What Happened to Brownsville? | Abandoned America Podcast
Posted: 28th September 2022
In: Podcasts
Season 2, Episode 1
Premiere: October 3, 2022
Guest: Norma Marcolini-Ryan, former mayor of Brownsville
Music by: Rival Consoles
Photo Gallery: Brownsville
Photo Gallery: Brownsville General Hospital
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Brownsville, Pennsylvania used to be a prosperous town - what happened to turn it into a ghost town of dozens of rotting buildings that include the town's former train station, hotel, hospital, banks, churches, apartments and homes, and stores? The answer is a haunting mystery centering around how one man purchased scores of properties to build a dream, and why when it failed he left them to rot. In this episode I interview former mayor and lifelong resident Norma Marcolini-Ryan and we discuss Brownsville's glory days as a coal and steamship building city, what led to its decline, what it's like living in a city of ruins, and what the town's hopes for the future are.
Links:
Norma Marcolini-Ryan's Email
Brownsville Area Revitalization Committee
Brownsville Historical Society
2001 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article About Brownsville
2020 Observer-Reporter Article about Brownsville
Maria's Lovers House
Perennial Project
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Comments
By Missy Tunney: Thank you very much Matthew Christopher and Norma Ryan! Wow! I have lived in Brownsville 38 years and I learned all kinds of new facts. Thanks to both of you for doing this podcast and helping to preserve the history of Brownsville!