A 1999 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described Horning as "racially mixed, low- and moderate-income families, reside in renovated, former mining company houses. Alfred Anderson, 83, who attended Horning School and has lived in the hamlet all his 82 years, said the area hasn't changed much from 50 years ago except for one thing: 'We didn't have paved streets then.' Like his father, Anderson worked in the Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Co.'s No. 4 mine in Horning, which opened about the turn of the century. A Feb. 3, 1926 explosion in the mine killed 19 miners and a boss attempting to rescue them. Area miners served as extras in 'Black Fury,' a 1935 movie that featured scenes shot in the Horning mine. The film, starring Paul Muni as a key figure in a coal strike, was based on a 1929 incident in which a Pennsylvania coal miner was beaten to death by company guards. Although the film was banned in Pennsylvania, according to 'The Warner Bros. Story,' it was shown at the nearby Broughton Theater. 'It was hard work, but I loved it.' Anderson said of his mining days. Evenings he competed as a prize fighter at the Duquesne Gardens. When the mine closed around 1942, he and others went to work in the J&L steel mill. Today most of the landmarks of the era exist only in memory. The reservoir that supplied water for steam for the engines that lifted the cages of men and mules into and out of the mines is gone, replaced by a field where youngsters play ball..."
