Posted September 14, 200816 yr another one of those big dots on the map I'm sure you've all wondered about... New Castle (pop. 26,309) is the seat of Lawrence County (pop. 94,643) and has an Urban Cluster population of 43,222. The city is located 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh and 18 miles east of Youngstown, OH. The New Castle micropolitan area (coterminous with Lawrence County) is part of the Pittsburgh - New Castle CSA. New Castle was founded in 1798 at the confluence of the Shenango River and Neshannock Creek. In the mid/late 1800s, New Castle grew rapidly as a major industrial center, producing: steel, tin, bronze, ceramics, fine china, pyrotechnics, paper and other goods. The Warner Bros. opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle in 1907. New Castle is HQ of Zambelli Fireworks Internationale, one of the world's largest fireworks companies. The countryside surrounding New Castle contains one of Pennsylvania's largest Amish populations. In the mid/late 20th century, New Castle experienced the usual Rust Belt malaise along with neighboring industrial powerhouses Sharon and Youngstown. The city's massive depopulation can be easily seen in its residential neighborhoods, which are plagued by vacant lots and decrepit housing. Downtown suffered dearly from disinvestment and hare-brained urban renewal schemes, which wiped out urban blocks in favor of mid-century suburbia. However, New Castle has shown remarkable resilience on the face of its setbacks. The city has embarked on an impressive downtown revitalization campaign in recent years, rehabbing historic structures and attracting businesses. The new Riverplex complex along the waterfront has emerged as a major regional entertainment destination. Along with a resurgent downtown and a central location amongst a densely populated Pittsburgh-Youngstown corridor, New Castle's spectacular cultural assets and some really gorgeous neighborhoods north of downtown provide it with a fighting chance for the future. bridge on the south side of downtown waterfront dining along the Neshonneck Creek old industrial buildings just south of downtown (courty courthouse tower visible in distance) The Lawrence County Courthouse was built in 1852 in the Classical Revival style. It is a bit unusual in that it is not located in the heart of downtown, but instead sits on a hill across the Neshonneck Creek. While courthouses even in the most rundown towns tend to be surrounded by some nice stuff, the Lawrence County courthouse is surrounded by a rather blighted landscape. entrance is through the back... the front steps seemed to be poorly maintained across the street from the courthouse... grit blighted commercial corridor leading from courthouse into downtown Main St. Civil War monument MayDay-inspired detail shot wtf New Castle has many awesome churches this 13-story residential tower appears to be New Castle's tallest next time I'll have to try Hazel's one of many abandoned monumental structures in New Castle beautiful homes along a pedestrian street New Castle: The Cautious City library Obama-Biden's New Castle Headquarters. Obama! Obama! Obama! the building at left sells porcelain dolls i love that orange brick home.. I imagine there were many more of them here once upon a time yeah! every city like this has one of these 1970s relics the Scottish Rite Cathedral looms in the distance strangely, that sticker looks new the New Castle News has an AWESOME building... the News has a daily circulation of 17,871 The Mill Street Grill is a major part of the Riverplex redevelopment along the Neshonneck Creek... which also features The Basin restaurant and Stage 3 comedy club and live music venue... this neighborhood on a hill north of downtown is full of mansions the Scottish Rite Cathedral is a monumental edifice overlooking downtown. Built in 1924 as a Masonic Temple, it has a 2,800 seat auditorium and frequently hosts the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. moving east... favorite house ever vacant lots abound yet another one-of-a-kind structure abandoned Catholic school industry and railroads this backwoods area is adjacent to downtown... it was weird finally... a very solid neighborhood further north than the previous mansion district... it's quite large and is home to New Castle's renowned Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts
September 14, 200816 yr i like it. reminds me of an upstate ny town a little along the river. btw -- you know you are a good salesperson if you can sell coals to them! :laugh:
September 14, 200816 yr Interesting set. There's a lot of good stuff among the grit, or vice versa. It's suprising that the area around the courthouse is so rundown; being the county seat is a lot of what saves small-town downtowns, because the lawyers snap up available building stock and often do nice restorations for their offices.
September 14, 200816 yr I spent a quite a few days in New Castle from the late 1980s into the 90s working on the Cleveland-Pittsburgh passenger rail project. I always liked their downtown but never got into the mansion district north of downtown -- very pretty. I seem to recall the last straw for New Castle's industry was the demise of the Rockwell plant. Thanks for taking/sharing the pics, but again the colors in your photos are turned up a bit too intense in them. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
September 15, 200816 yr Thanks! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 15, 200816 yr That backwoods area "adjacent to downtown" just screams "Slasher Avenue". It just looks like Jason, The Candy Man, Michael Myers, Chuckie, and Freddy Krueger are waiting to get'cha!
September 17, 200816 yr Ooh, nice office. I painted the window at the Milwaukee office, and now I'm a whore for seeing how other cities did it. I'm pretty damn proud of my lettering: Then my window made it onto MSNBC when some drunk d-bag 19-year old student at Marquette kicked it in... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26704226/
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