A 52-page book to celebrate the Blawnox centennial might surprise readers with its eye-opening tidbits about the rivertown.
The limited edition “Blawnox: 1925-2025,” authored by O’Hara historian Tom Powers, will reveal the clothing store millionaire who funded the community of Hoboken — the borough’s original name. It also will detail the Lehman family, Pittsburgh clothiers who pivoted industries and created the Blaw-Knox construction company that grew into a worldwide Fortune 500 giant.
“The community’s growth has been dynamic, from a forested riverbank to Depreciation Lands to the Hoboken suburb and then a manufacturing town,” Powers said.
While Blawnox is tiny — less than half of a square mile — its history is rich.
Powers has been collaborating for three years with the Heinz History Center and longtime families for research.
He previously published the O’Hara history book, “Portrait of an American Community,” and co-authored “The Allegheny Arsenal Handbook,” which chronicles 112 years of the Union Army manufacturing center in Lawrenceville.
In Blawnox, he worked with a committee comprised of residents Phyllis Trail, Angi Yucas, Ed Bukowski, Ron Dziuban, Debbie Laskey and Katie Specht-Coban.
“The community will be enlightened as to the rich history that was uncovered,” said Laskey, a council member since 1998.
“I think they’ll be surprised to learn how the mill came about, and our war efforts will instill pride.”
The upcoming book will describe the early days of the borough, born from the village of Hoboken which was founded in the late 1860s to support the contractors and employees of the former Allegheny County Workhouse. That massive facility sat at the foot of what is now RIDC Park in neighboring O’Hara.
Hoboken was home to the Blaw Steel Co. and the Knox Welded and Pressed Steel Co., which merged in 1917 and eventually lent its name to the new borough in 1925.
“This company was huge and so diversified that even former employees had no idea about all the company was doing,” Powers said.
The Blaw-Knox Co. was a Fortune 500 company with additional operations in Lawrenceville, Coraopolis, Pittsburgh’s North Side, Buffalo, N.Y., and Baltimore. It had a large road-paving equipment factory in Illinois and offices worldwide.
With the loss of its namesake company in the 1990s, the borough still thrives as a vibrant community, forged by a working-class ethic, Powers said.
“Blaw-Knox” is still an active trademark, now owned by Gencor Industries of Florida who produce road-paving equipment.
Even Mayor Tony Gross was surprised by some of what the research revealed.
“I find the book to be most informative,” Gross said.
“I did not know many of the little things that have popped up. The book is a fantastic way to commemorate the town’s age.”
Today, the borough has a population of about 1,500. It is hemmed by O’Hara on three sides, with the Allegheny River on the fourth side.
Though history books were printed to mark the borough’s 50th and 75th anniversaries, Powers said they were mostly yearbooks to promote municipal government and civic organizations.
This 100th anniversary edition is a historic record on the growth and development of the community, he said.
“There is so much information available now because of the internet that I think people will find the book very informative,” Laskey said. “I do hope that people enjoy it.”
Specht-Coban, a borough native and a council member for 24 years, said the book is a treasure for people who truly love the community.
“I was born and raised in Blawnox since 1967 and haven’t left,” she said, adding that the book is a tribute to the families who built Blawnox.
A presale order form is available online at blawnox.com. The cost is $20. For those who need the book to be shipped, an additional $5 will cover up to two copies.