I worked at Westinghouse in the early 70s thru 2014.[ then Eaton ] and there were nearly 4000 people and 3 shifts working there. I parked in that lot for many years. There was a guard gate at the steps where you could get into the plant. Back then all three of the lots were needed to accommodate the employees. As time went on a number of the product lines were moved to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Jobs were cut and through attrition the plant decreased in size to approximately 400 when I left.. Those parking lots haven't been needed for many years and they are very costly to maintain . So that is why they are abandoned. No mystery. Eaton still owns it . It's just a matter of $$$.
I'm only about halfway into watching this and went straight to the comments. I had hoped someone know more than I do about this property. I read Jon Glass' comment quoting WWII. I haven't lived in Beaver for many years; however, I absolutely remember as a child my aunt and great aunt saying Westinghouse was built on the land that once was our family's homestead, the Anderson Family Homestead. I don't remember if it was the same time my aunt's spoke about it or later that my father recalled being on the homestead as a child. I don't remember many details other than he said there was no indoor plumbing. I am now 62 and in hindsight, I wish I had asked more questions about our family history. I don't know if this sheds any light, but I'm going back now to finish watching this video. Thank you Mark Grago for sharing this!
Never lived in beaver Pennsylvania, but lived in Aliquippa Pennsylvania and saw the same decay when JNL steel closed. It’s pitiful to seeA beautiful town when you went to high school and 60 years later the population is scattered.
It was originally Curtis Wright airplane co. They made parts for the 2nd world war. These parking lots were filled with many many workers cars mostly for hundreds more workers at the Westinghouse business . My father and some friends and my sister worked there for Westinghouse..people used to park all over the area and you couldn't come down Tusca road for all the hundreds of workers coming out of the Westinghouse plant, much more than work at Eaton . They abandoned all these parking lots after much fewer workers were hired. No need for them anymore. Curtis Wright also hired much more people making them one of the busiest and larger companies along with the large steel mills in the area..Beaver County was prior to WW2 and through the time of the closing of the steel mills the largest manufacturing areas western Pa. That started early in the late 1800s till the closing of big mills.
According to Wayne Cole's Book _Beaver Valley Railroad Company_ the Westinghouse plant started life in WWII was a Curtis-Wright propeller plant. It was one of, I think, three plants that produced 85% of the propellers used in the war, including the ones used on the B29s that... well, we all know what they did. In any case, if I had to guess, I would guess that this parking lot dates back to WWII, when the plant was operating at its peak. Also, it looks like the area labeled "Division Lane Exd" on Google Mpas was also originally parking, and those steps led from there, down to the mill. Oh, one other point. At least on some diagram I saw, the plant used to cover areas that are now parking, so maybe when the plant was reduced in size, they moved the parking, and all that was above became redundant. But all of that was likely the result of the plant changing over from Curtis-Wright to Westinghouse. BTW, when I was a kid in the 70s, I already had the impression that the Westinghouse plant was on the decline, so it would be no surprise that the parking least used would be abandoned first. In any case, I would guess that the sense that you felt was the sense of weight of WWII.
This plant did produce airplane propellers for the war effort. Inside the plant that remains the floor is all wood. 2 x 4 x 4 pieces. Installed originally to absorb the impact if the propellers should fall from the overhead cranes etc.... Eaton Corp still owns all of that property that Mark is traversing. That plant used to employ 2 to 3,000 employees. Downsizing in the late 90s to what it is today structurally. That mill used to fabricate, weld and so on, the raw material for their production of Industrial Circuit breakers. Now everything is shipped in from outside sources (China). The plant is still under security protection because US NAVY Breakers are still assembled there. Where Mark was walking at the beginning of the video was the original parking lot. Didn't need a ton of parking as the majority of the employees were housed in Van Buren homes and Tamaqua Village just like the old "Bricks" housing in Aliquippa for the J&L Steel Mill. If you think the old parking lot that is full of solar panels behind what is left of the plant is utilized by the plant every time the power goes out (which in Beaver during the summer happens just about daily) you're dead wrong. Half a million dollars worth of green energy in the gloomy Western Pennsyltucky area does not provide the facility with a "backup power source". Duquesne Light is soaking up every kilowatt they can. Sorry for rambling. #truestory
Follow up to Jon Glass. I am a current employee. At one point Westinghouse employed a large number of people. Today there are not nearly as many working there so there is no need to park that far away.
I grew up in beaver county and I've never heard of that place but there's a lot more to discover in beaver county that no one else has heard of trust me
Before it was curtiss wright aircraft during the war.. westinghouse layed everbody off in the 80s and moved to mexico.. that plant uses high current directly from shippingport
Hey mate go check out Google maps and look a little north from where the steps let out at. There is like a baseball diamond fenced in area with what looks to be statues and monuments in it in the middle of the woods north west of the steps
Mark, I just did a quick Google on Beaver pa old Westinghouse plant. There are some employment stats and aerial views of the plant in it's heyday. It was immense as was the parking. Interesting, but sad timeline as well.
Very interesting! In the little Ohio town I grew up in, Toronto, Ohio , just down river from you , there was an entire abandoned mining town on the hillside . It was totally overgrown . I remember one day a guy had set up his still in one of the semi standing building and then preceded to fall asleep. I was in the backyard playing when it exploded! I looked up to the hillside ( we were on of the last houses in town in that direction) and saw a small mushroom cloud rising! That whole area is gone now as the new Route 7 went straight through it.
Thank you for the vid. I think it’s pretty creepy… Not as creepy as the amount of people not wearing masks in Beaver County, but creepy and odd, none the less. Someone will know why it’s abandoned like that!
What are you getting so worked up about a parking lot and pathway being abandoned by a company that has been around for getting close to near a century? In general, I love history and curiosity, but this title is so misleading. You act like there is something creepy about this or the area, which there is nothing creepy, and all this does is create an opinion that, Pittsburgh, and Beaver county especially, are long forgotten relics. I am from this area (recently moved back) and have lived all over the country (especially midwest and southeast). Pittsburgh has done so much to shake its rust (pun intended) it's time Beaver county does the same. . .
Dude, what is the point?? So and old company went under...and the property is overgrown....who cares?! What's the point like there's some big grand plan behind what your showing?!
