1.
Pittsburgh
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Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
Pittsburgh
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Clockwise:
Cathedral of Learning at the
University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh skyline;
Carnegie Mellon University;
PNC Park;
Duquesne Incline
Pittsburgh
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This article is about the Pennsylvania city. For other uses, see
Pittsburgh (disambiguation).
Pittsburgh
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Monongahela River scene, 1857
Pittsburgh
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Downtown facade memorializing Pittsburgh's
industrial heritage with an image of legendary steelworker
Joe Magarac
2.
South Side (Pittsburgh)
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South Side is an area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Monongahela River across from Downtown Pittsburgh. The South Side is officially divided into two neighborhoods, South Side Flats and South Side Slopes, both the Flats and the Slopes are represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Bruce Kraus. The business district stretches along East Carson Street, which is home to small shops, restaurants. In 2006, more than 80 bars and pubs operated in the South Side Flats, the neighborhood has an urban fabric with rowhouses. The South Side is well-connected with public transit and its proximity and public transit connections also have attracted professionals who work downtown. Pittsburgh Fire Station #24 is located on Mary Street in the neighborhood, dr. Nathaniel Bedford planned a large part of Birmingham and named many streets after his friends and family, thus the predominance of streets named after people such as Jane, Sarah, and Carson. For many years, much of the South Side was dominated by heavy industry, the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company was located on the South Side but closed in the 1980s and has since been redeveloped. The Pittsburgh Terminal Properties building is located on the west end of Carson Street, when construction finished in 1906, it was the largest warehouse between New York and Chicago. Connections to river, rail, and road transport made it a facility for merchants who sold goods. It has since redeveloped into River Walk Corporate Centre and houses a mix of office and service businesses including Paper Products Company. In more recent years, the South Side has become home to a student population. Many students at Duquesne University, University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University either live in the South Side or spend a portion of their nightlife there, a walk over the South Tenth Street Bridge that crosses the Monongahela River takes students to Duquesne University. Due to the number of college students and young professionals, in addition to the thriving bar scene. Important streets in South Side are E. Carson Street, Josephine Street, the business district is located along E. Carson Street, which runs the length of South Side. The Birmingham Bridge makes South Side easily accessible from Oakland, which is around 2 miles away from South Side, Station Square is about 1.5 miles west of South Side, and Mt. Washington is 2.5 miles away. The average South Side family income in 2003 was $41,353, East Carson St. has restaurants, bars, and shops that help support the economy of the South Side. The large variety of shopping along E. Carson Street and SouthSide Works is also a factor in the South Sides economy, there are a variety of locally owned stores such as Pittsburgh Jeans Co. and widespread stores such as American Eagle, H&M, and Nine West. The Urban Redevelopment Authority started the SouthSide Works project hoping to create over 6,000 jobs, today, SouthSide Works has over 10 shopping stores and over 10 restaurants & bars
South Side (Pittsburgh)
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Southside rowhouses typical of late 19th century.
South Side (Pittsburgh)
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Narrow street
South Side (Pittsburgh)
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Another view of historic East Carson Street
South Side (Pittsburgh)
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Bloom Cigar Company in Pittsburgh's South Side.
3.
Bluff (Pittsburgh)
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Uptown or The Bluff is a neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the southeast of the citys Central Business District. It is bordered in the north by the Hill District and located across the Monongahela River from South Side, the predominant area zip code is 15219. This area is home to Mercy Hospital as well as Duquesne University and it also includes a residential community that was once flourishing during the first half of the 20th century. Uptown is also the home of the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau 4 Engine and 4 Truck, the area was known to American frontiersmen and colonists as Ayers Hill in honor of a fortification built by the English commander Ayers in the mid-1700s. Sometime near the Revolutionary War and throughout the 19th century the area was referred to as Boyds Hill in the expanding frontier and than industrial city. The name is said to have given to the neighborhood after a newly arrived businessman swayed by Hugh Brackenridge, left his downtown office. The Uptown was first developed by James Tustin, an eccentric English émigré who built an estate in the area in the eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Tustin named his estate Soho after his previous residence in Britain, the neighborhood was originally part of Pitt Township, but was annexed in 1846. The addition was precipitated by the efforts at regrowth following a cataclysmic fire in 1845. The neighborhood was affected by Pittsburghs urban renewal campaign in the 1960s. Construction projects in the area include expansion by Duquesne University, fifth Avenue is home to law offices and a few restaurants, but vacant storefronts, rundown bars, and small street parking lots for Downtown commuters are prevalent as well. Brick rowhouses are common in the neighborhood, there are significant efforts in the community to reassert a sense of identity, and residents range from Downtown workers and long-time residents to university students and health professionals. Uptown borders Pittsburghs Downtown Pittsburgh, the The Hill District neighborhood, South Oakland, the South Side Flats, list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods Post Gazette article on the 19th century history of the area Toker, Franklin. Post-Gazette on residential renovations in the Bluff
Bluff (Pittsburgh)
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Uptown (visible on the left side of the image) overlooking the
Monongahela River.
Bluff (Pittsburgh)
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A panoramic view of Pittsburgh's Bluff or Uptown neighborhood from the top of a parking garage at
Duquesne University from January 2008
Bluff (Pittsburgh)
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Fifth Avenue High School, built in 1894, at 1800 5th Avenue.
Bluff (Pittsburgh)
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Reymer Brothers Candy Factory, built circa 1910, at 1425 Forbes Avenue.
4.
Downtown Pittsburgh
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Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle or Dahntahn in eye dialect, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose joining forms the Ohio River, the triangle is bounded by the two rivers. The area features offices for major corporations such as PNC Bank, U. S. Steel, PPG, Bank of New York Mellon, Heinz, Federated Investors and Alcoa. It is where the fortunes of industrial barons as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Henry J. Heinz, Andrew Mellon. It contains the site where the French fort, Fort Duquesne, in 2013, Pittsburgh had the second-lowest vacancy rate for Class A space among downtowns in the United States. The Central Business District is bounded by the Monongahela River to the south, the Allegheny River to the north, an expanded definition of Downtown may include the adjacent neighborhoods of Uptown/The Bluff, the Strip District, the North Shore, and the South Shore. Downtown is served by the Port Authoritys light rail system, an extensive bus network. Greyhounds Pittsburgh bus terminal is located across Liberty Avenue from the Amtrak Station, other important roadways are Pennsylvania Route 28, Pennsylvania Route 51, Pennsylvania Route 65, and U. S. Route 19. Three major entrances to the city are via tunnels, the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Squirrel Hill Tunnel on I-376 and the Liberty Tunnels. The New York Times once called Pittsburgh the only city with an entrance, also traveling I-279 south and I-376, the city explodes into view when coming around a turn in the highway. Downtown surface streets are based on two distinct grid systems that parallel the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and these two grids intersect along Liberty Avenue, creating many unusual street intersections. Furthermore, the Allegheny grid contains numbered streets, while the Monongahela grid contains numbered avenues, and, in fact, there are cases where these numbered roadways intersect, creating some confusion. This unusual grid pattern leads to Pittsburghers giving directions in the terms of landmarks, Pittsburgh is nicknamed The City of Bridges. In Downtown, there are 10 bridges connecting to points north and south, the expanded definition of Downtown includes 18 bridges. In Allegheny County the number exceeds 2,200, while most people still consider the entire Downtown as one neighborhood, there are several significant subdistricts within the Golden Triangle. The Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic District is a district in the central business district. It is bounded by Wood Street, Forbes Avenue, Grant Street and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 17,1985. Point State Park area, At the triangles tip is Point State Park with its giant fountain and this park was the original site of both Fort Duquesne by the French and the subsequent Fort Pitt by the British
Downtown Pittsburgh
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From
Mt. Washington
Downtown Pittsburgh
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The Smithfield Street Bridge
Downtown Pittsburgh
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Famous mural on the 300 Sixth Street building
Downtown Pittsburgh
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Wood Street.
