The day Nazi Swastickers Flew over Pittsburgh

As Pittsburgher's where hurriedly going between and on their way to work on a cold October 27th  afternoon in   1933 a large dark shadow would pass over the downtown and as they looked up many where shocked to see the enormous Nazi Swastickers  above them which where on the rear of the Graf Zeppelin one of Nazi Germany's largest Hydrogen Filled  Zeppelins 

It had just come from Akron visit and was on its way home to Germany after being at the Colombia world exhibit in Chicago .

 

https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/thedigs/2012/11/27/airship-graf-zeppelin-passes-over-the-point/

My Grandparents remember it because it was very unusual  to see such a large object in the sky and little did they know the coming implications of it. 

My grandfather had ridden a trolley the way to  Akron Ohio to see the launch of the USS Akron so I am

sure They got a thrill over it that day seeing it. 

But the days of air ships where numbered in 1937 when the Hindenburg went up in flames and in 1940 Herman Goering ordered them all including the Graff scrapped for their valuable metal. 

What Ever Happened to the memorial marker on corner of the old No1# mill in Pittsburghs South Side.

 When I was a kid to time I was a young man a small  bronze memorial marker about 20 x20inches  which was painted over with steel mill orange was on the corner of the old No1# shop of the old J&L /LTV steel mill in South Side of Pittsburgh 

On it where the names of mill workers who served in the First World War but others say it was those who where killed in the mill.

But after the buildings where torn down No One knows what Happened to it let alone what was on it.

I have asked all over former workers historical groups you name it and nothing most people don't even remember it and it seems gone for good 

 

I will update this article if I do find anything about it.

What are those Those Mysterious Concrete wall ruins along Freeport Road in Blawnox From plus what was next door to the property

 If you have ever gotten off Pa 28 at the Blawnox Exit and gone thru town as soon as you get off you first encounter the remains of a very thick solid concrete wall as you enter town.

But what was it.?

Well until 1971 it served as the Allegheny County Work House and Anibereate Asylum  basically a jail for low level offenders

Where inmates worked maintaining a farm and making brooms and brushes .

But the facility got old and worn down and it was decided to be closed due to rising costs to keep it open

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/US-PA-Allegheny/

https://pennsylvaniagenealogy.org/allegheny/prison-records-from-the-allegheny-county-workhouse-and-inebriate-asylum.htm

 I remember riding by with the family when it was still operating and even would later work at The bank center on Wood Street with the man who was the Stationary Engineer  when prison was operating 

he talked about the prisons one major downfall when Stanley Hoss got away and killed a Verona Police officer. which I wrote about in previous article. 

They should have kept the jail going it would have helped when all the overcrowding started in 80s  with the county jail downtown but as usual instead of trying to save something it gets torn down. 

there is no respect for old structures and history in this area. 

 

Now what what most people don't know is beside the prison once sat a Trolley Amusement Park 

which only existed for a few years its still mostly and abandoned weed filled property and was known as valley park , national park and Harmarville Park

https://coastertalknobszone.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-former-valley-parknational.html

 I have not been able to find much on the park  or photos like many of the more than 50 Trolley Parks in the area at one time.

A secret restaurant hidden inside a Pittsburgh Steel Mill.

 No one seems to know his last name other than they called him The Greek  and he ran a little Hole in the Wall Restaurant maybe 8x10 feet  with in the J&L - LTV Hazelwood Coke Works  in Pittsburgh

My dad use to talk about the great Pies he made for Steel Workers  or getting a hot cup of coffee after fixing an electrical problem down on the river dock  where coal was brought in and coke shipped out on a cold winter day.

 

I have done all kind of research and can not find any information on the Greek or pictures of his little restaurant, but his little restaurant did exist.

There where many of these little hole in the wall restaurants all over Pittsburgh and W. Pa region at one time.

 One was Kathy's"s ?  up on 5th floor of the Investment building  on 4th st. for many years till it closed in late 80s. 

