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Monessen is a city in Westmoreland County on the Monongahela River, and its name is a blend of 'Monongahela' and Essen, the industrial city in Germany.

Monessen is the most southwestern municipality in Westmoreland County, sitting across the Monongahela River from North Charleroi.

Monessen was created almost overnight by land speculators: the East Side Land Company laid out the town in 1897, and sales of lots to the general public began on July 27, 1897.

Monessen's first employer was the National Tin Plate Company, founded by William Donner, which began building its mill in May 1897 before the town around it really existed.

Monessen became a borough on September 3, 1898, and grew so fast that it was reclassified as a third-class city on September 16, 1921.

Monessen's population exploded from 2,197 in 1900 to 18,179 in 1920, and peaked at 20,257 in 1940, when immigrants and their children made up the large majority of the city.

The city's largest employer, Pittsburgh Steel Company — later Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel — closed nearly all of its Monessen operations in 1986, ending the city's steel era.

Monessen's population was 6,876 at the 2020 census, barely a third of its 1940 peak.

Monessen has about 3,130 households, with just over 2 people per household on average.

The former Charleroi-Monessen Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, and part of Monessen's old mill land has been reborn as the 60-acre Monessen Riverfront Industrial Park within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.