5.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
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Flag
United States
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
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The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
6.
Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
Pennsylvania
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World's End State Park, Sullivan County
Pennsylvania
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Flag
Pennsylvania
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Autumn in North Branch Township,
Wyoming County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
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Penn's Treaty with the Indians, by
Edward Hicks
7.
West Virginia
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West Virginia /ˌwɛst vərˈdʒɪnjə/ is a state located in the Appalachian region of the Southern United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the north, West Virginia is the 9th smallest by area, is ranked 38th in population, and has the second lowest household income of the 50 United States. The capital and largest city is Charleston, West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20,1863, and was a key Civil War border state. The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States, the unique position of West Virginia means that it is often included in several geographical regions, including the Mid-Atlantic, the Upland South, and the Southeastern United States. It is the state that is entirely within the area served by the Appalachian Regional Commission. The state is noted for its mountains and rolling hills, its historically significant logging and coal mining industries and it is one of the most densely karstic areas in the world, making it a choice area for recreational caving and scientific research. The karst lands contribute to much of the states cool trout waters and it is also known for a wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities, including skiing, whitewater rafting, fishing, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, and hunting. Many ancient man-made earthen mounds from various mound builder cultures survive, especially in the areas of Moundsville, South Charleston. The artifacts uncovered in these give evidence of village societies and they had a tribal trade system culture that crafted cold-worked copper pieces. The Iroquois drove out other American Indian tribes from the region to reserve the upper Ohio Valley as a ground in the 1670s. Siouan language tribes such as the Moneton had also recorded in the area previously. West Virginia was originally part of the British Virginia Colony from 1607 to 1776, residents of the western and northern counties set up a separate government under Francis Pierpont in 1861, which they called the restored government. Most voted to separate from Virginia and the new state was admitted to the Union in 1863, in 1864 a state constitutional convention drafted a constitution, which was ratified by the legislature without putting it to popular vote. West Virginia abolished slavery and temporarily disfranchised men who had held Confederate office or fought for the Confederacy, West Virginias history has been profoundly affected by its mountainous terrain, numerous and vast river valleys, and rich natural resources. These were all factors driving its economy and the lifestyles of its residents, a 2010 analysis of a local stalagmite revealed that Native Americans were burning forests to clear land as early as 100 BC. Some regional late-prehistoric Eastern Woodland tribes were involved in hunting and fishing, practicing the slash. Another group progressed to the more time-consuming, advanced companion crop fields method of gardening, also continuing from ancient indigenous people of the state, field space and time was given to tobacco growing through to early historic. Maize did not make a contribution to the diet until after 1150 BP
West Virginia
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Thomas Lee, the first manager of the
Ohio Company of Virginia.
West Virginia
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Flag
West Virginia
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A celebration at a slave wedding in Virginia, 1838
West Virginia
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On October 24, 1861, when voters from 41 counties voted to form a new state, voter turnout was 34%. The name was subsequently changed from Kanawha to West Virginia.
8.
Marion County, West Virginia
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Marion County is a county in the U. S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 56,418, the county was named in honor of General Francis Marion, known to history as The Swamp Fox. Marion County comprises the Fairmont, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Morgantown-Fairmont. The year 1852 was a time in Marion Countys history, starting with the great flood on Monday. Heavy rains the day caused the Monongahela and West Fork Rivers to rise at rate of 5 feet per hour until Tuesday afternoon. The greatest damage was sustained on the West Fork, where over 40 houses and buildings were swept away, the flood also damaged the railroad, which was in the final stages of being completed. By June 23rd the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was completed, connecting Fairmont to the west, the railroad required the building of a bridge to cross the Monongahela River about 1 mile west of Fairmont. This was achieved by building an iron bridge spanning 650 feet. The third major event of the year 1852 was the completion of the Fairmont and Palatine suspension bridge, the bridge was built under the direction of James L. Randolph, assistant engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, at a cost of about thirty thousand dollars. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 312 square miles. Interstate 79 U. S. Highway 19 U. S, the population density was 183 people per square mile. There were 26,660 housing units at a density of 86 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 95. 10% White,3. 22% Black or African American,0. 20% Native American,0. 41% Asian,0. 01% Pacific Islander,0. 13% from other races, and 0. 93% from two or more races. 0. 70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,28. 90% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the family size was 2.88. In the county, the population was out with 20. 60% under the age of 18,10. 50% from 18 to 24,26. 40% from 25 to 44,24. 70% from 45 to 64. The median age was 40 years, for every 100 females there were 90.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.30 males, the median income for a household in the county was $28,626, and the median income for a family was $37,182
Marion County, West Virginia
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Marion County Courthouse in Fairmont
9.
