How do American Muscovites live

Beautiful Moscow in the state of Pennsylvania is spread out, as it should be in the Moscow topography, on the hills. Photo: Victoria Averbukh

The first time here I was very surprised by the question: “Oh, you graduated from Moscow University! And in what state? ”. How is it in which? Moscow University - he is the only one, it seemed to me. It is presumptuous, however. Now I know that in America at the moment there are 28 settlements with this name!

How much to go from New York to Moscow? Total 2 hours by car! Beautiful Moscow in the state of Pennsylvania is spread out, as it should be in the Moscow topography, on the hills.

Photo: Victoria Averbukh

The first settlement here originated in the 1850's. A certain Quaker from Philadelphia, Henry with the nickname Drinker (“The Drinker”) took possession of about 3 miles of land, generously planted with beech trees. Henry opened a small sawmill, and the first clearing began to be called the Drinker's barrier - now it is the main street of the city, simply called the “Main Street”.

Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Perhaps the name Moscow was given to the village by the Lutheran priest Peter Rupert, who came here from the most important - Russian Moscow. It is curious that there seemed to be no other emigrants from Russia, except for Rupert, here, but he probably had a very great influence on the other residents, since he personally named the settlement that way. Rupert opened a tavern here, where every traveler could not only refresh himself, but also receive absolution. Thus, the urban planning of Moscow began with drinking establishments and religious institutions - in general, everything, as is customary in Russia.

According to another version, the name Moscow was offered by the first postmaster Leander Griffen, who was a very rich and respected person - in addition to being in charge of communication with the rest of the world, he opened the first department store in 1854 here.

In general, Moscow was rich and built, and in 1908, the council of citizens decided to consider its overgrown “urban-type settlement” the Moscow urban district.

The construction of the railroad from the large industrial city of Scranton, Pennsylvania to Hoboken, New Jersey, increased the importance of Moscow - now it was an intermediate point where you could stop, relax, stroll through beautiful parks. By the beginning of 1900, workers from Moscow traveled to Scranton on a daily train, and today the station of the Moscow railway, built in the style of the Victorian era, recalls the impact that the development of railway transport had on this area.

Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Passenger traffic through Moscow was closed in the 1952 year, freight - in the 1976. The railway branch passing by is practically not used - after the federal highway was built close to, the need for it disappeared.

Kazan Station? Yaroslavsky? Moscow! Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Here is a stand with a map of Moscow and the most important attractions on the main street.

Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Nowadays, about 2 thousand people live in Moscow, the average Moscow family is mom, dad and 1 children. The average age of a Muscovite in Pennsylvania is 42.

The main thing in Moscow is family values: per year the cost of school is more than $ 15 thousand from the city budget (on average in America it is about $ 13 thousand).

Moscow, as it is sung in one famous song about this beautiful city, is golden-domed. Judging by the number of churches, Muscovites are very pious people. And very tolerant! 5 temples get along well here: Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian.

Moscow schools and churches. Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Moscow is one of the few American cities that is 100% involved in the program. Clean and green - there are bins everywhere, not only for ordinary garbage, but also for recycling. Every spring, the city mayor’s office offers residents the opportunity to give away old things for recycling — all they have to do is call, and the city hall employees will come and pick up what you don’t need. As you know, the Moscow mayor's office takes care of the citizens! It even has its chimney sweep.

Photo: Victoria Averbukh

In order not to litter anywhere, strictly monitored by the management of parks. And they do not even suspect that they follow the traditions of their colleagues - the Moscow traffic police officers, hiding in the bushes:

Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Moscow roads are in excellent condition, beautiful smooth asphalt, cheap gasoline - well, what else do you need to withstand Moscow traffic?

This is what it is like - Moscow traffic. Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Moscow has its own rescuers - here is the Moscow Volunteer Fire Aid Office. These are roughly 40 volunteer firefighters who also raise money for a local boy scout group. In the Moscow police, an 3 officer serves on an ongoing basis, and there are still a few officers who come in half a day or as needed.

Business, of course, is not a good thing: the police check whether the child seats are properly installed in the car, ensure that all passengers are fastened, carry out tours in their department, and are also responsible for the program radKIDS - they come to school to the children of 5-12 for years and tell them about security at home (including handling weapons and the Internet), at school (how to defend themselves when they tease you), transport and behavior with strangers. The police also conduct self-defense courses for women and patrol the houses when the owners leave for vacation.

The program “for every Muscovite is a separate dwelling” here, quite obviously, has been completed and exceeded.

Photo: Victoria Averbukh

Since Moscow, as I already wrote above, is a family city, here it is very reverent about urban planning. And instead of following the example of another Moscow mayor with his “dot building”, local Muscovites cherish their parks - 4 large parks with thousands of people on 2! The parks are all major sporting events for children: football, basketball, baseball and American football.

In addition to Pennsylvania, cities named Moscow are located in the states of Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine, West Virginia, Washington, and North Dakota, but especially many of these cities are in the Midwest, where people from Russia used to live in large numbers. In Moscow, Idaho, there are more than 25 thousands of people, and in Kansas Moscow - only 400.

Quite often, according to urban legends, cities get their name as a result of curious misunderstandings. For example, Vermont Muscovites named their city this way because someone told them that the sounds of the sawmill sound like the bells of Moscow cathedrals in Russia. Moscow in Minnesota was called like this after a large forest fire - for some reason the locals drew a parallel between their fire and how Moscow burned in 1812 during the war with Napoleon. But the Kansas Muscovites, who named their city after the Spanish conquistador Luis de Moscoso, performed the coolest. They tried to register the name “Mosko”, but they returned the application by mail, saying that one letter was missing. So Mosco became Moscow.

And Washington's Moscow is named so, presumably, in accordance with the Indian word mashetow - “go.” That is, “the place where we go”. Or they came. Which once again proves that Moscow and Muscovites are eternal, have been and will be, regardless of the country of residence. In general, the Muscovites came. Hai!

Original article published on the site America roads and reprinted with permission of the author.

See also:

Russian village in the American forest

How Russians See America: 50 Facts About the USA

Brightness and poverty Brighton Beach: how the legendary "Little Odessa" lives

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