Got big bucks? A town’s up for sale

NO GARBAGE: FAMILY WANTS TO SELL US HAMLET

Got $1.5 million (about R12.5 million) to spare? If so, the tiny town, Reduction, a one-time company town built to house workers at a long-vanished garbage-processing plant in western Pennsylvania, could be yours for the asking.

The aptly named town is home to 60 residents, down from 400 in its heyday. They live in 19 tidy brick houses, paying rent to the Stawovy family, proprietors of the unincorporated village for the past 70 years. The asking price includes a one-room schoolhouse that was long ago converted into a duplex residence.

The plant was built by American Reduction Co on a wide bend of the Youghiogheny River. It was shut down in 1936 after processing waste from the city of Pittsburgh since the early 20th century.

Workers would render animal carcasses, and separate metal from household waste for resale.

“This was the original recycling plant,” said David Stawovy, 67, who owns Reduction with his three siblings.

In 1948, David’s father, John, owned an adjoining farm and was thinking about buying one of the larger homes in Reduction for his growing family. At one time, he would have had 28 from which to choose.

“My mother and dad wanted their own place,” David Stawovy said, “and the man said: ‘why don’t you buy them all?’”

The senior Stawovy ended up doing just that, paying $10 000 for the place, lock, stock and barrel.

All that is left of the processing plant is the foundation, Stawovy said. Once, the town dump contained a treasure trove of collectible bottles, but it was wiped clean years ago. – Reuters