11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 40°15′43″N 80°11′6″W

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County,
Pennsylvania, 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and Borough
incorporated in 1802. The population was 8,992 at the 2010
Borough of Canonsburg
census.

The town is in a rich coal district, and most of the town's work
force once worked in local steel mills or coal mines. Interstate
79 and U.S. Route 19 pass through the town, as does the
Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad. A trolley used to
operate from Washington, Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh through
the borough until 1953.

The town is home to Sarris Candies and All-Clad

Metalcrafters, makers of cookware and other bonded metals.
West Pike Street near the intersection of North
It is adjacent to the Southpointe office park located in Cecil Jefferson Avenue
Township, which has a number of large corporate tenants.
Etymology: John Canon
Yenko Chevrolet, one of largest and most notorious custom
Nickname(s): Guntown[1]
muscle car shops of the late 1960s and early 1970s, was also
Motto(s): "America's Small Town Music Capital"
located in Canonsburg. Canonsburg is home to the Pittsburgh
Cougars junior hockey league team.

The second-largest Fourth of July parade in the state of

Pennsylvania, second only to Philadelphia, is held in
Canonsburg.[4] In the weeks leading up to the parade, the
town frequently gains media attention for its residents setting
up folding chairs along the town's main street to stake claim to
Location of Canonsburg in Washington County,
prime viewing areas. Additionally, Canonsburg is home to an Pennsylvania.
annual Oktoberfest. In the television series Supernatural, the
town is featured in the episode "Monster Movie," which is set
in the borough during the Oktoberfest celebration.

Contents Canonsburg,
History Pennsylvania
Uranium mill
Location of Canonsburg in
Geography
Pennsylvania
Surrounding neighborhoods Coordinates: 40°15′43″N 80°11′6″W
Demographics
Country United States
Fourth of July Parade State Pennsylvania
Black Horse Tavern County Washington
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 1/8
11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

Notable people Established 1791

Gallery Government
References • Mayor David H. Rhome
Further reading Area[2]
External links • Total 2.31 sq mi (5.98 km2)
• Land 2.31 sq mi (5.98 km2)
• Water 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
History Population (2010)
The exact date of the first settlement near the current site of • Total 8,992
Canonsburg is unclear. Colonel John Canon, a common miller
• Estimate (2018)[3] 8,811
• Density 3,825.54/sq mi
who also served as justice of the Virginia courts at Fort
(1,477.03/km2)
Dunmore (better known as Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh),
Time zone UTC-5 (EST)
purchased some land from the state of Virginia around
• Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
Chartiers Creek, sometime before May 1780. The state had
claimed what is now southwestern Pennsylvania in a dispute Area code(s) 724/412
that would not finally be settled until later in the decade. In School District Canon-McMillan
1781 Pennsylvania carved Washington County out of Website www.canonsburgboro.com
Westmoreland County, and the county seat was established at (http://www.canonsburgbo
Washington. The notes of the first session of the Washington ro.com)
County Court during that year indicate a call for a road from
Canon's mill to Pittsburgh. The road to Pittsburgh, called Pitt Street, remains in part today as an archaic and indirect route
to the city. The first surviving plat of the town is from April 15, 1788. Lots were sold around Canon's property, and the
emerging town took the name of Canonsburg shortly thereafter.

Many of the participants in the Whiskey Rebellion of July 1794 were

residents of present-day Washington County, which includes Canonsburg.
Some of the insurrectionists are believed to have gathered in the town's
Black Horse Tavern. However, records do not indicate whether any
Canonsburg residents participated in any of the violent acts which
occurred during the rebellion.[5]

The town was the site of the first institution of higher learning west of the
Allegheny Mountains, Jefferson College. Founded in 1802, it was the
eleventh such institution in the United States. The Phi Gamma Delta and
Phi Kappa Psi fraternities were both founded at Jefferson College. Phi
Gamma Delta, of whom President Calvin Coolidge was a member, was
founded in 1848. Phi Kappa Psi, of whom President Woodrow Wilson and
over 100 U.S. Congressmen claim membership, was founded in 1852. The
school would go on to become Washington & Jefferson College in nearby
Washington.

