Cement City Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

Donora, Pennsylvania Donora is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River. Donora was incorporated in 1901. It got its name from a combination of William Donner and Nora Mellon, banker ...

. The district includes 80

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

concrete residences built in 1916–17. The homes served as housing for employees of the

American Steel and Wire Company American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Poured-in-place concrete houses had become popular in large-scale housing developments at the time, partly thanks to promotion by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

; the homes built in Donora used a newly patented construction method from the Lambie Concrete House Corporation. Building the houses required a combined 10,000 barrels of

Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th c ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1996. In 1997, the

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...

installed a

historical marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

on McKean Ave. ( Pa. 837) in South Donora, noting the historic importance of the community. It is designated as a historic district by the

Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation is a Non-profit organization, non-profit educational institution in Washington, Pennsylvania. Its purpose is to encourage and assist the preservation of historic structures in Washington County, Pen ...

. Many of the original cement homes are still standing today, and currently serve as private residences.

References

External links

Donora Historical Society page on Cement City
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic districts in Washington County, Pennsylvania Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Prairie School architecture in Pennsylvania Houses in Washington County, Pennsylvania Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Pennsylvania