Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Duquesne, PA

Duquesne is a small city on the Monongahela River in Allegheny County, about 12 miles south of Pittsburgh in the Mon Valley.

Duquesne was settled in 1789 and took its name from Fort Duquesne; it was incorporated as a borough on September 12, 1891, and became a city on January 7, 1918.

The Duquesne Works steel mill, part of Carnegie Steel and later U.S. Steel, was the heart of the city, and its 'Dorothy Six' furnace was the largest blast furnace in the world; Bob Dylan's 2012 song 'Duquesne Whistle' is dedicated to it.

Duquesne's population peaked at 21,396 in 1930 and has fallen ever since — to 5,254 at the 2020 census, fewer people than the 1948 workforce of its steel mill.

The 2020 census counted 2,391 households in Duquesne, and about 16 percent of the city's 2,845 housing units stood vacant.

Pennsylvania designated Duquesne a financially distressed municipality in 1991, and the city finally exited that distressed status in October 2023.

Duquesne High School closed in 2007, so Duquesne students now attend West Mifflin Area High School or East Allegheny High School, while the Duquesne City School District still runs the local elementary and middle grades.

Duquesne covers about 2 square miles in total, of which roughly 0.2 square miles is the water of the Monongahela River.

Jazz pianist Earl Hines and NFL running back Gene Gedman, who won two championships with the Detroit Lions, are among Duquesne's notable natives.