Salina 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 northern Westmoreland 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. Located near Route 819, it lies near communities such as Tinsmill and Avonmore. Salina also is located near

Kiski Area School District The Kiski Area School District is a large, suburban/rural public school district located in Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. The district encompasses approximately and consists of nine municipalities in Armstrong and Westmoreland counties ...

's elementary school, Bell-Avon.

History

Salina was constructed by the Kier Firebrick Company to house employees of the firm. The houses were constructed from 1900 to 1915. It had one clay mine and two coal mines. It was located on a main route (SR 981) connecting Saltsburg to Apollo that has since been re-routed. The town once had two general stores, hospital, hotel, church, brick factory, bowling alley, post office, barber shop, lumber yard and high school. The church was lost due to mine subsidence. The high school was transformed into an elementary school and later sold for storage. DeForno's general store was removed to create a parking for a local business. Beatty’s general store is now apartments. The hospital is now a home. The brick factory was removed and all that remains is a large cement pad near the railroad tracks. The hotel is still in operation as a restaurant and bar (Salina Inn). The bowling alley is now Bell Township VFD. Salina is located along the

Kiskiminetas River The Kiskiminetas River (commonly referred to as the Kiski by locals) is a tributary of the Allegheny River, approximately long, in Western Pennsylvania in the United States. The region stretching from the northern side of Harmar Township, Penn ...

, a tributary of the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

. The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal was completed through this location in 1831, allowing commercial travel from

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 ...

to Johnstown. Along the Kiskiminetas, wells were drilled for salt brine which was used to make salt, hence the name "Salina". By the mid-1850s, the Pennsylvania Railroad came through, bringing new access to markets for local industry.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania