Concrete City, Nanticoke PA

Quick Info:

• GPS Coords for Concrete City - N 41 11.311, W 75 58.517
• Parking Coords - 41.186720, -75.974104
• We took front street, past the Hanover Recreation Park &  Concrete City historical marker, and parked on the right beside a gate (leading to the old mine?)  Then we crossed the road and walked up the road (don't try to drive it - there's practically a pond near the top).  There will be a road off to the left, walk a few feet past that and you will see a trail down to the buildings.
• Photos are from April 2019

Concrete City  - also known as Garden City when it was constructed - was an early example of International Style architecture, built as company housing in 1911 for select employees of the Delaware, Lackawana and Western Railroad's coal division in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. It was eventually taken over by the Glen Alden Coal Company who, uninterested in paying for required improvements and unable to demolish it due to its robust construction, abandoned the property in 1924.  Currently, the site is commonly used by military, police, firefighters and local teens, graffiti artists, and paintball enthusiasts.

When we visited today, there were college kids hanging out on a roof, there was a serious looking Paintball game taking place in two of the buildings, a photographer taking a girls photos, and families walking around the square.  It was a muddy sloppy mess, and the entire area is very overgrown - but it still appears to be a popular spot!

This is the road we walked up - this is past the huge pond, and also past several large dump sites.  Amazingly, there did not appear to be too much trash at the actual concrete city location, but lining the road on the way up here were the mattresses, tvs, and assorted junk and trash we unfortunately encountered on every trail and hike in this area.    To get to the buildings, walk past that road off to the left, and watch for a path off to the left about where that log is on the ground there.  The buildings will quickly be visible, and it is just a quick walk down the hill to get to the long abandoned city.  From the parking area, it is less than 1/4 of a mile to the buildings.  Some did drive up there.  i would NOT recommend it.  The only vehicles were big trucks that could navigate the pond sized pot holes.  

The History Of Concrete City

In 1916 the DL&W Coal Company's Truesdale Colliery set a record for the anthracite coal industry by producing 1,689,910 tons. For years to come it would remain the largest anthracite producing mine in the world.

The company employed approximately 16,000 workers throughout the region in 1913, making it the 2nd largest employer in the anthracite industry.   Prior to 1900, mine housing were typically wooden shacks, little more than shanties.  

In 1911, construction began for 20 double houses, on a 39 acre tract of land. 

"The Concrete city homes were originally built for mining officials, but “as more imposing homes were built later for the officials, the concrete structures were rented to the better class of miners.”  Although there were 16,000 employees, Concrete City housed just 40 workers, and their families.  There were "high value employees"- foreman, shopman, & technicians.  

Concrete was fairly new material in 1910, but the railroads were starting to use it for a variety of projects.  In 1915 when the Tunkahannock Viaduct opened, North of Scranton, it was the largest concrete structure in the world.  The massive Viaduct still stands strong and is an impressive sight yet today.  

Thomas Edison, posed with a model for a concrete home.  Edison was an early advocate for concrete buildings.  (He was not directly involved with the concrete city project in Nanticoke)  Another "Concrete City" was constructed by the The American Steel & Wire Company south of Pittsburg in the town of Donora Pa.  It consisted of 80 concrete homes.

  Similar concrete housing developments were built around the same time in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and  another  Concrete City was constructed in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania. 

An entire two family house could be constructed in one day.

"To build this cutting edge residential complex, the DL&W hauled in materials on railroad track built around the construction site, and mixed the component sand, cement, and cinders on flat cars. An innovative system of portable hinged steel molds, designed and patented by the New York firm of Read and Merrill, allowed the company to build an entire two-family house in a single day." http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-1AE

The buildings were constructed from poured concrete, infused with coal cinders and crude oil, as well as iron rebar. Materials were rolled in on rail cars, which also served as mixing vats for the concrete mixture during construction. At the time of its’ construction the “Garden City of the Anthracite Region” was considered a marvel of modern engineering. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/hidden-history-concrete-city-nanticoke-pa

Each house (half of a double) rented for $8 per month, and had seven rooms: living room, dining room, and kitchen downstairs, with four bedrooms above

 A coal stove between the living and dining rooms provided heat, as did a coal cook stove in the kitchen. 

Concrete outhouses, complete with coal bins, were located in the rear of each house.  The complex included sidewalks, electric street lights, a concrete swimming pool, playgrounds, a  baseball field and tennis courts.

The homes had dark green trimming and red chimneys.  Concrete walks led to the front and side doors.  

Each building had French windows with flower boxes attached.  Hung above every front door by chains was a marquis roof.   A wooden coal shanty and outhouse were built at the rear of each unit, leaving ample space for flower or vegetable gardens.

A living room in one of the concrete city houses.

There was a central well located in the middle of the complex since there was no indoor plumbing.  Water was heated on kitchen stoves so the family members could bathe in a concrete tub located in the kitchen, which was also used to wash clothing.  The garments were then either hung outside when it was warm and dry, or put up “on lines in the enclosed, upstairs back porch during cold weather”.

 “A circular swimming pool with constantly flowing water was installed in one corner of the big central square and on hot afternoons many of the children, some in improvised swimming costumes  and some with the alarming lack of them that characterizes the swimmin’ hole boy, disported themselves in its safety shallow waters. For there are between eighty and ninety children in Concrete City, and evidences of their presence abound.  Behind this house there is a child’s double seated swing.  In front of that, a benignant collie prowls and smiles upon the tumbling infants.  Even all the rag dolls are not taken in every night.” - The Times Leader, 1914

There used to be a road of crushed shale rock circling the inside of the complex and a single tree was planted in front of each unit, creating a uniform line. 

 A lawn area was planted in front of the houses and each family was required to have a lawn mower.  Large community trash bins were located near the front of the complex.

The company sponsored annual garden contested and awarded cash prizes to promote the villages beautification.  

In 1924, after just 13 years of use, concrete city was abandoned. 

"When they put all these buildings up there was no indoor plumbing," says Sherrick.  So everything was an outhouse which was in the back of the building.  Now, if you wanted to keep up these buildings, since they were set in concrete, how you do improve them as you go along? How do you put new kitchens in?  How do you put new bathrooms in?" 

Another fault? The concrete was terrible at keeping out the cold.

"In the very very cold winters you would get frost in here and the water would damage the building," says Sherrick.    Moisture and mold was a year-round problem. 

"Every year they would take all the furniture out of these buildings and they would come in with high pressure hoses and they would high pressure the entire place out," says Sherrick. 

It's a process hardly sanitary or efficient.  It took less than 15 years to realize solid concrete wasn't such a solid idea.  "They just decided they didn't want the upkeep, putting the sewer system in, the cost effectiveness," says Sherrick.   

Interview with Nanticoke Historical Society archivist John Sherrick.    

In 1998, Concrete City was declared to be a Historical Site by the Pa History & Museum Commission. The historical marker  is Located at the end of a town park, a good distance from the buildings.

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https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html