For generations, Jefferson College financially supported Canonsburg by

Original plots, as laid by Colonel John accounting for much of its income. However, in 1868, the college was
Canon.
moved to nearby Washington, leaving behind empty college rooming and
boarding houses, known as the "forts". Canonsburg's largest financial
draw having left, it would take the introduction of the railroad system to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 2/8
11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

return the city to its former glory. The railroad system, on its way from Mansfield (Carnegie) to Washington (See:
Chartiers Branch), was fully operational, as scheduled, on May 18, 1871. The first scheduled train departed from the
Washington depot carrying "borough authorities, the committee of arrangement and reception, as well as Rankin’s Cornet
Band and a number of…prominent citizens who had been invited to join the excursion." They traveled to Mansfield, where
they waited for the special to arrive from Pittsburgh. The special had 12 coaches pulled by two locomotives and was filled
with a large number of dignitaries, most especially the mayors of Pittsburgh and Allegheny. The special then made it down
the newly laid tracks, passing stations full of spectators to cheer on the train. Canonsburg had a large crowd of supporters,
and many people climbed aboard the train to ride along to Washington. There, led by Pittsburgh's Great Western Band,
the crowd marched to Town Hall for a round of speeches. The Washington Reporter editor pronounced the day "a grand
success."

In 1911, South Canonsburg was annexed.

In 1903 the Washington and Canonsburg Railway Company linked the two towns with a trolley line. The company was
bought by the Philadelphia Company in 1906, later becoming part of the Pittsburgh Railway Company, linking through to
Pittsburgh as part of their interurban service in 1909.[6] The line closed on August 29, 1953, with the last three trolley cars
travelling south through Canonsburg to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in 1954 shortly before the track was removed.

The Canonsburg Armory, Hawthorne School and Roberts House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[7]

Uranium mill
The Standard Chemical Company operated a radium refining mill from 1911 to 1922 on a 19-acre (77,000 m2) plot of land.
From 1930 to 1942 the company purified uranium ore. Marie Curie was invited to the United States in 1921 and was given
an honorary degree by the University of Pittsburgh, and one gram of radium.

From 1942 to 1957, Vitro Manufacturing Company refined uranium and other rare metals from various ores and onsite
residues, government-owned uranium ore, process concentrates, and scrap materials. The government bought the
uranium ore from Vitro and used it in the Manhattan Project. Waste from incomplete extraction and other metallurgical
processes accumulated during the site's long history. About 11,600 tons of mill tailings were moved to railroad property
near Blairsville between 1956 and 1957. After the closure of Vitro, the site was used by the U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission. The site was then used by the Canonsburg Pottery Company, operated by the George Family, for land and
clay.

The Canonsburg mill site was designated in the 1978 Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act as eligible for federal
funds for clean up. It was the only uranium mill east of the Mississippi River to receive funds. In a $48 million cleanup
project, the mill site and 163 nearby properties in Canonsburg were remediated. Residual radioactivity was consolidated
into a covered, clay-lined cell at the Canonsburg mill site, which is fenced and posted.

Geography
Canonsburg is located at 40°15′43″N 80°11′6″W (40.262012, −80.185030).[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.3 square miles (6.0 km2), all land.

Canonsburg Lake, a recreational lake, lies directly east of the town.

Surrounding neighborhoods
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 3/8
11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

Canonsburg has four borders, including Cecil Township to the north and northeast, North Strabane Township to the east
and south, Houston to the southwest, and Chartiers Township to the west and northwest.

Demographics
As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 8,607 people, 3,809 households, and 2,285
Historical population
families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,703.5 people per
square mile (1,432.4/km²). There were 4,144 housing units at an average density of Census Pop. %±
1,783.1 per square mile (689.7/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 91.01% 1820 440 —
White, 6.53% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.64% Asian, 0.08% 1830 792 80.0%
Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 1.50% from two or more races. 1840 687 −13.3%
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population. 1850 627 −8.7%
1860 650 3.7%
There were 3,809 households out of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 1870 641 −1.4%
living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female 1880 699 9.0%
householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 34.9% of all 1890 2,113 202.3%
households were made up of individuals and 17.2% had someone living alone who 1900 2,714 28.4%
was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average 1910 3,891 43.4%
family size was 2.88. 1920 10,632 173.2%
1930 12,558 18.1%
In the borough the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 7.1%
1940 12,599 0.3%
from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 21.5% who were 65
1950 12,072 −4.2%
years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there
1960 11,877 −1.6%
were 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.
1970 11,439 −3.7%
The median income for a household in the borough was $31,184, and the median 1980 10,459 −8.6%
income for a family was $42,793. Males had a median income of $32,458 versus 1990 9,200 −12.0%
$22,733 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $17,469. About 2000 8,607 −6.4%
5.8% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2010 8,992 4.5%
14.5% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over. Est. 2018 8,811 [3] −2.0%
Sources:[9][10][11][12]

Fourth of July Parade

The Canonsburg Fourth of July Parade is a parade through
Canonsburg celebrating Independence Day. It is the second-largest
Fourth of July parade in Pennsylvania, second only to Philadelphia,
despite Canonsburg having only 8,992 residents.[4] 50,000 to 60,000
people usually attend.[4][13] The parade starts on Morganza Road and
runs down the length of Pike Street, heading westward, for approximately
1.5 miles.

