Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Swissvale, PA

Swissvale was incorporated as a borough on July 30, 1898, in Allegheny County about 9 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, along the Monongahela River.

Swissvale was named by Jane Grey Swisshelm, the famed abolitionist and journalist, after the Swisshelm family farmstead that overlooked the Monongahela River valley — 'Swiss vale.'

Jane Swisshelm's father-in-law John Swisshelm, who owned the farm where the town now stands, served under General George Washington in the Revolutionary War and camped at Valley Forge.

During the industrial age Swissvale was the home of George Westinghouse's Union Switch & Signal Company, the railroad signaling manufacturer locals simply called 'The Switch,' which employed generations of borough residents.

A bitter seven-month strike in 1982 led Union Switch & Signal to pull out of Swissvale, leaving thousands unemployed and ending the borough's defining industry.

Swissvale's population peaked at about 16,500 in the mid-1950s; the 2020 census counted 8,624 residents, about half the peak.

The Longfellow School in Swissvale, built in 1902, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jane Swisshelm was also an Underground Railroad promoter, and her log house in Nine Mile Run Hollow was part of the abolitionist network that helped escaping slaves reach Canada.