Ligonier is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Westmoreland County is a county in the state of Pennsylvania, United States, in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 354,663. The county seat is Greensburg and the most populous community is ...

, United States. The population was 1,513 at the 2020 census. Ligonier was settled in the 1760s. The borough is well known for nearby Idlewild Park, one of the oldest

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

s in the country; and nearby

Seven Springs Mountain Resort Seven Springs Mountain Resort is an all-season resort located in the borough of Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. It has a relatively high elevation for a Pennsylvania ski area, at above sea level. Activities include biking, canopy touring, ziplin ...

. Another tourist attraction is Fort Ligonier Days, a parade and craft market that takes place every fall over the course of three days, and the Ligonier Country Market in the summer months. Ligonier is part of the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. Ligonier is the site of a reconstruction of Fort Ligonier, an example of a frontier fort of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. Ligonier is also known for its downtown square, the Diamond, which has a

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

in the middle.

History

In 1758, when British forces launched a major campaign to remove French forces from the forks of the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, now

, this spot on Loyalhanna Creek was the site of their westernmost camp before reaching the Ohio. The British maintained a large army, a virtual moving city of 6,000 people, that temporarily made Ligonier the second-most populated spot in Pennsylvania, second only to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Fort Ligonier was named after John Ligonier, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

noble of French origin who held the rank of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Eventually, the name of the settlement that grew up around the fort was shortened to Ligonier. Fort_Ligonier3

In 1817, the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Turnpike was completed, a gravel road that was the precursor to today's US Route 30. Fort Ligonier was a logical place for travelers to break their journey, and with such commercial opportunities in mind, a local resident named John Ramsay (sometimes spelled Ramsey) laid out the street plan, including the space now known as the Diamond. He initially called the town Ramseytown, later changed to Wellington (after the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

), and finally the name was changed to Ligonier. Several decades of prosperity followed. On April 10, 1834, Ligonier was incorporated as a borough. However, in 1852 the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

was completed, which bypassed Ligonier and passed through the towns of Bolivar and Latrobe instead. Traffic shifted from horse-drawn vehicles to the railroad, causing the community's population to drop to 350 according to the 1860 census. Ligonier benefited when the Ligonier Valley Railroad was completed in 1877, linking the community to Latrobe where connections to the

were possible. The Ligonier Valley Railroad enabled lumber, coal, and quarried stone to be transported out of the Ligonier Valley, which spurred development of the town. Additionally, the railroad made it easier for Pittsburgh residents to visit Ligonier, causing the town to develop as a summer resort. Some major physical changes to Ligonier occurred during this period. In 1894, the Diamond, which had been used as a corral for horses and wagons, was transformed into a park with a bandstand. A large hotel, the Hotel Breniser, was built in 1900 where the town hall currently sits. In 1909–1910, the Ligonier Valley Railroad built an ornate station and headquarters building, which still stands at 339 West Main Street. In 1952, the Ligonier Valley Railroad ceased operation, due to a combination of

overlogging Overlogging is a form of overexploitation caused by legal or illegal logging activities that lead to unsustainable or irrecoverable deforestation and permanent habitat destruction for forest wildlife. Causes The use of poor logging practices ...

, decline of the coal industry, and the loss of passenger traffic to motor vehicles. The Pittsburgh, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad also served Ligonier from 1899 to 1916, although it did not enjoy the success of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. Ligonier has three listings on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

: the Fort Ligonier site at 216 South Market Street; the Ligonier Historic District, which encompasses the Diamond and the oldest parts of the borough; and the demolished Ligonier Armory. Ligonier and its surrounding countryside are strongly associated with the Mellon banking family, who still owns considerable tracts of land in the area. The Huntland Downs estate, near Ligonier, comprises some of land and is the centerpiece of the Mellon land holdings in the region. Image:railroad-station-in-ligonier-pennsylvania.jpg, Former train station, now school district offices Image:FtLigonier.jpg, Fort Ligonier Image:Ligonier-pennsylvania-downtown.jpg, Ligonier's downtown with the Town Hall in the background.

Media

Ligonier is served by two media markets:

and Johnstown-Altoona.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,695 people, 827 households, and 459 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 907 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 99.76%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.06% Asian, and 0.18% from two or more races. Of the population, 0.35% were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race.

Geography

The Borough of Ligonier is entirely surrounded by Ligonier Township, which is a separate

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the borough has a total area of , all land. Ligonier is located at (40.244518, -79.237067).

Notable people

* Arthur St. Clair, Major General and Patriot in the revolutionary war, 8th President of the Continental Congress (see also Fort Ligonier) * Garrett Smithley,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver * R.K. Mellon, Financier * RC Sproul , Reformed Theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministry

References

External links

Borough of Ligonier

Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce

Fort Ligonier Days Celebration
{{authority control 1758 establishments in Pennsylvania Boroughs in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh metropolitan area Populated places established in 1758