While my book will concentrate on the history of Carpatho-Rusyn communities during the immigrant era, to tell the whole story the post-immigrant years cannot be overlooked. For many Pennsylvania towns with major Carpatho-Rusyn populations, economic and demographic changes have drastically changed the face of what were once dynamic environments. Every one of the most-vacant towns listed here had a major Rusyn community, except Ashland.
(original article here at WNEP-16)
August 10, 2011, by Dave Bohman
An Action 16 investigation finds some communities in our region are fast becoming virtual ghost towns.
The proof comes from the 2010 U.S. Census which found in three area
communities more than 25 percent of the homes and businesses sit vacant.
The three communities are in the heart of the coal region. All
experienced population and employment losses in recent years that left
hundreds of vacant houses and storefronts.