Monongalia County, West Virginia
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Monongalia County, known locally as Mon County, is a county in the U. S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 96,189 and its county seat is at Morgantown. The county was founded in 1776, Monongalia County is included in the Morgantown, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the largest county in North-Central West Virginia. It is defined entirely as part of the Pittsburgh media market, Monongalia County takes its name from the Monongahela River. The name Monongalia may be a misspelling of Monongahela, alternatively, the conventional Latinate ending -ia may have been added to Monongahela. Monongalia County was formed in 1776 when Virginias remote District of West Augusta was divided into three counties, Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia, all named for their most prominent rivers. Ohio County then encompassed most of the region of the district bordering the Ohio River. Yohogania County consisted of much of what is now southwestern Pennsylvania and the present counties of Hancock, in 1780, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson gave the militia enrollment of what was then the vast Monongalia County at 1,000 troops. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 366 square miles. Monongahela River Cheat River Deckers Creek Cam Harker Spring Cheat Lake Dunkard Creek Aarons Creek Interstate 68 Interstate 79 U. S. Highway 19 U. S, the population density was 227 people per square mile. There were 36,695 housing units at a density of 102 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 92. 22% White,3. 38% Black or African American,0. 20% Native American,2. 45% Asian,0. 04% Pacific Islander,0. 32% from other races, and 1. 39% from two or more races. 1. 01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,31. 30% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the family size was 2.91. In the county, the population was out with 18. 20% under the age of 18,23. 40% from 18 to 24,27. 70% from 25 to 44,20. 00% from 45 to 64. The median age was 30 years, for every 100 females there were 101.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.20 males, the median income for a household in the county was $28,625, and the median income for a family was $43,628. Males had an income of $33,113 versus $23,828 for females
Monongalia County, West Virginia
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Monongalia County Courthouse
Monongalia County, West Virginia
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Location in the state of
West Virginia
Monongalia County, West Virginia
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Map of Ohio, Monongalia, & Yohogania Counties circa 1776. Monongalia County is in magenta.
10.
Greene County, Pennsylvania
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Greene County is a county located in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 38,686, Greene County was created on February 9,1796, from part of Washington County and named for General Nathanael Greene. Greene County is part of the Pittsburgh DMA and it is located in the area of southwestern Pennsylvania that was formerly claimed by Virginia, the District of West Augusta. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 578 square miles. The population density was 67 people per square mile, there were 16,678 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile. 1.2 percent of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,27.0 percent of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the family size was 2.91. The median age was 41.1 years, for every 100 females there were 106.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.6 males, as of November 2010, there are 50,640 registered voters in Greene County. The Meadow Ridge office park has served the county since the early 2000s, waynesburg University Greene County is divided into five public school districts. There are 15 public schools that serve Greene County, Pennsylvania. S, under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities, cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data and they are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well, the population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Greene County. † county seat National Register of Historic Places listings in Greene County, Pennsylvania Official website
Greene County, Pennsylvania
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Greene County Courthouse
11.
Fayette County, Pennsylvania
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Fayette County is a county located in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. Fayette County is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, adjacent to Maryland, as of the 2010 census, the population was 136,606. The county was created on September 26,1783, from part of Westmoreland County, Fayette County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The first Europeans in Fayette County were explorers, who had used an ancient American Indian trail that bisected the county on their journey across the Appalachian Mountains. In 1754, when control of the area was still in dispute between France and Great Britain, 22-year-old George Washington fought against the French at Jumonville Glen and Fort Necessity. British forces under Washington and General Edward Braddock improved roads throughout the region, during the American Revolution, Fayette County was plagued by attacks from British-allied Indians and remained isolated as a frontier region. Also retarding settlement was a dispute with Virginia, Virginias District of West Augusta. In 1780 the dispute was settled by the government in favor of Pennsylvania. President George Washington called out the militias to restore order, Fayette County continued to be important to travelers in the early 1800s. The National Road provided a route through the mountains of the county for settlers heading west, the shipyards in Brownsville on the Monongahela River built ships for both the domestic and international trade. As Pittsburgh developed its industries in the century, Fayette County become a center of coal mining. From the 1880s to the early 1900s, the great expansion in steel production became nationally important. Both new European immigrants and African Americans in the Great Migration from the rural South were attracted to the Pittsburgh area for industrial jobs, the historic Scottish and German farming communities established in the earlier 19th century were soon overshadowed by the wave of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. By World War II, Fayette County had a new unionized working class that enjoyed increased prosperity, in the 1950s, however, the coal industry fell into decline. In the 1970s, the restructuring and collapse of American steel resulted in a loss of industrial jobs. The population has declined since the peak in 1940, as residents have had to move elsewhere for work, the loss of union jobs caused many working families to drop out of the middle class. Only a few mines are being worked in the 21st century, the region is slowly transitioning toward the service sector, with an increase in jobs in fields such as telemarketing. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 798 square miles
Fayette County, Pennsylvania
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Fayette County Courthouse
12.
Washington County, Pennsylvania
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Washington County is a county located in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 207,820, the county was created on March 28,1781, from part of Westmoreland County. The city and county were named after American Revolutionary War leader George Washington, who eventually became the first President of the United States. Washington County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, the county is home to Washington County Airport, located three miles southwest of Washington, Pennsylvania. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 861 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 202,897 people,81,130 households, the population density was 237 people per square mile. There were 87,267 housing units at a density of 102 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 95. 27% White,3. 26% Black or African American,0. 09% Native American,0. 36% Asian,0. 02% Pacific Islander,0. 19% from other races, and 0. 82% from two or more races. 0. 58% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,18. 3% were of German,17. 2% Italian,10. 6% Irish,8. 6% English,7. 9% Polish and 6. 2% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 27. 00% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.96. In the county, the population was out with 22. 20% under the age of 18,7. 70% from 18 to 24,27. 20% from 25 to 44,25. 00% from 45 to 64. The median age was 41 years, for every 100 females there were 92.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.00 males, as of 1800, this county was largely settled by people of Scot-Irish heritage because prime lands were already taken by the Germans and the Quakers. The County of Washington is governed by a publicly elected commission. The three commissioners serve in both executive and legislative capacities, by state law, the commission must have a minority party guaranteeing a political split on the commission. Each term is for four years, maggi lost to Murphy and earned only 36 percent of the vote. Irey was the Republican candidate for Pennsylvanias 12th congressional district and lost to the late Democratic incumbent John Murtha in the 2006 election, the Washington County Court of Common Pleas, the Twenty-Seventh Judicial District of Pennsylvania, is the state trial court, sitting in and for Washington County. It serves as the court of jurisdiction for the region
Washington County, Pennsylvania
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Washington County Courthouse
Washington County, Pennsylvania
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The Washington County Courthouse during the winter
Washington County, Pennsylvania
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The
F. Julius LeMoyne House serves as the headquarters of the Washington County Historical Society.
13.
