There actually was a time when Jews where not allowed to be Buried in City of Pittsburgh Pa.

If you ever get involved with visiting old cemetery's in Western Pa. and look up their  there history  
You will notice especially with in the limits of the City of Pittsburgh there are no Jewish Cemetery's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Pittsburgh

You can find all kind of other ethnic cemetery , Catholic,  Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran Presbyterian etc  but not one cemetery  for Jews.

How ever you will find one in Carrick 29th ward of City of Pittsburgh but at the time it was planned and body's where first buried it was not part of the city and was a stand alone boro and just outside city limits at the time making  it possible for Jews to get there by foot or horse and carriage 

http://wiki.carrick-overbrook.org/Beth_Abraham_Cemetery

Yes if you where a Native American, a Colored as blacks where then known  or any other faith or race it was OK But Jews where not allowed to be buried with in city limits. Until 1900's

Beth Abraham Cemetery Photo credit John Rudiak

There is also a Jewish cemetery in Shaler twp and Reserve Twp. all just outside city limits

Entrance gate to the Chesed Shel Emeth (Acts of Loving Kindness) Cemetery in Millvale, Shaler Township, c.1980.

Why where they not allowed.? well there has been much speculation but single biggest reason was Racism no matter how you try to spin it.

What started it all appears to be the practice of the Jewish Religion  to bury their dead with in 24 hours and with out being embalmed
which was seen as unsanitary
 to bury a body that was not embalmed.
I never realized this until a Jewish customer of mine pointed it out that there where no Jewish cemetery in City of Pittsburgh.

http://www.uscj.org/JewishLivingandLearning/Lifecycle/JewishFuneralPractice/GuidetoJewishFuneralPractice.aspx

http://jewish-funeral-home.com/Jewish-burial-customs.html

 The none embalming practice it seems  also brought about   the term Dirty Jews  which was a frequently heard in Pittsburgh out of racists mouths.  Thou this is just one of theory s behind the hateful term.

Part of body's bringing disease is discussed  in article below where a physician built the first crematory  here in western Pa. based on burial practices in ground spreading illness

https://sites.google.com/site/bassettownparanormal/paranormal-investigations/lemoyne-crematory

The truth be told years later the practice of embalming body's  was actually hazardous to environment as body decayed and chemicals released into the soil.  This is why many areas now require underground vaults  and sealed caskets.



But finally after cooler heads prevailed and science showed there was no danger where Jews allowed to be buried in the city limits of large city and Jewish law was also relaxed as well to allow embalming when  state and local law required it. 

The Dustman Monster ( Big Foot ) of Washington County Pa.

I have heard all kind of tales about Big foot roaming around Western Pa mostly in Fayette County and Westmoreland County which has a long history of sightings. But recently those crazy guys from WV  who produce the TV show Mountain Monsters on  Destination America where in town to hunt the Dustman .

According to them it is a Shawnee Indian legend which goes back to the 1700's of a hairy creature with extreme speed and strength  which roams the woods of the tri state.

However until this show spoke about the Dustman I have never heard word one about it and I spent plenty of time camping in the woods in Washington County as a youth and have plenty of customers which takes me all over Washington county and its back roads at night  and I have never ever heard any one talk about the Dustman. With all the exploration going on you think the gas well drillers would be talking about it as well and same thing no ones ever heard the legend I ever spoke to.

When you do research on the Dustman there is very little reference to it outside of the shows episode so once again it looks like a made up  name  for realty TV .

http://cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/mountain-monsters-bigfoot-of-washington-county/

Yes the Shawnee do talk of the Big Foot creature in their legends  but not of the dustman .

and the few recorded sightings in washington county do not use the name dustman

http://www.pabigfootsociety.com/sightingswashington.html

So while Big foot may be on the loose in Washington County  he is no where near as active  as neighboring Fayette County which has much denser woods .

A mystery in my own Family involving my Great grandfather who helped organize Iron Workers Local 3#

My Great Grand Father on my mother side Karl passed away when I was very young.in the 1960's
He was living in and old row of apartments similar to the picture you see below in a back alley along Penn Ave in Pittsburgh's Strip District. His apartment no longer exists .