The parade begins at 10:00 am on the Fourth of July. Parade members A view from Pike Street in the
include high school and other marching bands from Washington County Canonsburg Fourth of July parade.
and the surrounding areas, local sports teams and cheerleaders of all ages,
fire trucks, emergency responders, shriners, unicyclists, jugglers, pipers,
polka bands, various church groups, members of the VFW, local politicians, and the mayor of Canonsburg. Some groups
throw candy to the children along the parade route, and others pass out water bottles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 4/8
11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

After the parade, the day's festivities continue with food, concerts, events in Canonsburg Town Park, and family
entertainment throughout the day.[14] The day ends with fireworks launched near Canon-McMillan Memorial Stadium.[15]

The parade is perhaps regionally most famous for the long-standing tradition of enthusiasts placing chairs, benches, and
beach chairs along the parade route to reserve their seats, sometimes a week or more ahead of the parade. This has caused
controversy among some residents and business owners, but the tradition continues to this day.[13] The seat saving ritual
has attracted the attention of CNN, Jay Leno, and David Letterman.[16]

Black Horse Tavern

Black Horse Tavern was founded in 1794,[17] on the road between Budd's Ferry
on the Youghiogheny River to McFarlen's Ferry on Monongahela River.[18]
Some sources identify the Black Horse Tavern as the birthplace of the Whiskey
Rebellion.[19] Other sources are less certain on the role of the tavern in the
rebellion, ascribing the tavern's prominent role in the Whiskey Rebellion to
"local tradition."[18] By 1795, a "nailing business" was started at the
location.[17] In 1910, the remains of the tavern were removed to make room for
the new Canonsburg High School.[20] Black Horse Tavern

Notable people
Bob Baker, boxer
Perry Como, popular singer and television personality, recipient of Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2002)[21]
Mike Hull, NFL linebacker for Miami Dolphins
H. Ross Hume, distance runner, one of "dead heat twins"
Robert H. Hume, distance runner, brother of H. Ross Hume
Hal Hunter, football coach
Doug Kotar, NFL running back for New York Giants
Jonathan Letterman, Civil War era military surgeon, pioneered field ambulance technique.
Bill Schmidt, Olympic bronze medalist in javelin at Munich Olympics in 1972, national champion 1978, World Military
champion and record holder, Turku, Finland, 1971
Marty Schottenheimer, NFL football coach
Dorian O'Daniel, NFL Linebacker for Kansas City Chiefs and member of the national champion 2016 Clemson Tigers
football team[22]
John Ulam, founder All-Clad cookware and coinage
Bobby Vinton, pop singer and recording artist
Donald Yenko, racer driver, creator of Yenko Camaro at Yenko Chevrolet
Delvin Miller original owner of Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Neolithic native American cave site, and founder of "the
Meadows" Harness Horse Race Track [23]

Gallery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 5/8
11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

John McMillan's Log Roberts House, built Canonsburg Armory, Sarris Candies Inc. store
School, built in the between 1802 and 1808, built in 1938, at West located at 511 Adams
1780s, located on East at 225 North Central College Street and North Avenue.
College Street beside Avenue. Central Avenue.
Canonsburg Middle
School.

