Connellsville, A River Runs Through It

Zachariah Connell secured a charter for Connellsville on March 21, 1793, envisioning it as a natural stopping place where immigrants and travelers could build rafts and float down the river. Residents were allowed to use stone quarries, a coal bank, timber, and springs, and Connell donated land for public buildings, churches, schools, and a graveyard. Connellsville was chartered as a borough in 1806, and many flatboats built there carried coal, iron ore, and iron products to markets farther west. Before the current City Hall on Arch Street, city government occupied a Dutch-inspired building erected in 1901-1902 on land Connell had donated for public use; it cost $15,149, stood two stories high, and included a furnished basement and attic. The current City Hall was built in 1976 next to that site, and City Plaza now occupies the place where the original building stood. The United States Post Office on Arch Street was built in 1904, once housed civic groups on its upper floor, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 through efforts led by former Postmaster C. J. Franklin Ellis. Connellsville's first streetcar company, the Connellsville, New Haven and Leisenring Street Railway Company, was chartered on May 9, 1891, and a second, the Connellsville Suburban Street Railway Company, was chartered on September 15, 1896, by citizens of Connellsville, Lancaster, and Pittsburgh. The West Penn Railway and Lighting Syndicate purchased the company's stock on September 24, 1902, and West Penn Railways eventually controlled about 340 miles of track before its trolleys disappeared in 1950 and were replaced by West Penn buses.

Connellsville, Pennsylvania · United States