Um jawn, Less than 200 years ago the site of Connells- ville was a part of a vast wilderness inhabited by the Iroquois, Delaware, and Kanawha Indians. In early history, the location was known as Stewart's Crossing. This crossing on the Yough- iogheny River was the head of the keel-boat navigation and was a stop-over for emigrants settling west of the Alleghenies, and messengers between Cumberland and Fort Pitt. Colonel William Crawford, who was a well known host at Stewartis Crossing fnow the West Sidej had much influence on the early history of Connellsville. I Zachariah Connell, a surveyor and pioneer of wide influence among the early settlers, founded Connellsville in 1806. The original charter for the town of Con- nellsville-the area had previously been known as Mud Island-was issued in 1793. It contained an area of 180 quarter acre lots within the boun- daries of Water Street, North Alley, East Alley, and South Alley. , ' With great vision Zachariah Connell, in 1806, obtained a new charter which incorporated the town of Connellsville as a borough. This charter extended the boundaries of the town north along Fayette Street to Crawford Avenue, east to the Breakneck Road, south to Connell Run following the Run through East Park to the Breakneck Road. In 1874, the section now known as the North End was added, and in 1905, the South Side. Stewartfs Crossing became known as the town of New Haven and was incorporated as the West Side in 1909. The town charter of 1798 had set aside two lots, to which in 1812 were added two more lots, at the junction of Church Street fPittsburgh Streetj and Crave Street CFairview Avenuej for schools or churches. This area, known as Mount Puff, was the site of the first school house, a log cabin. There is no record of when this first school was built but it is known to have been in exist- ence in 1804. It was destroyed by fire in 1829. Classes were held in rented rooms from that date until 1838 when three one-room brick buildings were erected. In 1869, the Union School house, a three-story brick building, was erected on Mount Puff. In 1882, a course of study for each class was adopted and the first class of six students was graduated. The High School was established in 1895 in the Cameron Building. The present High School was built in 1916. The first successful local newspaper-the Keystone Courier-was established in 1879. Later the word Keystone was dropped and the paper has continued as The Courier to the present day. Originally, a weekly paper, The Courier became a daily in 1902. Rich veins of coal were known in the pioneer days. The first successful coke oven in the area was of the bee-hive type and was built by Lester Norton in 1838 in East Park in a building which had been ercted for carding and spinning wool. So great was the demand for coke by the iron foundries which were springing up in Allegheny County that soon coke ovens were being built in many sections surrounding the town. The first coke was boated down the river., The uncertainty of navigation and the lack of storage facilities re- stricted the development of the coke industry. In 1857, the Connellsville and Pittsburgh railroad was built. This provided a more satisfac- tory method of transit and the local coke indust developed rapidly into the largest in the worlifi which reputation it enjoyed until about 1929. Because of its strategic position in the foot- hills of the Allegheny Mountains, and at the crossing of the river, Connellsville early enjoyed prosperity as a merchandising center in the Yough region. Local craftsmen prospered in the occupa- tions of shoe making, silver smithing, and cabinet making, until the factory goods from the eastern manufacturing cities forced their retirement. Though other congregations were present, Episcopalian, Methodist, and Presbyterian, the first congregation to organize was the Baptist Church in 1796. The earliest ministers were itinerant missionaries who sometimes served also as school masters. The religious congregations have increased steadily with the population of the town. Connellsville now has about 32 churches. The Carnegie Free Library was established in 1903. The Connellsville State Hospital was estab- lished in 1890. The State Armory came into being about 1907. The Teen-agers Youth Center was organ- ized in 1947 and found permanent quarters in an inactive school building on the West Side in 1950.
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