The 1948 Donora Smog

The 1948 Donora Smog is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Washington County, dedicated 1995.

Meldon Ave. (PA 837) & Fifth St.

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Major federal clean air laws became a legacy of this environmental disaster that focused national attention on air pollution. In late October of 1948, a heavy fog blanketed this valley, and as the days passed, the fog became a thick, acrid smog that left about 20 people dead and thousands ill. Not until October 31 did the Donora Zinc Works shut down its furnaces--just hours before rain finally dispersed the smog.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection

Historical maps covering this location

1924 · Pennsylvania, Western Section. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1927 · Pennsylvania (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1931 · Brownsville, Pennsylvania (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1933 · Brownsville, Pennsylvania (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1940 · Brownsville, Pennsylvania (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Brownsville, Pennsylvania, 1940, covering the location of The 1948 Donora Smog, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Brownsville, Pennsylvania, 1940, covering this location. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

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