The Jones & Laughlin Aliquippa Works was once among the largest steel mills in the world, occupying a seven-mile stretch along the Ohio River. By the early 1990s, most of its production facilities were shuttered for good. The city of Aliquippa, like steel towns throughout Pennsylvania, is struggling to move forward, with fewer residents (9,000) than the mill had employees (17,000) in its heyday.
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David Bacon
Pete Marovich Sr. holds his father Tom Marovich’s Jones & Laughlin Steel Company ID card and badge near Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. The company cut Tom’s ID card in half upon his retirement after thirty-seven years.
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PETE MAROVICH
A boarded-up business where someone paid homage to the now defunct Jones & Laughlin steel mill.
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PETE MAROVICH
Bartender Lisa Nicely talks with West Aliquippa resident Chuck Forrester in Mahoney’s West bar in West Aliquippa. Mahoney’s has been in operation for forty years.
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PETE MAROVICH
Aliquippa police sergeant Giovanni Trello talks with fellow officers during a patrol of the city’s Plan 12 neighborhood—an area where they enforce a “no loitering” ordinance. Many residents say it won’t keep city youth from hanging out on street corners.
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PETE MAROVICH
The ninetieth San Rocco Festa procession makes its way through Sheffield Terrace in Aliquippa in 2015. The tradition was started in 1925 by immigrants from Patrica, Italy, where Saint Rocco is the patron saint. They settled primarily in the Plan 11 section of town.
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PETE MAROVICH
Herb Bailey (second from right), ministry director at the city’s Uncommon Grounds Cafe, participates in a National Day of Prayer service at the Aliquippa City Building. Uncommon Grounds is a coffee shop ministry with a mission to help rebuild Aliquippa. It provides a space for residents to gather and find fellowship.
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PETE MAROVICH
A young girl runs past an old Jones & Laughlin company home that is slated for demolition in West Aliquippa.