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Connellsville Information
Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 57 miles (92 km)
southeast of Pittsburgh on the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the
Monongahela river. In 1890, 5,629 people lived in Connellsville, which was a
borough at that time. 7,170 people lived in Connellsville in 1900; 12,845 in the
new city of Connellsville in 1910; 13,804 in 1920; and 13,608 in 1940. The
population was 9,146 at the 2000 census.
During the French and Indian war, a British army commanded by General Edward
Braddock approached fort Duquesne, crossing the Youghiogheny river at Stewart's
crossing, situated in the middle of modern Connellsville. Connellsville was
officially founded as a township in 1793 by Zachariah Connell, a militia captain
during the American revolution. Connellsville became a borough in 1806 and a
city in 1909 when it unified with the nearby town of New Haven.
Coal mining became big business in Connellsville during the later half of the
nineteenth century, and the city became the center of the Connellsville
coalfield. Heavy industry brought much wealth to the Fayette county region.
However, such prosperity remained restricted to a wealthy elite, and many
immigrants of Italian and Slavic origins worked the coal mines and coke ovens in
a state of poverty.
Connellsville was the home of two prominent athletes of the first half of the
20th century: University of Notre Dame quarterback and 1947 Heisman Trophy
winner Johnny Lujack and 1936 Olympic 800 meter gold medalist John Woodruff.
Displays honoring the two star athletes can be found in Connellsville Area High
School. Each year, a 5-kilometer road race is held in Connellsville to honor
Woodruff.
As the coal industry faltered in the 1950s, a wave of deindustrialization
affected Connellsville, removing the sources of wealth that had sustained it in
the past and resulting in a decrease in the city's population. The city remains
a railroad junction, and new sources of revenue are becoming available.
Recently, modern sewage systems were extended beyond the city limits, providing
a draw for large businesses. The city has also promoted its location along the
Laurel Highlands as a tourist attraction.