Borough (City) of Warren

History of Warren County Pennsylvania                    Schenck 1887

               The Allegheny Mountains served as a barrier to settlers coming to this part of Pennsylvania. The area was heavily forested, which also deterred settlers. The main mode of travel was by water--the Allegheny River and the Conewango Creek.

               Governor Mifflin appointed Andrew Ellicott, a surveyor, and General William Irvine, a Revolutionary War soldier to survey and lay out the town of Warren along with other areas in northwestern Pennsylvania. They realized that the area along the river presented a very scenic view, and therefore, made sure that area was a part of the town. It is interesting to note that the center of town was to be the intersection of what is now Market St. and Fourth Ave.  Because of this designation, there were to be only public buildings occupying the four corners of this intersection. Wetmore Park has always been as it is today, a park. The space occupied by the court house today has always housed public buildings - first a schoolhouse, then a court house that was taken down to make room for the present court house. The other two corners originally held a jail and an academy (school). Those two corners no longer have public buildings.

               The first permanent structure in Warren was a log building erected by surveyors employed by the Holland Land Company around 1796. For two years it had no floor other than the ground, no chimney other than a hole in the center of a leaky roof. It has been said that Daniel McQuay, then in the employment of the land company, occupied this building as a house.

               There followed others whose names appear in accounts of Warren’s history such as James Morrison Jr., Isaac Buckalew, John Gilson, Zachariah Eddy, and Daniel Jackson. By early 1805, more settlers had arrived. Lumbering brought many people to town, but the discovery of oil throughout the county enticed many new residents to Warren. These two industries made many men people of wealth.

Courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society