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Indiana County Towns

Genealogists and historians are often interested in the history of towns, buildings, businesses, and so on. This page has links to websites and books about the history of some local towns.


Websites of Interest

Other Nearby Towns

Books of Interest

Towns in Indiana County and nearby counties

(These books can be purchased from the historical society. See the book store page.)

Armagh Area Bicentennial 1792-1992
In 1792 eight families left Armagh, Ireland to come to America. While traveling through the Laurel Highlands, they were reminded of home by the mountains and meadows. They settled there and called the new town “Armagh,” which is Irish meaning “field on a hill.” Includes many photos. 106 Pages, Softbound, $1

Delano’s Domain: A History of Warren Delano’s Mining Towns of Vintondale, Wehrum and Claghorn
by Denise Dusza Weber
Volume one, covering 1789-1930, outlines available facts surrounding land grants, lumbering, railroads, labor activity, strikes, businesses, churches, mine explosions and much more about the small, now abandoned towns of Wehrum, Vintondale and Claghorn. 446 Pages, Softbound, $29.99

In the Valley of the Fair Mahoning
by Timothy A. Spence
This book contains stories, myths, and legends about the people and places in the town of Smicksburg. 186 Pages, Softbound, $14.95

A bibliography for those who want to learn more about early western Pennsylvania towns

(Many of these books might be available through inter-library loan programs. Thanks to Susan Ferrandiz for providing the list below. )

Allen Beik, Mildred. The Miners of Windber: the Struggle of New Immigrants for Unionization, 1890s-1930s. University Park: Pennsylvania University Press, 1996.

Bishop, Patricia. Chickens and Biscuits: The Story of a Family in a Western Pennsylvania Coal and Coke Town. Clearfield, Pa.: self published by the author, 1988.

Brestensky, Dennis F. Patch Work Voices: the Culture and Lore of a Mining People. Pittsburgh: University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 1978.

Brignano, Mary, ed. Boundless Lives: Italian Americans of Western Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh: Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, 1999.

Caldwell, J.A. History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, 1745-1880. Newark, Ohio: J.A. Caldwell, 1880.

Dusza Weber, Denise. Delano's Domain: A History of Warren Delano's Mining Towns of Vintondale, Wehrum and Claghorn. Indiana, Pa.: Halldin Publishing Company, 1991.

Bescherer Metheny, Karen. From the Miners’ Doublehouse : Archaeology and Landscape in a Pennsylvania Coal Company Town. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2007.

Mountjoy Cooper, Eileen. The Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company: The First One Hundred Years. Indiana, Pa.: Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company, 1982.

Mulrooney, Margaret M. Legacy of Coal: The Coal Company Towns of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Washington, D.C.: Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1989.

Quin, Richard H. Indiana County Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 1993.

Stephenson, Clarence D. Indiana County, 175th Anniversary History. Indiana, Pa.: Halldin Publishing Company. Vols.1-5, 1978-1995.

Stewart, Joshua Thomas. Indiana County, Pennsylvania: Her People, Past and Present, Embracing a History of the County. 2 Vols. Chicago: J.H. Beers and Company, 1913.

Wiley, Samuel T. Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Indiana and
Armstrong Counties, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: J.M. Gresham and Company, 1891.

If you are researching an Indiana County town and have a website you would like to share, please send an email with the website address to:

 

 

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