West Pittsburg 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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in southern Taylor Township, Lawrence 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. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 808. It is located in the Beaver River valley south of New Castle. Its main street is the north-south

Pennsylvania Route 168 Pennsylvania Route 168 (PA 168) is a highway in Western Pennsylvania that runs for from Pennsylvania Route 18, PA 18 in Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania, Frankfort Springs to Pennsylvania Route 208, PA 208 in Volant, Pennsylvania, Volant. PA 1 ...

, which crosses the river at the southern end of the community.DeLorme. ''Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer'', 8th ed. Yarmouth, 2003, p. 56 The community is north-northwest of the city of

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 ...

West Pittsburg P&LE Station

For a small community, West Pittsburg had one of the largest railroad stations built in the north Pittsburgh area. At one time, the

Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE; ), also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio, in the ...

thought that the community would become a major railroad hub and constructed a large

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

that would serve passengers on "The Little Giant". Other railroads that would have benefited were the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

and the

Western Allegheny Railroad Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

; however, the hub never materialized. Over time, the three railroads went out of business, but

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

and the

Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in New York and Pennsylvania. The BPRR is owned by Genesee & Wyoming. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York, and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, conn ...

continue to use the yard near the West Pittsburg Station to transport freight to cities like Pittsburgh,

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, New Castle, and

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

References

External links

Beaver-Lawrence Railway Historical SocietyMap
{{authority control Census-designated places in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Census-designated places in Pennsylvania