SANDCASTLE – ENTRANCE, LAZY RIVER & LIFE GUARD
The Sandcastle Water Park entrance appears on the mural with the Lazy River flowing between the pillars. A lifeguard is watching over the people riding the rafts in the Lazy River.
B25 GHOST BOMBER
On January 31, 1956, a B-25 bomber ran out of fuel and made an emergency landing in the Monongahela River. The plane flew very low (about 30 feet) above the Homestead High Level Bridge (now the Homestead Grays Bridge) and landed in the river near the Glenwood Bridge in Hays. The Homestead Grays Bridge is in the background. People stopped their cars on the bridge and watched in horror as the plane made an emergency landing in the river. All six passengers survived the crash but were forced into the water when the plane began to sink. Three of the six passengers were rescued from the water by nearby boats, as one actually swam to shore. Two of the passengers were not rescued. Their bodies were found months later.
The next day, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers started a search for the plane, which continued for 14 days. They did not find the plane in the river! How does a 15-foot-high plane disappear in a 20-foot-deep river?
Rumors persist that the plane was secretly removed from the river the night of the crash using cranes and taken to a secret site. There is speculation that the plane carried a top-secret Russian spy (this was the height of the Cold War), Howard Hughes, a chemical or nuclear bomb, an alien (the flight originated in Arizona near Area 51), or Las Vegas show girls to entertain senators in Washington DC. The plane’s passengers were all officers, which was very unusual.
Years later, local radio station KDKA aired a segment about the flight. A caller claiming to be a former steel worker said steel workers saw the plane being removed from the river by crane the night of the crash landing. A steel worker supposedly told a reporter that they were warned that they would lose their pensions if they ever talked about it. And in the 1970’s a KDKA caller claimed he was hired by the CIA to transport part of the plane by truck to a missile base near Oakdale, PA.
In more recent years, a team of volunteers known as the B-25 Recovery Group worked with the Heinz History Center with the hopes of finding the missing plane. Using sophisticated equipment, the group was unable to find any evidence of the missing plane. To this day, the government report on the missing plane still contains a lot of redacted material.
What do you think? The government removed the plane that night, or perhaps it sank into a deep hole in the river bed and was covered by sediment, never to be seen again?
HAYS BALD EAGLE NEST
In 2013, a pair of bald eagles built a nest above the trail in Hays just past the Glenwood Bridge, GAP Mile 142. It is believed that this was the first bald eagle nest in the city of Pittsburgh in perhaps 200 years. From 2013 until 2024, the eagles nested on the same hillside, building and utilizing four different nests and raising 22 eaglets. In 2024, the original male disappeared, and a new male mated with the female. That nesting season failed, and in 2025 the pair of eagles built a new nest on the opposite side of the river across from the rear Costco parking lot.
PUMP HOUSE
The parking lot in front of the Homestead Steel Works Pump House is used as a GAP trailhead. This is the site of the July 6, 1892, Battle of Homestead between steelworkers and Pinkerton agents. The steel workers were trying to unionize and, after initially being locked out of the mill, had occupied the facility. The 300 agents, who had been hired by Henry Clay Frick, approached the steel mill on two barges. The steel workers were warned of the approaching barges by workers in other steel mills along the river. The workers won the initial battle and paraded the captured agents past crowds of workers and their family members. Fatalities numbered at least 10, with some reports indicating as many as 16.
The governor responded by sending in the National Guard. The result was a major defeat for the workers and a major setback for their efforts to unionize. There would be no recognized trade unions and collective bargaining for steel workers until the 1930s.
CARNEGIE FREE LIBRARY OF DUQUESNE
Andrew Carnegie (1908-1986) built three libraries for his steel workers, one in Braddock, one in Munhall (which was named the Carnegie Library of Homestead), and one in Duquesne. Originally, the steel corporation paid for the operation of the libraries. In 1901, he sold the corporation for $480 million to J. P. Morgan and became the wealthiest man in America. He set up an endowment of $1 million to run the three libraries. Though the endowment was run by U. S. Steel executives conservatively, by the 1960s, it was not enough to operate the three libraries. The decision was made to sell two of the libraries to the school districts for one dollar each. In June 1968, shortly after taking control of the Duquesne library, the Duquesne City School District razed the building. Thirteen 1970s-era houses now occupy the former library property.
