Connellsville has carved out niche in history books
Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a three-part series of stories looking at the Connellsville economy, starting with the early boom days, going through the downturns and living the promise of new growth.The city of Connellsville has seen its economic ups and downs. Once a bustling community with streetcars carrying passengers to and from work and businesses welcoming customers from sunup to sundown, its streets have been replaced with many empty storefronts, crumbling facades and potential patrons driving to the local mall.
It is designated in history books as Fayette County’s first city and remembered for its being the premier coke producer. Edwin Porter, the nation’s first movie producer, called Connellsville home.
“We have been a part of so much history, not only locally, but nationally,” said Bill Middleton, former executive director of the Connellsville Area Chamber of Commerce. “We continue to be a place of interest to many; I believe we are at a crossroads and what we have been will be a part of our future.”
What brought the early pioneers and businessmen here were its natural resources and beauty, said Connellsville historian William Balsley.
“Even before Col. William Crawford and Zachariah Connell, people were drawn to this area,” said Balsley.
Farmer, surveyor and soldier, Crawford settled in the area in 1765. Connell is recognized as the city’s founder.
In 1753, the Ohio Company, a trading organization sent its representatives to the area in search of animal furs it would send to Europe, said Balsley.
“That was really the beginning of commercialization in this area,” he said.
George Washington also was drawn to the area through his association with Crawford. The two became acquainted during their service with the Virginia militia. Washington made his initial visit to the region as a young soldier looking to oust French Canadians looking to start their own fur-trading business.
Military movement brought the development of crude roads that paved the way for wagon travel.
“There were a lot of people moving through this area,” said Balsley.
Crawford’s ties to Washington and other prominent figures in the developing nation brought many of them to what was to be later called Connellsville.
“Washington and Crawford would exchange letters, and in several letters Crawford complained to Washington that he was finding it difficult to support all the pioneers that were camping around his cabin along the Youghiogheny River,” said Balsley. “He told Washington that he was considering opening a tavern.”
Balsley said it is unclear whether the tavern was ever established, but iron furnaces, saw mills, ghrist mills and other industries became fixtures along the Yough.
A wool factory produced blankets and a paper mill turned out products. The iron furnaces manufactured crude farming hardware and kitchen utensils.
Coal was discovered nearby, and that sparked another landmark industry, said Balsley.
“The next problem was to figure out how to get it all to market,” he said. “There were no railroads at that time and the roads were too crude for wagons to travel that distance.
“They decided to float it down the river.”
Massive barges were constructed, some 100 feet in length, said Balsley.
“They would build the barges upside down on the shore away from the flood areas,” he said. “Everybody would help.”
When the day came for the launching, the townspeople would arrive at the riverbank and join in the effort to upright the structure for the river journey to Pittsburgh.
“Sometimes they would go as far as New Orleans,” said Balsley.
The implementation of railroads and the growing commercialization of the area drew a large European workforce.
“There were people everywhere,” he said. “There were 1,000 men working in the railroad yards.”
With the influx of people at the turn of the 1900s, carpenters were needed for home, church and industrial construction work. Balsley’s father was one of the carpenters that helped build Connellsville.
Drugstores and grocery stores were at each corner of the city and seven banks dotted the downtown area.
“We had the Douglas Business College, where my aunts went to get training to work in the banks,” said Balsley. “There were theatres and lots of stage shows and vaudeville.”
The mining industry drew engineers while the rail companies installed their personnel to oversee the local yards.
“At one time we had 30 passenger trains a day through Connellsville,” said Balsley. “There were excursion trains to Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.
“Ladies would get on the Capitol Limited at 9:30 at night and get into Chicago just in time for breakfast; they’d shop and get back to Connellsville at 9:30 the next night.”
All was well for the businessmen and their workers, homeowners and shop owners until the Depression, said Balsley.
“I remember coming home from school and being told all the banks were closed,” he said. “At the time it didn’t mean too much to me, but I later learned that my dad had lost everything.”
The closing of the city banks created a domino effect, with stores shuttering their doors and businesses laying off workers.
“It was pretty much a ghost town for a while,” said Balsley. “I remember going to school and passing a soup kitchen and it bothered me to see the long lines.”
Storeowners opened their doors to civic organizations and allowed displays to be put into the windows to dispel some of the despair that was plaguing the city.
“They are trying to do that today, but many of the building owners aren’t cooperating,” said Balsley.
His family managed during the Depression years, he said, with his father maintaining his construction business, while he repaired radios for neighbors and friends.
“We were one of the lucky families,” said Balsley.
The departure of the area’s industry and cutbacks by the railroads also caused a mass exodus of the city’s wealthy residents, which left those behind to deal with the aftermath.
“With the start of World War II, many left for the West Coast for jobs being offered by aircraft carriers,” said Balsley. “The coal got worked out; the streetcars were replaced with the automobile. All of it changed Connellsville.”
But, he added, those who stayed and the generations that have followed have shown their fortitude.
“The big manufacturing industry is not coming back to Connellsville,” he said. “But there is a lot of tourism dollars out there to be had; we have a beautiful river and there is a potential for riverboat floats.
“I think there are so many things (that could be implemented) if people would open their eyes.”
Middleton agrees.
“The bike/hike trail and the river already draws thousands to the area on an annual basis,” he said. “Connellsville has a past that will ensure its future.”