Conway, Pennsylvania

History

The area that would become Conway was first settled by former American Revolutionary War General John McKee, an Irish immigrant, around 1800 through an 800-acre grant of New Sewickley Township. The area had formerly been known as Crow's Run Valley by several tribes of Native Americans because of the abundance of crows that nested in the Hemlock trees of the region. McKee's land extended in to the forest about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Ohio River.

In 1825 McKee sold 230 acres of his land to Michael Conway, a fellow Irish American. McKee then used the funds to help finance the construction of the first railroad between Pittsburgh and Beaver County, which would later become a branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Conway Yard was built in 1884 by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was expanded in the early 20th century, and again in a massive effort in the 1950s, which made it the largest railway yard in the world for some time. Apart from the railroad, other industries flourished in the production of clay, coal, oil, building stone, brick making and building railroads, primarily through the various endeavors of James I. Park and his sons William A., John H. and George I. Park.

From the History section of Conway, Pennsylvania on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.