MR. ROGERS (on a bike)
Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1938 – February 27, 2003), a Pittsburgh area native, was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mr. Rogers, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
Rachel Carson (on a bike)
Rachel Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was a Pittsburgh area native who wrote the book “Silent Spring” in 1962. The book was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, as it spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy, resulting in a nationwide ban on DDT and other pesticides. Without this groundbreaking book, we may not have had the Hays Bald Eagle Nest as eagle eggs were not viable due to thin shells caused by DDT, which was being transmitted to the bald eagles by fish that had accumulated DDT in their bodies.
AUGUST WILSON (on a bike)
August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005), an American playwright and Pittsburgh native, has been referred to as the “theater’s poet of Black America.” He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” which chronicles the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. Some of his most famous plays include “Fences,” The Piano Lesson,” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
QUEEN ALLIQUIPPA OR QUEEN ALLIGUIPPA
Queen Alliquippa (Died December 13, 1754) was a leader of the Seneca Tribe of American Indians during the early part of the 18th century. By the 1740s, she was the leader of a band of Mingo Senecas living along the Pittsburgh Rivers: the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela. By 1753 she and her band were living at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers. In December 1753, she met with George Washington. She had expressed great concern that his troops had passed her on their journey to Fort Le Boeuf. Washington gave her a gift of a match-coat and a bottle of rum. The GAP Dravo Cemetery campground is named after her as well at the City of Aliquippa, PA.
CHARLIE BATCH (NUMBER 16)
(b. December 5, 1974) A former NFL quarterback from Homestead, Charlie was a Pittsburgh Steeler from 2002 to 2012 and earned two Super Bowl rings during that tenure. He still resides in the Pittsburgh area and works as a pregame analyst on local TV for preseason games and high school sports broadcasts. In 2006, he was presented with the first Jerome Bettis Award for Humanity and Community Service for his work supporting children through his Best of the Batch Foundation and for his efforts to upgrade local football fields and basketball courts for area kids. He is active in other areas to help underprivileged urban youth.
MESTA MACHINE “BIG WHEEL”
Mesta Machine was located in West Homestead from 1898 to 1988. In 1984, Mesta “machines” could be found in factories throughout the world and, as of 1984, had equipment in 500 steel mills. An iconic picture shows one of the huge geared wheels, 32 feet in diameter. A man standing beside the wheel stood about ten feet below the wheel’s axle!
HOMESTEAD STEEL ARCH
This arch is the main entrance to the former Homestead Steel Works, which for many years was the largest steel mill in the world and the most productive on the Mon Valley’s many mills. The workforce peaked at 15,000 during World War II. This is the current site of the Waterfront Shopping Center.
A PAIR OF RED & WHITE STRIPED CONES
This was a crossing gate in front of the Homestead Steel Works entrance.
TWO HOUSES
Depictions of two typical steelworker houses that were located above the Homestead Steel Works.
GRAY BUILDING INSIDE THE HOMESTEAD ENTRANCE ARCH
These are typical buildings that appeared inside the Homestead Steel Mill.
OSPREY
There are two osprey nests along the Steel Valley section of the GAP Trail. One is in the Dura-Bond yard across from the Port Perry Flyover, and the second is on a tower in the McKeesport RIDC close to the confluence of the Mon and Yough Rivers.
TWO BLUE TRAIN ENGINES
The Union Railroad was a division of U.S. Steel and transported steel materials inside the steel mills and between the steel mills. The blue engines pictured in the mural were diesel-powered switcher engines, which were exclusively used to transport railroad cars inside and between the various steel mills.
KENNYWOOD ARROWS AND RIDES
Before Google Maps, there were large yellow Kennywood signs all over Allegheny County, helping drivers find their way to the amusement park. Few of these signs remain along streets today. However, there is still one large sign above a gas station on Route 837 across from the Rankin Bridge. Pictured is the Aero 360 ride. With legs dangling, riders swing back and forth attached to a yellow symbol – the Kennywood Arrow. The arrows swing higher and higher, eventually swinging in a 360-degree circle for an over-the-top experience.
COMMUNITY (SUN) HEART
A radiant red heart surrounded by sun rays, this motif appears throughout artist Zachary Rutter’s public work as a symbol of warmth, unity, and hope. In the Linden Tunnel mural, the heart honors the people and stories of the Mon Valley—neighbors who built the mills, ride the trail, and keep the region moving forward. It also serves as the artist’s signature and a reminder that the mural was created with and for the community.
Go to Linden Tunnels Landside