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
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Westmoreland County is a county located in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. At the 2010 census, the population was 365,169, Westmoreland County originally included the present-day counties of Fayette, Washington, Greene, and parts of Beaver, Allegheny, Indiana, and Armstrong counties. It is named for Westmorland, a county of England. Westmoreland County is included in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, a major coal strike occurred in the county in the winter of 1910–11. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,036 square miles. The population density was 361 per square mile, there were 161,058 housing units at an average density of 157 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 96. 58% White,2. 01% Black or African American,0. 09% Native American,0. 52% Asian,0. 02% Pacific Islander,0. 15% from other races, and 0. 64% from two or more races. 0. 51% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 23. 7% were of German,18. 5% Italian,9. 7% Irish,8. 9% Polish,6. 7% English,5. 2% Slovak and 5. 0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 26. 90% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.93. 22. 00% of the population were under the age of 18,6. 80% from 18 to 24,27. 50% from 25 to 44,25. 40% from 45 to 64, the median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 93.10 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.70 males. In November 2008, there are 249,147 registered voters in Westmoreland County, in 2000, Republican George W. Bush won 51% and Democrat Al Gore won 45%. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush won 56% and Democrat John Kerry won 43%, in 2008, Republican John McCain won 57% to Democrat Barack Obamas 41%. Governor Ed Rendell lost Westmoreland in both 2002 and 2006, in 2008 Republican Tim Krieger picked up the 57th House district left open by the retirement of Democrat Tom Tangretti. In 2010, both Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett won Westmoreland in their statewide bids, also the GOP gained control of two more State House districts, the 54th with Eli Evankovich and the 56th with George Dunbar. S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data and they are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well, franklin Township - now known as Murrysville, Pennsylvania The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
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Westmoreland County Courthouse
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
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Autumn on a small state road near the
Pennsylvania Turnpike in Laurel Mountains.
14.
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
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Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern quarter of the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2014 the population was 1,231,225, making it the second-most populous county in Pennsylvania, Allegheny County is included in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is in the Pittsburgh Designated Market Area, Allegheny County was the first in Pennsylvania to be given a Native American name, being named after the Allegheny River. The word Allegheny is of Lenape origin, with uncertain meaning and it is usually said to mean fine river, but sometimes said to refer to an ancient mythical tribe called Allegewi that lived along the river long ago before being destroyed by the Lenape. Not a great deal is known about the inhabitants of the region prior to European contact. During the colonial era various native groups claimed or settled in the area, resulting in a mix that included Iroquois, Lenape, Shawnee. European fur traders such as Peter Chartier established trading posts in the region in the eighteenth century. In 1749 Captain Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville, claimed the Ohio Valley, the captain traveled along the Ohio and Allegheny rivers inserting lead plates in the ground to mark the land for France. Since most of the towns during that era were developed along waterways, therefore, the British sent Major George Washington to try to compel the French to leave their posts, with no success. Having failed in his mission, he returned and nearly drowned crossing the ice-filled Allegheny River, in 1754, the English tried again to enter the area. This time, they sent 41 Virginians to build Fort Prince George, the French got news of the plan and sent an army to take over the fort, which they then resumed building with increased fortification, renaming it Fort Duquesne. The loss of the fort cost the English dearly because Fort Duquesne became one of the points of the French. The first attempt to retake the fort, the Braddock Expedition and it was not until General John Forbes attacked in 1758, four years after they had lost the original fort, that they recaptured and destroyed it. They subsequently built a new fort on the site, including a moat, the site is now Pittsburghs Point State Park. Both Pennsylvania and Virginia claimed the region that is now Allegheny County, Pennsylvania administered most of the region as part of its Westmoreland County. Virginia considered everything south of the Ohio River and east of the Allegheny River to be part of its Yohogania County, in addition, parts of the county were located in the proposed British colony of Vandalia and the proposed U. S. state of Westsylvania. The overlapping boundaries, multiple governments, and confused deed claims soon proved unworkable, in 1780 Pennsylvania and Virginia agreed to extend the Mason–Dixon line westward, and the region became part of Pennsylvania. From 1781 until 1788, much of what had been claimed as part of Yohogania County, Virginia, was administered as a part of the newly created Washington County, Allegheny County was officially created on September 24,1788, from parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
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Allegheny County Courthouse
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
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The
Allegheny County Courthouse
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
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County Medical Examiner office
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
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Tunnels
15.
Streets Run
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Streets Run is a 5. 2-mile-long tributary of the Monongahela River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. This urban stream drains portions of the communities of Pittsburgh, Baldwin, Brentwood, West Mifflin and Whitehall, james Hardin Hays began mining coal along Streets Run in 1828. Other coal mines in the watershed were run by the I. D, Risher and Daniel W Risher Companies, as well as the Harrison Gas Coal Company. The H. B. Hays and Brothers Coal Railroad ran along Streets Run to service the mine developed by J. H. Hays and it ended at Six Mile Ferry, on the Monongahela. The Pittsburgh Southern Railroad and its successor, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Whitehall Tunnel connects this valley with the Peters Creek watershed
Streets Run
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1751 Map depicting "Licking Creek", today known as Streets Run
16.
Becks Run
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Becks Run is a tributary of the Monongahela River. As an urban stream, it is polluted, receiving combined sewer outflow from Carrick and Mount Oliver. There is a waterfall on a tributary, just downstream from a dump, near the intersection of Wagner Avenue. There were coal mines along the stream, including Becks Run #2, owned by the estate of James H. Hays, served by an incline and the H. B. Hays and Brothers Coal Railroad. Other mines at various times were operated by the Birmingham Coal Company, H. G. Burghman, Jones & Laughlin, and the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company. It is the namesake of the Pittsburgh and Becks Run Railroad, which ran from the Smithfield Street Bridge to the Jones and Laughlin Iron Works, a former town, located where Becks Run enters the Monongahela, was also named Becks Run. 1877 engraving of the mouth of Becks Run Becks Run Tipple, list of rivers of Pennsylvania Becks Run Road
Becks Run
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Tunnels
17.
Cheat River
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The Cheat River is a 78. 3-mile-long tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Via the Ohio River, the Cheat and Monongahela are part of the Mississippi River watershed, owing to the ruggedness of the Allegheny Mountains, a portion of which it drains, the Cheat remains largely remote with few settlements or developments along its banks. Its headwaters are in the Cheat-Potomac Ranger District of the Monongahela National Forest, the Cheat is formed at Parsons, West Virginia, by the confluence of Shavers Fork and Black Fork. Black Fork is fed by the Blackwater River and by the Dry, Glady, from Parsons the Cheat River flows generally northward through Tucker and Preston counties, past the towns of Rowlesburg and Albright. It then flows for a distance through southwestern Fayette County, Pennsylvania, before joining the Monongahela River at Point Marion. Upstream of its dam, the Cheat is one of the largest undammed watersheds in the eastern United States, Cheat Mountain, a high and rugged ridge, runs about 50 miles southward from its northernmost tip, just a few miles west of the confluence at Parsons. The Delaware Indian name for Cheat was reportedly Ach-sin-ha-nac, meaning stony river, none of these theories have strong documentary support, but the latter is the most often cited. According to George W. Atkinson, From 1765 to 1774 there were few attacks made upon the white colonists by the Indians. The Treaty of Paris resulted in general peace along the frontiers, had been pretty generally adhered to by all the savage tribes and this unfortunate aggression on the part of these white men gave rise to a general raid by the Indians upon all the settlements of the frontier. The Cheat River Valley was part of a larger area disputed in the 1770s by the Colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania tried to oversee it as part of the overlapping Westmoreland County, the Cheat River country remained part of Monongalia County until 1791 when that county was divided into a smaller Monongalia County and Randolph County. The Virginia General Assembly authorized the first two ferries on the Cheat in 1806, on January 2, a ferry in Monongalia County was approved on Charles Stuart property to James Stafford property. On January 18, the Assembly authorized the second ferry in Monongalia County from the location of Samuel Jackson to Charles Magill property. Another act in 1806 authorized to conduct a lottery to fund the construction of a bridge across Cheat River near Dunkards Bottom. Concerned included Michael Kern, John Steally, Augustus Werninger, Ralph Barkshire, the Assembly also authorized in 1806 the construction of mill dams across the Monongahela River, Cheat River, Tygart Valley River, or the West Fork of the Monongahela River. Along with the rest of western Virginia, the Cheat River Valley became part of the new state of West Virginia in 1863, a state militia facility, Camp Dawson, was established on the banks of the Cheat in Preston County in 1909 and continues in operation today. 1985 flood In November 1985, heavy rains caused a flood on the Cheat. The river flow was estimated at 190,000 cubic feet per second, the massive flood also caused the Cheat River to leave its banks and flood the small town of Rowlesburg
Cheat River
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The Cheat River Gorge, as viewed from
Cooper's Rock Overlook
Cheat River
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The Cheat River at
Rowlesburg, West Virginia
Cheat River
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The Cheat Festival in 2010
18.