My great Grandmother has passed many years earlier..

Karl ended up living on one of these back alley apartments after spending his life a hard drinker and former Iron Worker.

His drinking started as a way to have courage to work high in the air and would eventually destroy him and he would become a bad alcoholic and no longer able to work. He helped to Organize  Local 3# of the Iron Workers where he was constantly being plied with alcohol during negotiations at the Prestigious Duquesne Club in Downtown Pittsburgh.
unfortunately we do not even have a good picture of him and the Iron Workers where of no use in trying to locate any of his organizing efforts as he supposedly held office with in the union.

Many of the buildings he helped to build where torn down along Penn Ave when the new convention center was built  but one building he helped build Carnegie Institute still stands to this day  along 5th ave in Oakland.

I was just a small child when my mom would get a phone call from my aunt for my dad to come quickly to his apartment   and he would find the Pittsburgh Police there. It appeared as thou he fell down the steps which lead to his 2nd floor apartment and struck his head and bleed to death from his alcoholic ways. Is what the police concluded . But a radio which he got for his birthday and his SSI check was missing from the apartment. Police thought his apartment had been burglarized  after he died.

Did he just fall down the steps or did he encounter a burglar, in the act of ripping him off ?
We will never know as he police at the time attributed the death to alcohol and there was never an autopsy or any other investigation.
I visit my Great Grandparents graves yearly as my one uncle is buried with them and I make sure he gets a flag for his grave since he served in WWII  . No one in the family likes talking about this tragic death and I do not blame them and this will just go down as a mystery just one of thousands around Western Pa.

Once an Iconic advertisement for High End Furniture Business Colonial Gallery along Pa. 51 this home Once served as a Brothel and a nearby one time gun shop is said to be haunted.

Unfortunately Time has not been kind to the very old brick home which is attached to a commercial structure along Pa 51 in Baldwin Boro.

It now sits empty and sealed off and alarmed  as it can not be occupied as it has no sprinkler system but at one time it was the grand dame along  Clairton Blvd and served as a classy show room for Colonial Gallery Furniture who carried Heirloom Quality High End Furniture.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19950210&id=gtZRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lG4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2973,5566524

But before the home took on its role as a show case it once served as a Brothel when Wilock and Streets run Coal Mines where active along that stretch of Clairton Blvd and Streets Run Road.

They say the single  miners where lined up every pay day. Thou the house went thru several owners  I have not been able to find any other significance to it  and So it was it would become part of a furniture store in the 1960's It was gutted and rebuilt had a large show room window in front and was
often used as a logo for the furniture store.

Unfortunately thou the Market for High End Furniture would see a drastic downturn  in 2013 and
Colonial gallery would be one of its victims along with many other furniture stores. The store was closed and now sells work shoes& boots and the homes windows and doors sealed up and house painted black and new owner had me install alarms to prevent meddlers.

However thats not the end of the story as there have often been rumors of strange noises coming from the home when it was still open to the public and employees often reported hearing what sounded like foot steps  on the first floor. Activity from the days when it served as a brothel? or just noise from Route 51 traffic ? Sadly we will not know since the house has been sealed off from the public and been alarmed.  I know when I worked for the furniture store owners I heard the strange noises coming from with in the house I always attributed it to the traffic but then some times there was not traffic.

I will continue my search on the history of the home to see what I can find out as it is one of the last relics from the coal mining era save a few row hoses and some old buildings scattered about in the valley.

There is said to be an additional haunted location along Streets Run Road just below  the old colonial property  which is now a service garage which sits across from the Fire Station   this building at one time served as Valor Fire Arms  store and a clerk was shot and killed during a robbery at the store and
Myself and other

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19941221&id=bLcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mG4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5702,4012029

Who have worked in the building have experienced the sensation of being watched over. When a customer of mine was renting the business in 2007 for a storage area for his vehicle collection.