When Andi Cartwright created a Facebook page dedicated to the town she loves most, she had no idea thousands of people would show interest in it.
"I thought it would be just friends and people I know," said Cartwright, 46, who has lived in McKeesport most of her life.
Her page, McKeesport Memories, is a place for anyone interested in the town's history. The 5,530 people who "like" the site are invited to post pictures, questions and their own memories.
Several similar pages have popped up on Facebook, tapping into topics ranging from "historic" to "hot right now."
"It can be a very good way to generate interest," said Andy Quayle, CEO of Pittsburgh-based TuBu Internet Solutions, which provides social media consulting.
These privately established sites are separate from official pages run by municipal officials, as well as Facebook-created community pages that contain information from Wikipedia.
Cartwright's homage to McKeesport started in 2009, when she wanted to share her collection of old postcards online. She found more information to post after researching Google News.
But then, she said, she "really loosened up." She started posting information about notable natives -- everyone from pioneering female aviator Helen Richey to Durron Butler, frontman of the group Snap!
People then started posting their own memories and events.
Cartwright, a 1983 graduate of McKeesport High School who now lives in White Oak with her husband, Ron, remembers the vibrant business district of 1970s McKeesport, before the mills closed. Cartwright grew up on Library Avenue in a home formerly owned by the D.L. Clark family, well-known in the Pittsburgh region for its candy company and the chocolate/peanut butter Clark Bars.
It saddens her that younger generations might not know what their hometown once was, but she hopes her page helps people learn -- and remember. Her site is about highlighting the positive, she said.
In other words: No politics.
"It gets really creepy then," Cartwright said. "It's not the place for that. There are lots of problems in the community and there are other pages for that."
Quayle said on community-related sites, it is important for people to be mindful of posting opinions -- especially site administrators.
"It's best to stay on both sides and be careful with the information you're posting," he said.
Deborah Kennedy, 58, of Moon, started a Facebook page dedicated to the township's history about six months ago in an attempt to get more young people interested in the topic.
"Many of them were already interested, and this is giving them a venue to express that and learn more," said Kennedy, program director for the Old Moon Township Historical Society and a retired Moon High School history teacher.
The page, which is open to the public, has about 50 members. Some are frequent contributors who post information about their families' histories in the region, as well as old photos.
"I let people discuss whatever they want, as long as there is a tie-in to local history," she said. "A lot of people share memories of what was originally here."
LeRoy Koepfinger, 44, a Moon native who lives in Columbus, Ohio, started using the site a month ago to post photos and information about his family's history in the township.
"It's generated a lot of nice conversation among people on the site," he said. "By sharing old family pictures and the history of my family in Moon Township, hopefully it will generate more people telling their stories."
Other people start sites to highlight their communities' unique identities. Ricky Moody, 30, of the East Carnegie neighborhood in Pittsburgh, said people often incorrectly associate his town with its neighbors: Scott, Carnegie and Green Tree.
Moody started the page in December -- about the time he started the East Carnegie Neighborhood Association. He has 47 "likes" so far.
"I'm looking forward to using it as an outlet for people to join the association -- especially people in the young age group," he said.
Additional Information:Click, look
To find local pages on Facebook, search McKeesport Memories, Old Moon Township Historical Society or East Carnegie (City of Pittsburgh) District 2 Neighborhood.
