My dad used to work downtown at a bank here. One night a bad storm knocked out power to a big chunk of the town and took out a big tree in the bank courtyard. We were down there in the pitch dark cutting this tree apart so that nobody tripped over it coming in the next day. It felt a bit dicey with people suddenly appearing on the sidewalk in the small circle of light from our lanterns.

Fun fact: The town was named for another industrial town: Essen, Germany. Monessen = Essen on the Monongahela.