Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Greensburg
    Greensburg
    Greensburg
    Ebook178 pages52 minutes

    Greensburg

    By P. Louis DeRose

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    By 1771, a cluster of cabins flanked what would become the most traveled east west road between the Allegheny Mountains and Pittsburgh. This settlement, originally called Newtown, emerged as the nucleus of a growing community later renamed for the late General Nathanael Greene. By 1799, Greensburg was already the first county seat and site of the first courts west of the mountains. With the coming of the Pennsylvania Railroad and bituminous coal mining, Greensburg by 1885 was growing, prospering, and bustling with commercial activity. Utilizing rare photographs, some unseen in sixty years, Greensburg concentrates on the city s evolution past 1900, into the years of boom and growth, and through the 1950s, hinting of future decline.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateOct 27, 2004
    ISBN9781439615898
    Greensburg
    Author

    P. Louis DeRose

    Local resident and lawyer P. Louis DeRose is a member of the Westmoreland County Historical Society, Lincoln Highway Association, and Westmoreland Museum of American Art and former president of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. He is a frequent contributor to local publications and co-creator of a touring slide show about historic Greensburg.

    Related to Greensburg

    Related ebooks

    Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Born of War

      Feb 9, 2021

      Trailside is produced in partnership with Civil War Trails Inc., which connects visitors to lesser-known sites and allows them to follow in the footsteps of the great campaigns. Civil War Trails has to date 1,552 sites across five states and produces

      4 min read

    • Article

      Equality On The Plains

      Oct 1, 2019

      Equality On The Plains
      4 min read

    • Article

      Now You See It, Now You Don’t

      Oct 23, 2018

      Consult your GPS or a paper map today, and there it is: Middleburg, in Tennessee’s Hardeman County. Drive there via Tennessee Route 18 from either direction, however, and you’ll likely glide by not knowing a town ever existed there. Today, what may b

      2 min read

    • Article

      Looking Forward

      Sep 6, 2018

      II am pleased to introduce Aimee Greenaway, our newest addition to British Columbia History magazine. Aimee hails from Nanaimo, and will be taking over the reins as Book Review Editor in coming months. I asked her in this column to tell us a little a

      10 min read

    • Article

      Defining Grant’s Legacy

      Jun 1, 2021

      Defining Grant’s Legacy
      2 min read

    • Article

      Frio Town, Texas

      Sep 24, 2019

      Frio Town, Texas
      3 min read

    • Article

      Freedom’s Harbor

      Dec 25, 2018

      Freedom’s Harbor
      3 min read

    • Article

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma

      Mar 5, 2024

      Gene Autry in Oklahoma
      6 min read

    • Article

      Weston, W. Va. STATE WAR

      Aug 28, 2018

      Weston, W. Va. STATE WAR
      4 min read

    • Article

      Pageant Fever

      May 5, 2020

      Pageant Fever
      5 min read

    • Article

      Looking Back 200 Years

      Mar 16, 2020

      Looking Back 200 Years
      4 min read

    • Article

      Kennedy Farm Restoration Near

      Oct 17, 2023

      Kennedy Farm Restoration Near
      7 min read

    • Article

      Blueprint for Reconstruction

      Aug 15, 2023

      Blueprint for Reconstruction
      5 min read

    • Article

      Accessing BC History in 2020

      Dec 4, 2020

      Accessing BC History in 2020
      11 min read

    • Article

      War at Their Doorstep

      Jan 16, 2024

      War at Their Doorstep
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mountain View

      Dec 14, 2021

      Mountain View
      6 min read

    • Article

      ‘One Vast Hospital’

      Oct 4, 2022

      ‘One Vast Hospital’
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Hill City

      Aug 24, 2021

      The Hill City
      1 min read

    • Article

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island

      Apr 1, 2020

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Greensburg

    5/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Greensburg - P. Louis DeRose

      cheer.

