Oliver W. Barnes, a civil engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad, purchased the 140-acre Thomas Kirk farm on February 18, 1851, laid out streets and lots for a new town, and named it after his long-time friend and associate Benjamin Latrobe. The Pennsylvania Railroad, which in the 1840s began planning to extend its tracks through Westmoreland County to connect the eastern part of the state with Pittsburgh, brought the first train through Latrobe on November 29, 1852. In the early nineteenth century, agriculture and grist mills were the main industries in the area, but the railroad and natural resources soon drew additional industry, with Pennsylvania Car Works becoming Latrobe's first industry, followed by distilleries and breweries, while the steel industry drove the town's growth and development. As Irish, German, Italian, Polish, and Slovak immigrants arrived, congregations formed around shared religion and language, including the United Presbyterian congregation in 1853, Holy Family Catholic Church and a Methodist church in 1856, the first Presbyterian Church in 1857, Trinity Lutheran in 1863, and Congregation Beth Israel in 1900. Recreation grew as well, with the first modern two-wheel bicycle introduced to Latrobe in 1891, cycling clubs soon forming, Legion-Keener Park built on 27 acres of floodplain in the 1930s, and Memorial Stadium, the Little League Field, and a community swimming pool added in the 1950s. Latrobe also became associated with notable firsts and prominent figures: in 1895 John Brallier was paid $10 to play quarterback for the local team, and Latrobe had the first all-pro football team in 1897; in 1904 Dr. David E. Strickler invented the banana split while working evenings at Tassel's Pharmacy on Ligonier Street; on May 12, 1939, the first non-stop airmail pick-up was made at Latrobe Airport using Lytle S. "Doc" Adams' invention; Arnold Palmer, a 1947 graduate of Latrobe High School, became one of professional golf's greatest players; and Fred McFeely Rogers, born in Latrobe on March 20, 1928, and a 1946 Latrobe High School graduate, was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963 and from 1968 until 2000 produced Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.