Youghiogheny River
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The Youghiogheny River /jɒkəˈɡeɪni/, or the Yough /ˈjɒk/ for short, is a 134-mile-long tributary of the Monongahela River in the U. S. states of West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. It drains an area on the west side of the Allegheny Mountains northward into Pennsylvania, Youghiogheny is an Algonquin word meaning a stream flowing in a contrary direction. The Youghiogheny rises in northern West Virginia, in Preston County southeast of the town of Kingwood, the headwaters are approximately 10 miles north of the headwaters of the North Branch of the Potomac River. It flows north-northeast into Garrett County, Maryland, flowing north past Oakland and roughly parallel to the West Virginia border, the river enters southwestern Pennsylvania on the border between Fayette and Somerset counties. It flows northwest through a gap in Chestnut Ridge and then past Connellsville and it joins the Monongahela River from the southeast at McKeesport, southeast of Pittsburgh. The dam was completed in 1944 primarily for flood control, in 1754, as a militia officer of the British Colony of Virginia, George Washington followed the river in an attempt to find a water route to Fort Duquesne, then held by the French. During the uncommonly severe winter of 1787-88, American pioneers to the Northwest Territory departed New England, the pioneer town of Somerfield, Pennsylvania, was inundated by the building of the Youghiogheny Dam. Perryopolis in northern Fayette County, Pennsylvania, is the site of the George Washington Grist Mill, the Youghiogheny River Trail follows the river in southwestern Pennsylvania southeast of Connellsville. Coal mining became an important industry along the lower Youghiogheny River during the 19th century, at the time the name was often spelled Yohoghany, and during the 1860s and 1870s that spelling was used as the name of a post office near what is now Shaner in Westmoreland County. Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in the valley southeast of Connellsville. A portion of the river in Maryland has been set aside by the state as the Youghiogheny Scenic, the Youghiogheny is popular for whitewater canoeing, kayaking and rafting. The program was successful, so the falls are accessible to whitewater kayakers, further downstream, near Connellsville, the river is much slower, without whitewater rapids, and is able to be piloted by personal tubes, kayaks or canoes. Although the Youghiogheny is generally considered to be safe for whitewater recreation, at least five, and possibly as many as 14, of the fatalities have occurred at a rapid within the Lower Yough known as Dimple. Dimple refers to both the Class III rapid by that name, as well as a rock in the middle of the rapid by that name. Some of the deaths were attributed to preexisting conditions, with 9 of the 14 being caused by the rock itself. The Youghiogheny is also known for fishing, having brown and rainbow trout, part of the Great Allegheny Passage, a multi-use trail along the former Western Maryland Railway right-of-way, extends from Pittsburgh to Confluence. From Confluence, it connects to Washington, D. C and his 2001 story The God Of Dark Laughter is also set in Yuggogheny County
Youghiogheny River
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Ohiopyle Falls along the Youghiogheny
Youghiogheny River
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1751 map depicting the "Yawyawganey River"
Youghiogheny River
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Youghiogheny Lake and Dam on the Youghiogheny River near Confluence, Pennsylvania
Youghiogheny River
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The Lower Yough: One of the most actively run sections of whitewater east of the Mississippi River
19.
Turtle Creek (Monongahela River)
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Turtle Creek is a 21. 1-mile-long tributary of the Monongahela River in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. At its juncture with the Monongahela is Braddock, Pennsylvania, where the Battle of the Monongahela was fought in 1755, in the mid-19th century, the Pennsylvania Railroad laid tracks along the stream as part of its Main Line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The headwaters of Turtle Creek are in Delmont, the stream flows west and enters the Monongahela River at North Versailles Township. Turtle Creek is the English translation of the Native American name, in 1742, John Fraser and his family established Braddock at the mouth of Turtle Creek as the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. George Washington visited the area in 1753-1754 and it was the site of Braddocks Defeat on July 9,1755. Wall is located at the site of a farm purchased by James Walls in 1829, the property, on the south bank of Turtle Creek, was passed to James sons Henry and John Walls, who lived in a log cabin near the heart of present-day Wall. A station on the Pennsylvania Railroad opened in the early 1840s, eventually, the name of the station and the town that grew up around it was shortened to Wall Station. Henry and John Walls sold their property to their cousin Frank Wall, Wall got its name after this Frank Wall, whose said property development led to him being the owner of the first two houses erected in the region. The Turtle Creek watershed is the region drained by Turtle Creek, sixty-six percent of its area is in Westmoreland County, with the balance in Allegheny County. Turtle Creeks source is in Delmont, Westmoreland County and its mouth on the Monongahela River is in North Versailles Township, the watersheds area is 147.41 square miles. It drains forests, farmlands, abandoned mines, and urban and suburban communities, the lower watershed drains a heavily industrial area between the cities of Pittsburgh and McKeesport
Turtle Creek (Monongahela River)
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1751 map depicting "Turtle C" near top, just left of center
Turtle Creek (Monongahela River)
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Photo of the George Westinghouse Bridge over the Turtle Creek Valley.
20.
