Millvale (Images of America)

Located three miles up the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh, Millvale was built along the valley formed by the creek called Girty's Run. Named after the iron mill of Graff, Bennett & Co., the "mill in the valley," Millvale attracted hardworking German, Irish, and Slavic immigrants. Many of Millvale's immigrants created their own small businesses and social organizations, such as the Baeuerlein Brewing Company, as shown on the cover, and St. Anthony's Music and Benevolence Society. They built schools and churches, including St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church, internationally famous for its Maxo Vanka murals. Prussian brothers Anton and Andrew Kloman established a small forge making uniquely superior railroad axles. Needing capital to expand, the brothers turned to Miller, Phipps, and Carnegie as partners. Kloman and Company became the birthplace of Pittsburgh's steel industry. Never annexed by Pittsburgh, Millvale governs independently, even owning and operating its own water and electric plants.