summer due to fear of meeting up with this killer.
Secret Societies at WVU seemed to be the in thing in early 1900's
From 1908 to some time in the 1930's it seems West Virginia University Home of the Mountaineers had a thing for Secret Society's Like the Skull and Bones Society at Yale.
One of the more secret sects was the Rejetos
An all women's group who never showed there faces in the schools year book. not much is known or to be found about this secret society from a hundred years ago and what their purpose was.So many of these social groups from back then in the communities and schools have completely disappeared and now only leave questions when a mysterious photo shows up
However WBOY News seems to have cracked this one
https://www.wboy.com/only-on-wboy-com/rejetos-jichancas-wvus-mysterious-womens-society/
The day Yellow Snow fell on Dormont pa and surrounding communitys
Yellow Snow you say well that's nothing new just follow any dog walking in it.
But this time it was different it was falling from the sky and coated everything and that's exactly what happened in winter of 1960 when Yellow feathery looking things started falling all over. At first thought to be an unknown insect it was later determined to be seedlings from a sycamore tree known as a London plain and for some reason it did it during the winter instead of in the spring.
To my knowledge it has not happen since this incident in 1960
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