Tygart Valley River
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The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately 135 miles long, in east-central West Virginia in the United States. Along its course the river collects Leading Creek at Elkins, the Middle Fork River and the Buckhannon River in Barbour County, just upstream of Grafton, the river was impounded by a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers dam in 1938 to form Tygart Lake. Valley Falls State Park is along the river between Grafton and Fairmont, at the United States Geological Surveys stream gauge in Philippi, the annual mean flow of the river between 1940 and 2005 was 1,922 ft³/s. The rivers highest flow during the period was estimated at 61,000 ft³/s on November 5,1985, the lowest recorded flow was 4.9 ft³/s on several days in October 1953. At an upstream gauge near the community of Dailey in Randolph County, the highest recorded flow during the period was 19,900 ft³/s on May 17,1996. Readings of zero were recorded for several months during autumn of the years 1930 and 1953, the Tygart Valley was first settled by Europeans in 1753 when David Tygart and Robert Files located with their families in the vicinity of present-day Beverly. One son escaped and alerted the Tygart family, allowing all to escape, no other white settlement was attempted in present Randolph County until 1772. Settlers of the 1770s and 80s included the Connelly, Hadden, Jackson, Nelson, Riffle, Stalnaker, Warwick, Westfall, Whiteman and Wilson families. Several minor actions occurred in the Valley during the American Civil War, including the Battle of Philippi, the Battle of Laurel Hill and the Battle of Cheat Mountain, all in 1861. The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on Tygart River as the name in 1902
Tygart Valley River
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The Tygart Valley River at the mouth of the
Buckhannon River (just above center). Photo taken along the
B&O Railroad between
Belington and
Philippi.
Tygart Valley River
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The Tygart Valley River in
Elkins in 2006
Tygart Valley River
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Tygart River Lake and Dam near Grafton, West Virginia. View is upriver to the south.
21.
Pocahontas County, West Virginia
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Pocahontas County is a county located in the U. S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,719, the county was established in 1821 and is named after the Native American chiefs daughter from Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas County is the home to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank Telescope and is part of the National Radio Quiet Zone and they had come from Frederick, Maryland, in 1749 and are considered the first settlers west of the Alleghenies. The move Westward by settlers was not met well by the Indians as this was one of their many favored hunting areas, a treaty of 1758 confirmed the land west of the Allegheny Mountains to the Indians and forbidding any of his Majesty’s subjects to settle or hunt. As the white settlers encroached onto the Indian land, there were many raids, after the Revolution, the Indian squabbles quieted and the settlers’ land claims were secured in an orderly manner. In June 1863, West Virginia became the 35th state of the Union, when Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the residents of the western counties, few of whom owned slaves, decided to stay with the Union. The railroads came late to Pocahontas County as building rails over the mountains was not only a tedious job and it was not until 1899 that construction began but after that, the task moved with startling speed. The 1900 census of the county indicates that many Europeans came to the region to build the railroads, commercial timbering quickly began upon completion of the railroads, including a large mill owned by the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company at Cass. By the end of 1920, dozens of small railroading towns dotted the landscape along the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway line. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 942 square miles. It is the third-largest county in West Virginia by area, the highest point is Thorny Flat on Cheat Mountain in the northwestern part of the county, elevation 4848 feet. The Monongahela National Forest protects much of the headwaters, thereby helping to ensure improved downstream water quality. Monongahela National Forest Cranberry Glades Botanical Area Gaudineer Scenic Area As of the census of 2000, there were 9,131 people,3,835 households, the population density was 10 people per square mile. There were 7,594 housing units at a density of 8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 98. 38% White,0. 78% Black or African American,0. 07% Native American,0. 14% Asian,0. 05% from other races,0. 43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 29. 60% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.83. In the county, the population was out with 20. 90% under the age of 18,7. 00% from 18 to 24,27. 50% from 25 to 44,27. 40% from 45 to 64. The median age was 42 years, for every 100 females there were 106.20 males
Pocahontas County, West Virginia
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Morning fog on a rural mountain road.
Pocahontas County, West Virginia
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Location in the state of
West Virginia
Pocahontas County, West Virginia
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Countryside off Route 28 near Dunmore, WV
22.
West Fork River
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The West Fork River is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River,103 miles long, in north-central West Virginia in the United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, the river is formed near the community of Rock Cave in southwestern Upshur County by the confluence of small headwaters tributaries known as Straight Fork and Whites Camp Fork. Among other tributaries, it collects Stonecoal Creek in Weston, Hackers Creek in southern Harrison County, Elk Creek in Clarksburg, the West Fork has a low gradient and is slow-moving throughout its course. It is locally popular for fishing, and is stocked with muskellunge by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Other fish species in the river include carp, channel and flathead catfish, golden and rainbow trout, largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, sauger, and walleye. Jacksons Mill was established along the north of Weston around the year 1800 by Edward Jackson, his grandson. The site has been operated as a 4-H facility since the 1920s, a walking trail parallels the river for 1.2 miles in Veterans Park in Clarksburg. For much of its length between Clarksburg and Fairmont, the West Fork is paralleled by a pair of rail trails on the route of a mid-19th century line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Harrison County Trail extends northward from Clarksburg, and the West Fork River Trail connects Shinnston to Fairmont. A long-term closure of the connection between the two trails is anticipated, due to the presence of waste at an industrial site near the community of Spelter in northern Harrison County. The West Fork River is not navigable by barge traffic, it is classified by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources as recreationally navigable for canoes. Construction of a system of locks, dams, and chutes was begun by the Monongahela Navigation Company in 1817, three miles south of Weston, the river is dammed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to form Stonewall Jackson Lake. Construction of the dam was delayed by the opposition of residents and began in the mid-1980s at an ultimate cost of $208 million. The dam is 95 feet tall and forms a 2, 650-acre lake, land along the lake is leased as a wildlife management area and Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park. While the dams in later years have come to be regarded as good fishing areas, the United States Board on Geographic Names settled on West Fork River as the streams name in 1902
West Fork River
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The West Fork River in
Enterprise in 1996
West Fork River
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The West Fork River in
Clarksburg in 2006
West Fork River
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The West Fork River in
Weston in 2006
West Fork River
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Stonewall Jackson Lake and Dam on the West Fork River near Weston, West Virginia
23.
Upshur County, West Virginia
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Upshur County is a county in the U. S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,254, the county was formed in 1851 from Randolph, Barbour, and Lewis counties and named for Abel Parker Upshur, a distinguished statesman and jurist of Virginia. Upshur served as United States Secretary of State and Secretary of the Navy under President John Tyler. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 355 square miles. The county falls within the United States National Radio Quiet Zone, the highest elevation in Upshur County is 3160 feet, near Sugar Run on the Randolph and Upshur County lines just outside Palace Valley and Hemlock. It is reported there is a marker at the site. U. S. Highway 33 U. S. Highway 48 U. S, the population density was 68.4 people per square mile. There were 11,099 housing units at a density of 31.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 97. 6% White,0. 7% Black or African American,0. 2% Native American,0. 2% Asian,0. 2% from other races, 1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 26. 9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.4 and the average family size was 2.88. In the county, the population was out with 24. 7% from age 0 to 19,7. 60% from 20 to 24,22. 6% from 25 to 44,28. 3% from 45 to 64. The median age was 41 years, for every 100 females there were 97 males. The median income for a household in the county was $39,381, males had a median income of $36,517 versus $25,420 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,498, about 14. 1% of families and 19. 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26. 7% of those under age 18 and 14. 1% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 24,254 people,9,619 households, the population density was 68.4 inhabitants per square mile. There were 11,099 housing units at a density of 31.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 97. 6% white,0. 7% black or African American,0. 4% Asian,0. 2% American Indian,0. 2% from other races, and 1. 0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1. 0% of the population, in terms of ancestry,18. 1% were German,13. 8% were American,10. 6% were Irish, and 8. 6% were English
Upshur County, West Virginia
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The Upshur County Courthouse, designed by architect
Harrison Albright, [
citation needed] pictured in Buckhannon in 2006
24.
