McKEESPORT, Penn., June 19, 1880,

[jeff of pa]

GENERAL TELEGRAPH NEWS; MONEY WHICH LED TO A MURDER.

McKEESPORT, Penn., June 18.--Much excitement prevails in this place and its vicinity over the discovery by two boys of a large number of gold and silver coins in the bank of the Youghiogheny River at the foot of Fourth-street, in this village, and the robbery of the boys of the treasure by a man whom they met as they were hurrying home with it in their hats. [ END OF FIRST PARAGRAPH ]

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9400E6D91630EE3ABC4152DFB066838B699FDE

 

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[Jeff.L]

Curious , have you done any Metal Detecting down there?


Jeff

 

[jeff of pa]

Welcome !

I'v never been, However odds are If true
They only picked up what they saw with their eyes.

Of course alot of Floods happend Since.

But if your Local, Go for it if you can

I'm guessing the area where the Iron RR Pridge crosses the
"Youghi' "

 

[Jeff.L]

I'm with in a half hour from it, i did a quickie on google earth, there looks to be one house opposite to 4th street across the railroad tracks and some other building that appears to have a fence around it. It looks like there is alot of growth on the river bank also, I'm going to have some time off from work comming up for the holiday, perfect time for a recon mission, poke around the area, see how deep the water is off of the river bank, no telling how much the river bank has eroded since then. If I come up with anything I'll post some pics

Thanks for the post
Jeff

 

[jeff of pa]

I'm with in a half hour from it, i did a quickie on google earth, there looks to be one house opposite to 4th street across the railroad tracks and some other building that appears to have a fence around it. It looks like there is alot of growth on the river bank also, I'm going to have some time off from work comming up for the holiday, perfect time for a recon mission, poke around the area, see how deep the water is off of the river bank, no telling how much the river bank has eroded since then. If I come up with anything I'll post some pics

Thanks for the post
Jeff

if ya Havn't, Ya may wanna check the 1938 Arial
in Penn Pilot

http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/

May be of assistance on How things changed since then.

Good Luck ! Spring is Hopefully around the corner

 

[jeff of pa]

October 2, 1938

 

[Jeff.L]

Wow, I'm glad you posted the areal, google had me up the river a bit, if you zero in on it Google doesn't see it as 4Th street. At the present site there is a boat marina at the end of what was or is 4Th street, So i'm going to take my daughter, fishing poles and my detector and see if I can get access or if we would need permission to MD there. Check out what looks to be a Railroad bridge in your areal and the photo I posted, I'd like to find out if its the same bridge.

 

[jeff of pa]

penn pilot list it as the end of 4th. "Avenue"
but I'm going to Guess in the 19th. Century
4th. Ave was, actually 4th. Street.

Which brings up another possability.
IF You can find a 19th Century
Plat map.

4th. Street may have been renamed to something
completely Different.

IF I Remember this after I Do my Morning Rounds,
I'll see if I can find a 1870's Beer's Plat map online

 

[jeff of pa]

unless there is a 4th. "Street" somewhere
else I Don't see.

In 1876 4th. was listed as an "Avenue" also

Here is an 1876 Map of McKEESPORT

http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?view=entry;cc=maps;entryid=x-76v01p69

 

[Jeff.L]

Noting ventured nothing gained! Anyway they take the boat docks out in the winter because they had allot of damage from Ice on the river, that should make things a bit easier. I'm planning a trip after Christmas, I'm off all week from work, meanwhile there is a place right out of the town I live in that I plan on metal detecting, I played there as a kid but never really knew of the exact details of the tragedy.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50D1FFC3D5A11738DDDA90A94DD405B888DF1D3
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/PA-CARNEGIE/2004-01/1074441114

 

[jeff of pa]

Noting ventured nothing gained! Anyway they take the boat docks out in the winter because they had allot of damage from Ice on the river, that should make things a bit easier. I'm planning a trip after Christmas, I'm off all week from work,

Good Luck ! Keep us updated.

meanwhile there is a place right out of the town I live in that I plan on metal detecting, I played there as a kid but never really knew of the exact details of the tragedy.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50D1FFC3D5A11738DDDA90A94DD405B888DF1D3
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/PA-CARNEGIE/2004-01/1074441114

From the articles, The whole area Surrounding the plant
has a possability of drops from 1918 back from sightseers.

 

[Tubecity]

I live in this area & much has changed thru-out all these years. National Tube Works (USS) had taken over all that 1st Ward of the City . Street names have changed, the Jerome bridge which crosses over the Yough river is now along Lysle Blvd. . Crossing the bridge toward Glassport, it is called 5th Ave. , but on the city side Jerome St. no longer exists . 5 th Ave. is a block away from what is now called Lysle Blvd., the main drag thru this dilapidated steel-town.
Many floods have occured here , with the 1936 flood being the record. Many years of ice-out during the thaw has scoured the banks of that river, to the point of wiping out that marina numerous times .

As always, what's left is a guessing game . After steel & iron making since the 1850's , ground discrimination can drive you nuts. That's all along the Mon & Yough rivers in this area. Good luck to you.

 

[verbious]

Don't beat me up too badly for responding to this age old tread. I am fairly new to detecting and live in Elizabeth, but grew up in McKeesport. I found this very fascinating, as I used to fish in this exact spot when I was a kid in the mid 80's. My wife and I have a boat docked very near the end of the 4th Avenue. The couple that was murdered supposedly buried money around their property. The couple that killed them confessed to burying it and some kids dug it, or some of it up. Reportedly, $600 was stolen and $300 recovered. That means $300 of gold and silver coins at 1857 value. How many coins would that have been back then? Additionally, the Yough was probably much lower then than it is now. Several damns and locks have been put in which has raised the river pool significantly in this area. I know the area where their log cabin was located in Glassport, and it has long been paved over with many streets and homes where their farm used to be.