Cement City Historic District
Cement City Historic District is a historic district in Donora, Pennsylvania. The district includes 80 Prairie School concrete residences built in 1916-17. The homes served as housing for employees of the American Steel and Wire Company. Poured-in-place concrete houses had become popular in large-scale housing developments at the time, partly thanks to promotion by Thomas Edison; the homes built in Donora used a newly patented construction method from the Lambie Concrete House Corporation. Building the houses required a combined 10,000 barrels of Portland cement.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. In 1997, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission installed a historical marker on McKean Ave. in South Donora, noting the historic importance of the community. It is designated as a historic district by the Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation. Many of the original cement homes are still standing today, and currently serve as private residences.