Fairmont, West Virginia
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Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census and it is the county seat of Marion County. Prior to the founding of Fairmont, the land that would become Marion County was part of Monongalia, in the 1700s, the earliest development of this area consisted of subsistence farming settlements. In 1789, Boaz Fleming, a Revolutionary War veteran, migrated to this area, oral history indicates that in 1808, Fleming made his annual trek to Clarksburg to pay his brothers Harrison County taxes. While in Clarksburg, Fleming attended a gathering that included his cousin, Dolley Madison. Fleming complained to Mrs. Madison about having to travel over a hundred each year from his home to pay his Monongalia County taxes. Mrs. Madison supposedly suggested that he create his own county to him all that travel. In 1814, Fleming circulated a petition to do precisely that, naming the proposed county Madison County, in honor of Dolley, Milford was the only town within the borders of Flemings proposed county, so Fleming decided to make Milford the seat of Madison County. However, Milfords citizens preferred to remain part of Monongalia County, as a result, Flemings petition failed to gain sufficient support to be presented to the Virginia General Assembly. Fleming then focused on creating a new town near his farm, in 1817, Flemings sons—William and David—began to clear land on part of their fathers farm to make way for the new town, this part of the farm would later become downtown Fairmont. In 1819, a road was built from Clarksburg to Morgantown, Flemings new town was about halfway between the two cities, making it a good resting point. The town was incorporated as Middletown on January 19,1820, the current borders of Marion County were established in 1842, and Middletown was named the countys seat. At that time, William Haymond, Jr. suggested that the name be changed to Fairmont because the town had a beautiful overlook of the Monongahela River. The Borough of Fairmont was incorporated in 1843 by the Virginia General Assembly, many of the first buildings in Fairmont were poorly constructed. By 1852—little more than 30 years after the citys founding—a large portion of Fairmont was reported to be run-down, reports from 1873 indicate that these buildings had continued to fall into disrepair. On April 2,1876, a fire destroyed a portion of the citys business district. The continuing dilapidation of the buildings may have contributed to the fire. Between 1891 and 1901—in a span of only 10 years—Fairmonts population had increased from 1,000 to 7,000, the City of Fairmont was chartered in 1899, as a result of the charter, the city absorbed the surrounding towns of Palatine and West Fairmont
Fairmont, West Virginia
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Downtown Fairmont and the
Monongahela River in 2006
Fairmont, West Virginia
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Child laborers at Monougal Glass Works in Fairmont, 1908. Photo by
Lewis Hine.
Fairmont, West Virginia
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Marion County Courthouse in Fairmont
Fairmont, West Virginia
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Mary Lou Retton, the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the
Olympic all-around title
25.
Ohio River
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The Ohio River, which streams westward from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River in the United States. The 981-mile river flows through or along the border of six states, through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes many of the states of the southeastern U. S. It is the source of drinking water for three million people and it is named in Iroquoian or Seneca, Ohi, yó, lit. Good River or Shawnee, Pelewathiipi and Spelewathiipi, the river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans, as numerous civilizations formed along its valley. For thousands of years, Native Americans used the river as a major transportation, in 1669, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle led a French expedition to the Ohio River, becoming the first Europeans to see it. After European-American settlement, the served as a border between present-day Kentucky and Indian Territories. It was a transportation route for pioneers during the westward expansion of the early U. S. In his Notes on the State of Virginia published in 1781–82, Thomas Jefferson stated and its current gentle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single instance only excepted. During the 19th century, the river was the boundary of the Northwest Territory. Where the river was narrow, it was the way to freedom for thousands of slaves escaping to the North, many helped by free blacks and whites of the Underground Railroad resistance movement. The Ohio River is a transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of the humid subtropical. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates, in winter, it regularly freezes over at Pittsburgh but rarely further south toward Cincinnati and Louisville. At Paducah, Kentucky, in the south, near the Ohios confluence with the Mississippi, Paducah was founded there because it is the northernmost ice-free reach of the Ohio. The Ohio River is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, from there, it flows northwest through Allegheny and Beaver counties, before making an abrupt turn to the south-southwest at the West Virginia–Ohio–Pennsylvania triple-state line. From there, it forms the border between West Virginia and Ohio, upstream of Wheeling, West Virginia, the river then follows a roughly southwest and then west-northwest course until Cincinnati, before bending to a west-southwest course for most of its length. The course forms the borders of West Virginia and Kentucky. The Ohio drains parts of 15 states in four regions, northeast New York, a small area of the southern border along the headwaters of the Allegheny. Pennsylvania, a corridor from the corner to north central border
Ohio River
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The widest point on the Ohio River is just west of
Downtown Louisville, where it is one mile (1.6 km) wide
Ohio River
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Ohio River basin
Ohio River
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The
Allegheny River, left, and
Monongahela River join to form the Ohio River at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the largest metropolitan area on the river.
Ohio River
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The 1849
Wheeling Suspension Bridge was the first bridge across the river.
26.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
27.