They would have a daily special and standard hot dog and hamburgers along with breakfast sandwich

Reasonable price good tasting and served quickly.

Its a shame most are now closed the owner long retired or deceased and short order type cooking skills 

required to run such a place are getting to be a lost art.  Besides the cost of trying to comply with health codes and be profitable. 

You never know how good it was back then till its gone. 

 

 

So what was The Green thing 4 young boys encountered in New Kensington Pa.

 It was in March of 1981 and some boys where  playing around some street sewer openings along Constitution Blvd in New Kensington which has railroad tracks running along it .

When they claim they spotted and had captured for a brief moment some Green Cryptid looked like a baby dinosaur.

https://archive.triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/new-kensington-green-thing-legend-resurfaces-online/

 

 That took off back down the sewer after escaping a headlock one of the boys had on it.

A local paper got involved and wrote a story on it  as well as  a local UFO Buff  Bob Goerman  even investigated the case but found nothing and it has not been seen since.

Just like the Flat Woods Monster.

Now where the boys just making up story's like the Clowns in the Woods or the Wood Chopper  or was there something really to it. 

I was doing some work down there around the time this happened and everyone just laughed it off.

Today hopefully some local Cryptid Investigator would be immediately called and evidence gathered but back in 81 everyone most likely thought it a story the kids made up. 

But this is not the first time such story's of strange creatures appearing in W. Pa. there are hundreds of documented cases still open as to what was really seen.

One of the many rumors of the time is the creature would return after 40 years sounds like something taken from the X files TV show. 

That means this is the year it should return but nobody has seen or mentioned it.

Was Big Foot hiding and stocking prey around the Old Wildwood Coal Mine in Hampton Twp Pa.?

 

 The Wild Wood Mine  in Hampton Twp off Wild Wood Road which was established in late 1800s  has a serious and dangerous bend which has since been eliminated   has had a history of violence and accidents one of most serious incidents a miner shot and killed by police during a protest in 1931 

https://redpgh.com/?p=363

 

So something strange happening there would not be unusual and that's exactly what happened   On a Saturday  afternoon in 1974  a retired  Wild Wood Coal  Miner was walking in the woods when he encountered a rather large at first what he thought was a bear .

well over 500 pounds it stood tall than a bear and had more human like features . 

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigfoot/comments/jazyof/is_bigfoot_hiding_in_wildwood_mine_1974/

 

https://newspaperarchive.com/north-hills-news-record-mar-30-1974-p-1/

 

But back then no one really heard or knew what a Big Foot was until  shows like Leonard Nimoys" In Search  of " started talking about it. This is not the first time that Coal mines and Big foot seem to have a connection there is even a theory that Big foot uses the old mines tunnels all over W. Pa.  to travel back and forth. many a miner will tell of strange encounters with beats and cryptids in and around mines so big foot is no surprise

To my knowledge this is only known report of a sighting at this particular mine. and there has been no further reported activity .

 In the 70s into early 90s a large Flea market operated in the old coal mine buildings along with other businesses 

The wild wood mine closed in the 50s and left behind a large Gob or Bony Pile as they are known which had a fire going in it  and in 1980s  and was cleaned up  and recycled as bio heat by a firm in Buffalo NY.

 

Probably all the activity to clean up the gob pile kept big foot away  

after the flea market closed it has been home to several different businesses including a fitness center and auto parts distributor.

Regarding that sharp bend by the mine a side story was told me back in 70s by a long since passed away Pa. Fish Commissioner  / Law Enforcer. named Charlie  that when he was a young man on his way  to North Park along Wild wood road he picked up a young girl who was hitch hiking  and end up she pulled a knife on him and was going to rob him she made him speed up and he hit that bend at 70 mph how he ever got around it in one pice i will never know. but it was so hard of a turn the girl slid away from him and he was able to slam on brakes and she went sailing against dash and he disarmed her, 

True story who knows but that road has plenty of tragic accidents along it as well as flooding