In 1911 The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Coal Company built Concrete City, one of the first known gated communities in the United States.
There were 22 two story duplex homes built completely of concrete from the floor
to the roof. They all faced the huge courtyard with a wading pool, tennis courts,
baseball field, pavilion and a playground. Each home was painted white with green trim and had 7 rooms with its own concrete outhouse out back. Rent was $8.00 per
month, and the homes were only rented to coal miners. In the lease was a clause that every home had to have a working garden hose to wash the culm from the walls. Every two years the homes had to be completely stripped and washed down. Then the company performed any needed repairs requested by the renters including papering the walls and re painting the buildings.
Some locals say the ghost of a small child who drowned in the wading pool still haunts the grounds looking for her parents.
In the early 1920s Concrete City was sold to The Glen Alden Company who opted not to install the $200,000.00 sewer required by the new township regulations. In 1924 the coal miners and families abandoned the city. The company tried to demolish the concrete homes with dynamite but they did little damage and the site still remains.
In 1988 Concrete City was declared a historical site and is sometimes used in training exercises done by local fire departments and military agencies.
The huge duplexes loom over the old road that surrounds the courtyard, some of them falling in, some sinking.
http://wendytheexplorer.blogspot.com/
There were 22 two story duplex homes built completely of concrete from the floor
to the roof. They all faced the huge courtyard with a wading pool, tennis courts,
baseball field, pavilion and a playground. Each home was painted white with green trim and had 7 rooms with its own concrete outhouse out back. Rent was $8.00 per
month, and the homes were only rented to coal miners. In the lease was a clause that every home had to have a working garden hose to wash the culm from the walls. Every two years the homes had to be completely stripped and washed down. Then the company performed any needed repairs requested by the renters including papering the walls and re painting the buildings.
Some locals say the ghost of a small child who drowned in the wading pool still haunts the grounds looking for her parents.
In the early 1920s Concrete City was sold to The Glen Alden Company who opted not to install the $200,000.00 sewer required by the new township regulations. In 1924 the coal miners and families abandoned the city. The company tried to demolish the concrete homes with dynamite but they did little damage and the site still remains.
In 1988 Concrete City was declared a historical site and is sometimes used in training exercises done by local fire departments and military agencies.
The huge duplexes loom over the old road that surrounds the courtyard, some of them falling in, some sinking.
http://wendytheexplorer.blogspot.com/
