History
~Rediscover Historic Downtown Irwin~
Saturday, August 27th, 2011
Sunday, August 28th, 2011
Three Communities in One
The oldest of the three communities is North Huntingdon. From McKeesport's newspaper, The Daily News, June 29, 1984, "The township of Huntingdon was formed on April 6, 1773... The incorporation took place at the first regular session of the Hannastown Court in Robert Hanna's Hotel.
"Named for an area in England, Huntingdon's boundaries began at the mouth of Brush Run and continued along Byerly's Path to Braddock's Road to the lines that marked the boundaries of Mount Pleasant, Tyrone, and Pitt townships. Huntingdon was later divided into the smaller townships of Sewickley, East Huntingdon, South Huntingdon, and North Huntingdon.
"According to Virginia's interpretation of the Charter of 1609, the southwest corner of Pennsylvania (including the Norwin area) belonged to Virginia. In 1779, during the Revolutionary War, Virginia and Pennsylvania decided that the Mason-
Dixon Line should be redrawn five degrees west of its beginning line. North of the Line would be Pennsylvania territory.
"Some of the early settlers included the Marchands, Studebakers, Whiteheads, Williards, Waltours, Saams, Sowashes, Harolds, Millers, and Kunkles."
Until 1852, when the Pennsylvania Railroad was constructed, North Huntingdon's chief industry was farming. Its population at that time was about 3,000. By 1900, after the establishment of the coal industry in the area, North Huntingdon Township's population grew to over 10,000.
Chronologically, Irwin is next oldest. From Irwin's 125th anniversary book, IN CELEBRATION, "The land that is today Irwin became a part of Westmoreland County when it was formed September 26, 1773, the same year that North Huntingdon became a township. ... In 1769 Col. John Irwin began buying land in this vicinity and built a log fur-trading post that was later burned by Indians. Near the early settlement of Fort Walthour, he purchased his estate, Brush Hill, and built a frame house, which also burned. He built a third house which still stands on the same site... After the death of Col. John Irwin and his brother, James Irwin, James' son inherited from his father and uncle the land that stretched from Jacktown to Wardentown and there laid out the town of Irwin."
By 1864, the population of the town of Irwin reached 500 and there was public demand for incorporation as a Borough. Citizens wanted to benefit from municipal services. As a result, in the summer of 1864, a petition for a charter was sent to court. This petition was approved August 23, 1864.
With the development of the coal industry, the borough grew rapidly. There were at least six stores in Irwin, not counting the old business places like James Carson's blacksmith shop or Cyrus Wilson's wagon shop. The town had three hotels: the Guffey House, Twigger's, and Joseph McQuiston's. Many of the commercial enterprises were located near the railroad station which was located a little beyond the foot of Main Street.
From North Huntingdon's bicentennial book, 10 SCORE, "Prior to 1890 North Irwin was a 500-acre farm owned by the Ewing family. J. L. Ridinger and C. W. Pool purchased the farm and, along with other investors, sold the first lots." The town continued to grow. On December 29, 1894, the citizens of North Irwin petitioned the state to become incorporated as a borough. The petition for incorporation was approved on May 5, 1895.
With the introduction of many businesses, North Irwin was on its way to becoming the industrial center of the area. The largest business was the Pennsylvania Plate Glass factory which was built around 1890. But the Borough's hopes literally went up in flames several years later when the factory exploded and burned. People claimed that the glow of the fire could be seen as far away as Pittsburgh.
Credit To : The Norwin Historical Society - 1994
