Frenchtown is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States:
* Crawford County, Arkansas
* Crawford County, Georgia
* Crawford County, Illinois
* Crawford County, Indiana
* Crawford County, Iowa
* Crawford County, Kansas
* Crawford County, ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, United States. It is located in
East Mead Township on
Pennsylvania Route 27
Pennsylvania Route 27 (PA 27) is a state highway that is located in northwest Pennsylvania in the United States.
The western terminus of the route is situated at Park Avenue near U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 6 (US 6) and U.S. Rout ...
, east of
Meadville.
Settlement history
The settlement's first white settler was Alex Moultrip (or Moulthrop),
[Seely, Frederick F. & Helmreich, Jonathan E., ''Place Names of Crawford County'' (Third Edition), page 15, Crawford County Historical Society, 1998] a Revolutionary War soldier who, before 1800, had been given the land for his military service. He cleared land and built a cabin, but left after about a year.
[Poux, Paul, French, Swiss Immigrants Settled Frenchtown, ''The Meadville Tribune'' (Meadville, PA), May 12, 1988, page 13-D] Beriah Battles came to the area in 1800, and the settlement became known as Moultrip. David Moulthrop purchased land from Battles in 1814.
The land came into the possession of the
Holland Land Company
The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam,Kirby, C.D. (1976). ''The Early History of Gowanda and The Beautiful Land of the Cattaraugus''. Gowanda, NY: Niagara Frontier Publishing Company ...
, and
Harm Jan Huidekoper
Harm Jan Huidekoper (April 3, 1776 – May 22, 1854) was a businessman, philanthropist, essayist and lay theologian, a vice president of the American Unitarian Association, and a founder of the Meadville Theological School.
Early life
Huideko ...
was the land agent. Huidekoper advertised the land in Europe. Shortly after 1820 Catholic families from eastern France and Switzerland immigrated to the settlement, which later became known as Frenchtown.
Frenchtown's church buildings
A wooden church was built in 1838, and in 1862 it was expanded and remodeled. In 1886 work was begun on the current church. The parishioners started their own brick factory, and they felled local trees to obtain lumber. The brick church was completed in 1888.
Post office
A post office was established in 1869, but was discontinued in 1901.
References
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Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania
Unincorporated communities in Crawford County, Pennsylvania