References
1. Ewing, Blaine, ed. (1903), Canonsburg Centennial – Eighteen Hundred Two, Nineteen Hundred Two (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=-0wVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA65), Pittsburgh Printing Co., retrieved August 7, 2010
2. "2017 U.S. Gazetteer Files" (https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2017_Gazetteer/2017_gaz
_place_42.txt). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
3. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates" (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2018.html).
Retrieved August 18, 2019.
4. "KDKA 7/2/2008" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081020182423/http://kdka.com/local/canonsburg.parking.chairs.2.76
2600.html#). Archived from the original (http://kdka.com/local/canonsburg.parking.chairs.2.762600.html#) on October
20, 2008. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
5. Grefenstette, Jerry (2009). Canonsburg (https://books.google.com/books?id=vr31Qfo34g0C&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=
Canonsburg+%22whiskey+rebellion%22#v=onepage&q=Canonsburg%20%22whiskey%20rebellion%22&f=false).
Arcadia Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7385-6533-0.
6. Grefenstette, Jerry (2009). Canonsburg – Images of America (https://books.google.com/books?id=vr31Qfo34g0C).
Arcadia Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 0-7385-6533-4. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
7. "National Register Information System" (http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html). National Register of
Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
8. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990" (https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html). United States
Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
9. "Number of Inhabitants: Pennsylvania" (http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/17216604v1p40ch02.pd
f) (PDF). 18th Census of the United States. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
10. "Pennsylvania: Population and Housing Unit Counts" (https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-40.pdf)
(PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
11. "American FactFinder" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130911234518/http://factfinder2.census.gov/). United States
Census Bureau. Archived from the original (http://factfinder2.census.gov) on September 11, 2013. Retrieved
2008-01-31.
12. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population" (https://web.archive.org/web/20131019235623/http://www.census.gov/
popest/data/cities/totals/2012/SUB-EST2012-3.html#). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original (https://www.c
ensus.gov/popest/data/cities/totals/2012/SUB-EST2012-3.html) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
13. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Squatters spark controversy in Canonsburg" 7/2/2002 (https://news.google.com/newspaper
s?nid=1129&dat=20020702&id=weoNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=3309,218770)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 6/8
11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

14. "The Pittsburgh Channel 7/4/2009" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090903080254/http://www.thepittsburghchannel.co

m/entertainment/3399807/detail.html#). Archived from the original (http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/entertainmen
t/3399807/detail.html#) on September 3, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
15. "WPXI 7/1/2009" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090704124530/http://www.wpxi.com/station/19834513/detail.html#).
Archived from the original (http://www.wpxi.com/station/19834513/detail.html#) on July 4, 2009. Retrieved October 29,
2009.
16. Observer-Reporter 6/30/2009 (http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/06-30-Canonsburg-Chairs)
17. Crumrine, Boyd (1882). "Canonsburg Borough". History of Washington County, Pennsylvania with Biographical
Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men (https://archive.org/stream/historyofwashing00crum#page/n66
3/mode/2up). L. H. Leverts & Co. p. 601.
18. Jerry Allan Clouse; Louis M. Waddell; Bruce D. Bomberger (1994). The Whiskey Rebellion: Southwestern
Pennsylvania's frontier people test the American Constitution (https://books.google.com/books?ei=NvyPTZ__N8Lm0g
HV64jACw). Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. p. 63.
19. Philip W. Goetz, ed. (1983). "Canonsburg". The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. p. 517. "In
1794, the Whiskey Rebellion (an uprising of farmers against excise tax on distilled liquor) began there [Canonsburg]
at the Black Hose Tavern."
20. Herron, Jr., James T. (May 2000). "Canonsburg School Board Minutes, Nov. 3, 1910 and Jan. 3, 1911" (http://www.ch
artiers.com/jeff/2000-May/Mccartny.html). Jefferson College Times. Jefferson College Historical Society. "In 1910 the
Canonsburg school board accepted his [Dave McCartney] bid to tear down what was left of the old Black Horse
Tavern. The school district was planning to build a high school on the site. He signed the proposal with his mark."
21. Wilson, Earl (November 27, 1969). "Small Towns Have Produced Many Big Stars" (https://news.google.com/newspap
ers?id=2nVQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8BAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2128%2C5738668). The Milwaukee Sentinel. pp. A33. Retrieved
May 22, 2015.
22. Bendel, Joe (December 29, 2017). "Canonsburg product Dorian O'Daniel will face Alabama in the College Football
Playoff" (https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/college/2017/12/29/o-daniel-a-canonsburg-product-will-face-alabama-in
-college-football-playoff-dorian-roger-scott-woodland-hills-slippery-rock-dabo-swinney-nick-saban/stories/2017122900
01). The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
23. Archaeology Magazine

Further reading
Barraclough, Christopher R. Morganza: Pennsylvania's Reform School. Arcadia Publishing, 2014.
Grefenstette, Jerry. Canonsburg. Arcadia Publishing, 2009.
Herron, James T. Fifty Fantastic Fourths: Commemorating Canonsburg's Fourth of July Celebration in its 50th Year.
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania: Fourth of July Celebration Committee, 2012.
Herron, James T. A History for the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church.
McPeake Printing Co., 1975.
Richards, Samuel J. The Middle Holds: A History of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Canonsburg, and the Community
it Serves. Closson Press, 2016.

External links
Canonsburg borough website (http://www.canonsburgboro.com/)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania&oldid=919671689"

This page was last edited on 5 October 2019, at 01:28 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 7/8
11/29/2019 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonsburg,_Pennsylvania 8/8