      INTRODUCTION

      As the early colonists pushed westward, a series of forts was built up and over the mountains of western Pennsylvania. The road that connected these early forts was used not only by the military but also by new settlers seeking a fresh start in what was then the west. Migration slowed to a stall until the end of the French and Indian War. Once it was safe, travel was reestablished, and a steady stream of pilgrims pushed over the Alleghenies into the rolling countryside of western Pennsylvania, toward Pittsburgh. Midway between Fort Ligonier and Fort Pitt, a cluster of cabins was built to provide food, shelter, and supplies to those intrepid travelers. Some of these westbound pioneers decided to stay in this hamlet, then called Newtown.

      Once the state chose Newtown as the seat of government for all the western territory east of Pittsburgh, the future success of this community was assured. Renamed for Revolutionary War hero Gen. Nathanael Greene shortly after his death, Greensburg continued to grow and prosper but at a very slow rate. It was the first county seat of government and home to the first state courts west of the Alleghenies. In 1799, the community leaders established a borough form of government. For the first time, there was a recognized entity known as Greensburg.

      After the Civil War, with the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad running through its center and with rich farmland and bituminous coal mines surrounding it, Greensburg emerged as the commercial and industrial center of the region. As the community turned the corner into the 20th century, it displayed its newfound prosperity with beautiful, large homes and impressive new commercial structures.

      Through two world wars and the Great Depression, Greensburg remarkably continued its steady growth until the early 1960s. The decline that followed would last 20 years and is, in some ways, still unresolved.

      Located in the geographic center of Westmoreland County, approximately 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, today Greensburg is home to many local, state, and federal agencies serving an area population of over 75,000 people. The historic Lincoln Highway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, Amtrak, and Norfolk Southern all service its transportation requirements. The community is also served by Seton Hill University and the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, as well as nearby St. Vincent College and Westmoreland County Community College. Flanked by urban sprawl to the west and by bucolic farmland and recreation areas to the east, Greensburg is the cultural center of the county. It is home to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and the Palace Theatre. Along with the colleges and universities, these institutions are regular hosts to enriching art and entertainment opportunities. Nearby historical sites include the Hannastown settlement and Bushy Run battlefield, which celebrated the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War in 2004.

      With its neighbors Hempfield Township, South Greensburg Borough, Southwest Greensburg Borough, Salem Township, and Unity Township, Greensburg is the center of a growing and ever changing portion of Westmoreland County. Time and history have indeed brought changes to the face of the city and altered its destiny, but it remains, as it always has been, a fine place to live and work.

      One

      ROUNDING THE CORNER IN STYLE

      After the Civil War and before World War I, Greensburg began a period of slow yet sustained growth and development. The completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad to Pittsburgh helped fuel this growth, as did the development of bituminous coal mining near the end of the 19th century. Already well established as a seat of government, Greensburg was called home by more and more workers from Europe, as well as men and women from the East Coast. These new residents built schools, churches, and stores. They needed banks, hospitals, and more roads. Farmers found buyers for their products, and manufacturers found able-bodied men to work and a network of rail lines to deliver their goods to other markets. By end of the 1800s, a wealthy class was born, and the population of the area swelled. The demand for more services spawned new and better jobs. With a burgeoning population working and earning more money came the need for entertainment and transportation. Greensburgers responded to these challenges and, by 1900, were on their way to a second 100 years of growth and success that would, for a time, establish Greensburg as the finest town between the Allegheny Mountains and Pittsburgh.

      In 1848, Greensburg’s volunteer firefighters acquired their first pumper, the Pat Lyon, from Pittsburgh. It served the area alone until the Good Will fire engine was purchased (also from Pittsburgh) 10 years later. Both engines were hand drawn and hand pumped. By century’s end, these two could not handle the load that a growing community put on them. (Courtesy of Edward H. Hahn, Archives, Westmoreland County Historical Society.)

      Remodeled and improved in 1893, the first Pennsylvania Railroad station in Greensburg stood until 1909. A tunnel under Main Street was used by the railroad until the tracks were raised in 1910. This eliminated the grade crossing at Harrison Avenue, and the old station gave way to a new one in 1911. The 1911 station was

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1