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The 1784 House of Representatives
approved a  to
build the Forbes Road to Pittsburgh, one of the first
log and gravel highways in America
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Pennsylvania is a world-class producer of potato chips,
cranking out 30,500 tasty tons a year or enough to fill
over 81 million 12-ounce snack bags |
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Early Roads - The
Early Settlers widened the Pack trails so they could
move wheeled vehicles. In 1785 the State of Pennsylvania
authorized 'The Pennsylvania Road' from Harrisburg to
Pittsburgh following the old Forbes Road.
Another outstanding road, designated
in 1913, was the Lincoln Highway
(RT 30) which travels through Greensburg connecting
the state's two largest cities. In 1940 Pennsylvania
opened the first high-speed, multi-lane highway in the
country, the Pennsylvania Turnpike
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| The
greensburg area is also home to ostrich farms and vineyards. |
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| Did
you know? |
| H.
J. Heinz began his food processing business in 1869 by
bottling horseradish in the basement of his Sharpsburg
home. |
| The
world's first "drive-in gas station" opened
in Pittsburgh in 1913. |
| The first commercial
broadcast station in the world was KDKA in Pittsburgh
1920. |
| Christopher
Gist, surveyor and agent for the Ohio Company of Virginia,
who on November 12 through 14, 1750, stayed at a Delaware
Indian town, Loyalhannon,
near present day Ligonier. |
| The first all-motion-picture
theater in the world was opened on Smithfield Street in
Pittsburgh on June 19, 1905, by John P. Harris and Harry
Davis. The term "nickelodeon" was coined there. |
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Greensburg
Facts
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Westmoreland County Courthouse is found on Main
St. It was erected 1906.
Italian Renaissance Style with a central dome rising 175
feet above the ground
Two original court rooms on the 2nd and 4th floors are
enhanced by deep cove ceilings, colorful murals and globe
chandeliers |
Greensburg is
positioned 40.31 degrees north of the equator and 79.54
degrees west of the prime meridian.
It is part of Westmoreland county.
It's location is southeast of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania
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As the area of
Westmoreland County began to be settled, the composition
of the population began to take shape.
The major ethnic groups constituting the population
were the English, Germans, Scots-Irish, French, Welsh,
Cornish, and Irish, who settled in colonial times.
Those who immigrated primarily in the 20th century were
Italian, Slavic, Finn, Scandinavian, and Jewish peoples,
along with blacks from the southern states.
Many worked the steel mills and coal mines of southwestern
Pennsylvania. The foremost industry was Steel.
Coal mining was another major industry.
The Greensburg
Coal Company established a mine on the
then eastern outskirts of Greensburg, along the Southwest
Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1870's. |
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If you've got
a good ear, you can tell where Pennsylvanians come from
just by offering them a soft drink.
Greensburgers are sure to ask for "pop" while their
neighbors in the eastern part of the state call it "soda."
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Late in 1776, a log cabin courthouse was built in
Newtown, a small town along the wagon trail to Fort
Pitt (Pittsburgh). The courthouse has remained on this
site. The Newtown area eventually became Greensburg.
Greensburg, named for the the revolutionary General
Nathaniel Greene, became a GROWING COMMUNITY. It was
a railroad stop and a center for mining. Large areas
of soft coal were discovered nearby.
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The
Battle of Bushy Run, near
present-day
Harrison City, was
the site of a pivotal battle in French and Indian War.
On August 5th and 6th, 1763, British troops met and
defeated a large Indian force at Bushy Run, effectively
ending a major threat to the safety of the settlers
in the region.
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Modern Americans owe
their driving habits to Pennsylvania German carpenters
who never saw an automobile.
Starting in the 1730s, these workmen originated and built
more than 7,000 Conestoga wagons with a "lazy board" at
the front left where the driver stood to handle the reins.
Ever since, American
vehicles are manufactured with the driver's seat on the
left, requiring traffic to keep to the right.
Convoys
of Conestoga wagons heading West is the image most of
us call up when we think of early American transportation. |
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The
city tree is the Black walnut.
The city bird is the Red tail hawk.
Population is 15,889.
Land area 4.2 square miles
Average Annual Mean Temperature 50° F
Average Annual Precipitation 40-42 inches
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Aproximately
1.1 million Whitetail Deer, flourish in Greensburg area forests.
Also the varied habitat supports woodchuck, pheasant, rabbit,
bobcat and beaver,as well as,
redwinged blackbird, downy woodpecker
and turkey. |
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| Greensburghers
know fireflies as "lightening bugs".
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Mayor
Karl Eisaman
Councilman
Tom Tridico
Wayne Johnson
Randy Frinfrock
Emil Peterinelli
Treasurer
Robert DePasquale
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In the Past
At the time of European arrival, four major
Indian groups occupied Pennsylvania: the Delaware, or Lenni
Lenape; the Susquehanna; the Shawnee; and various segments of
the Iroquois Confederacy.
Much of the fighting during the French
and Indian War took place in Pennsylvania. |
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The Forbes Road continued
from Ligonier through present-day Youngstown, Hanna's Town
and Murrysville to Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) on the banks of
the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.
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