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Indiana County, PA
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Created on March 30, 1803 from parts of Westmoreland and
Lycoming Counties and probably named for the Territory
of Indiana. It was attached to Westmoreland County until
1806. Indiana, the county seat, was laid out in 1805 and
incorporated as a borough on March 11, 1816.
 The
southern region was acquired from Indians at the Treaty
of Fort Stanwix in 1768 (the “New Purchase”), the
northern region by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1784
(the “Last Purchase”). First permanent settlement was
about 1765. Blairsville arose in 1818 and was a turnpike
and canal center. The Pennsylvania Railroad arrived in
1851. Salt production was the first industry. Iron
furnaces were unsuccessful. Timber cutting flourished
from the 1840s to about 1890 when the trees were
depleted. A coal mining boom began in 1900 and dominated
the economy until 1924, boosting the population to
nearly 80,000. Coal mining revived in the 1970s; Indiana
is the state’s fifth highest bituminous producer,
three-quarters of which is subsurface mined. Dairy
farming and Christmas tree sales buttress the economy
today; 31 percent of the land is farmed. The legendary
Cherry Tree Joe McCreery and the actor Jimmy Stewart are
cherished local myths. Governor John S. Fisher, a
Republican, was a county native. |
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