Braddock, PA
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Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,10 miles upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 2,159 at the 2010 census, the town is named for General Edward Braddock. This battle, now called the Battle of the Monongahela, was a key event at the beginning of the French, the area surrounding Braddocks Field was originally inhabited by the Lenape, ruled by Queen Allequippa. In 1742, John Fraser and his family established the area at the mouth of Turtle Creek as the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, George Washington visited the area in 1753-1754. It was the site of Braddocks Defeat on July 9,1755, Braddocks first industrial facility, a barrel plant, opened in 1850. The borough was incorporated on June 8,1867, the towns industrial economy began in 1873, when Andrew Carnegie built the Edgar Thomson Steel Works on the historic site of Braddocks Field in what is now North Braddock, Pennsylvania. This was one of the first American steel mills which used the Bessemer process, as of 2010, it continues operation as a part of the United States Steel Corporation. This era of the history is depicted in Thomas Bells novel Out of This Furnace. Braddock is also the location of the first of Andrew Carnegies 1,679 public libraries in the US, designed by William Halsey Wood of Newark, New Jersey, and dedicated on March 30,1889. The Braddock Library included an entrance for Carnegies millworkers to enter a bathhouse in the basement to clean up before entering the facilities. An addition in 1893, by Longfellow, Alden and Harlow, added a pool, indoor basketball court. The building was rescued from demolition in 1978 by the Braddocks Field Historical Society, the bathhouse has recently been converted to a pottery studio, the music hall is currently under restoration. During the early 1900s many immigrants settled in Braddock, primarily from Croatia, Slovenia, Braddock lost its importance with the collapse of the steel industry in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. This coincided with the crack epidemic of the early 1980s. In 1988, Braddock was designated a distressed municipality. The entire water system was rebuilt in 1990-1991 at a cost of $4.7 million. From its peak in the 1920s, Braddock has since lost 90% of its population, since 2005, colorful mayor John Fetterman has launched a campaign to attract new residents to the area from the artistic and creative communities. He has also initiated various efforts, including the nonprofit organization Braddock Redux
Braddock, PA
–
The
Carnegie Free Library of Braddock, a
National Historic Landmark built in 1888, sits in the center of Braddock and is the first
Carnegie Library in the United States.
Braddock, PA
–
Condemned houses in Braddock, 2009
28.
Masontown, PA
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Masontown is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area, the population of the borough was 3,450 at the 2010 census. It is served by the Albert Gallatin Area School District, Masontown is a small crossroads for the rural portions of western Fayette County, and it contains a small shopping center and a grocery store within its business district. Fort Mason was built as a blockhouse from 1774 to 1778 by John Mason, Masontown became a town in 1798. He later moved to Ohio and is buried on a farm in Columbiana County. Masontown is located in southwestern Fayette County at 39°50′46″N 79°54′13″W, the boroughs western border is the Monongahela River, which forms the Washington County line, but the main settled part of the borough is 1 mile east of and 200 feet higher than the river. Pennsylvania Route 21 passes through the northern and western part of the borough, leading east 12 miles to Uniontown, the Fayette county seat, and west across the Monongahela 16 miles to Waynesburg. Pennsylvania Route 166 passes through the center of Masontown as Main Street and leads south 10 miles to Point Marion at the confluence of the Monongahela and Cheat rivers. According to the United States Census Bureau, Masontown has an area of 1.54 square miles, of which 1.51 square miles is land and 0.03 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,611 people,1,536 households, the population density was 2,376.6 people per square mile. There were 1,701 housing units at a density of 1,119.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 93. 27% White,5. 59% African American,0. 22% Native American,0. 03% Asian,0. 30% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 22% of the population. 33. 1% of all households were made up of individuals, the average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.90. In the borough the population was out, with 23. 0% under the age of 18,7. 8% from 18 to 24,23. 2% from 25 to 44,23. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 42 years, for every 100 females there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.2 males, the median income for a household in the borough was $24,049, and the median income for a family was $27,609. Males had an income of $35,948 versus $18,194 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $13,875, about 19. 7% of families and 25. 2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37. 2% of those under age 18 and 16. 6% of those age 65 or over
Masontown, PA
Masontown, PA
–
Location of Masontown in Fayette County
29.
River
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A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water, small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the term river as applied to geographic features. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location, examples are run in parts of the United States, burn in Scotland and northeast England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always, Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Potamology is the study of rivers while limnology is the study of inland waters in general. Extraterrestrial rivers of liquid hydrocarbons have recently found on Titan. Channels may indicate past rivers on other planets, specifically outflow channels on Mars and rivers are theorised to exist on planets, a river begins at a source, follows a path called a course, and ends at a mouth or mouths. The water in a river is confined to a channel. In larger rivers there is also a wider floodplain shaped by flood-waters over-topping the channel. Floodplains may be wide in relation to the size of the river channel. This distinction between river channel and floodplain can be blurred, especially in areas where the floodplain of a river channel can become greatly developed by housing. Rivers can flow down mountains, through valleys or along plains, the term upriver refers to the direction towards the source of the river, i. e. against the direction of flow. Likewise, the term describes the direction towards the mouth of the river. The term left bank refers to the bank in the direction of flow. The river channel typically contains a stream of water, but some rivers flow as several interconnecting streams of water. Extensive braided rivers are now found in only a few regions worldwide and they also occur on peneplains and some of the larger river deltas. Anastamosing rivers are similar to braided rivers and are quite rare
River
–
Melting toe of Athabasca Glacier,
Jasper National Park,
Alberta, Canada
River
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The River Cam from the Green Dragon Bridge, Cambridge (United Kingdom)
River
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Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. The Nile is an example of a wave-dominated delta that has the classic Greek letter delta (Δ) shape after which river deltas were named.
River
–
A radar image of a 400-kilometre (250 mi) river of methane and ethane near the north pole of Saturn's moon
Titan
30.
Allegheny Plateau
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It is divided into the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau and the glaciated Allegheny Plateau. The plateau extends southward into western West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, the plateau terminates in the east at the Allegheny Mountains, which are the highest ridges just west of the Allegheny Front. The Front extends from central Pennsylvania through Maryland and into eastern West Virginia, the plateau is bordered on the west by glacial till plains in the north, generally north of the Ohio River, and the Bluegrass region in the south, generally south of the Ohio River. In the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, relief may only one hundred feet or less. In the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau in southeastern Ohio and westernmost West Virginia, absolute highest elevations in this area are often in the range of 900 to 1,500 feet. By the Allegheny Front, however, elevations may reach well over 4,000 feet, one of the more notable geologic areas within the Allegheny Plateau is the Hocking Hills region of southeast Ohio. The Allegheny Plateau is a section of the larger Appalachian Plateau province. Allegheny Front — transition escarpment from the Allegheny Plateau to the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, a Geologic History of the North-Central Appalachians, Part 1, Orogenesis from the Mesoproterozoic through the Taconic Orogeny. A Geologic History of the North-Central Appalachians, Part 2, The Appalachian Basin from the Silurian through the Carboniferous, a Geologic History of the North-Central Appalachians, Part 3, The Alleghany Orogeny. Photographs of the Allegheny Plateau and the Allegheny River watershed region
Allegheny Plateau
–
Major fault at the dividing line between the Allegheny Plateau and the true
Appalachian Mountains in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Allegheny Plateau
–
Map of the Allegheny Plateau. The gray line differentiates the glaciated (northern) and unglaciated (southern) sections of the plateau.
Allegheny Plateau
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Canisteo River Valley from
Pinnacle State Park.
Glaciation in this area of the plateau removed the sharp relief that is seen in unglaciated areas of the plateau. The line of the distant peaks approximates the level of a
peneplain that was uplifted to form the plateau.
Allegheny Plateau
–
Biogeography
Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). "Monongahela". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.
Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). "
