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Greensburg
A Great Town in
Westmoreland County, PA
by
Karen Fetter
At the foothills of the
Appalachian Mountains, located in the beautiful
Laurel Highlands, is the City of Greensburg.
Greensburg is a major hub of business and
commerce in Westmoreland County. With a
population of over 15,000, Greensburg has many
community and cultural institutions to offer as
well as significant educational facilities.
Many people are attracted to Greensburg’s
shopping and dining district. Not only are the
streets of downtown Greensburg lined with quaint
shops, but nearby Westmoreland Mall boasts over
150 stores.
Culture and history are other reasons for
visiting Greensburg. The Westmoreland Museum of
American Art and the Palace Theatre have many
world class exhibits and shows. In addition,
Greensburg offers two great educational
facilities - Seton Hill University and
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.
Greensburg also serves as the county seat for
Westmoreland County.
Greensburg History ;
Greensburg Resources ;
Greensburg
Culture, Recreation, and more
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Shortly
after the Revolutionary War, the town of
Greensburg was nothing more than a simple
inn located along what is known as
Pittsburgh Street today. A settlement grew
around this inn and became known as Newtown.
After a fire destroyed the original county
seat at Hannastown, Newtown took over as the
center of county administration in 1782. By
1786 a log courthouse was erected in the
same location where the Westmoreland County
Courthouse stands today. The area
surrounding the courthouse was the original
borough, later named for Revolutionary War
General Nathaniel Greene. |
Greensburg History
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The first court held
in Greensburg was on January 7, 1787. While
the location has remained the same, the
structure of the courthouse has changed
dramatically over the years. What began as a
log structure changed to brick and now is
now a four story landmark with a central
dome in the Italian Renaissance style.
Greensburg’s current courthouse is one of
only two in the world designed by William
Kauffman. It was erected in 1906 and is one
of the region's most beautiful Beaux Arts
buildings. For more information about the
Westmoreland County Courthouse, please visit
www.co.westmoreland.pa.us.
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Greensburg continued to grow slowly and steadily
until 1850. Around that time an economic boom
created by the convergence of coal and the
railroad made the town boom with inns,
businesses, and an exploding population. One
main draw was the location of the railroad stop.
The economic boom created by coal and
Greensburg's retail industry convinced the
Pennsylvania Railroad to build the Train Station
at Greensburg. The railroad commissioned
architect William Cookman to design the new
station and on August 2, 1911, the Train Station
at Greensburg was opened to the public. The
station was heavily used until the 1940s when it
began to decline due to the rise in use of
automobiles.
By the1900s Greensburg began to absorb
many of the smaller boroughs that
surrounded it, including Bunker Hill in
1894 and Ludwick, East Greensburg, and
Southeast Greensburg in 1905. Greensburg
became a Third-Class City on January 2,
1928. Currently the city is
approximately 20 miles in perimeter with
40.4 miles of city streets and 7.90
miles of state highways.
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Greensburg’s cultural status grew with the
addition of the Westmoreland County Museum of
American Art in 1959 and the opening of the University of
Pittsburgh Greensburg Campus in 1963. Then in
the 1970s, commerce expanded once again.
Westmoreland Mall opened its doors along with
many other shopping centers. Even with the new
competition, the heart of downtown Greensburg
remains active with many unique shops, banks,
and businesses. Visit the City of Greensburg's
website
www.city.greensburg.pa.us to learn more!
Greensburg Resources
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The
Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce serves the
residents and businesses of Greensburg,
Hempfield Township, Jeannette, New Stanton,
Murrysville, Delmont, Export, Penn Township,
Penn Borough, and Plum Borough. Its
membership includes around 1,000 companies
representing over 20,000 employees in the
region. The mission of the Chamber is "to
facilitate, maintain, and advance an
environment conducive to the economic well
being and superior quality of life for
Westmoreland County through leadership,
growth and vision.” |
Just Miniature Scale
A Great Miniatures Shop right Downtown |
Westmoreland Regional
Hospital is part of Excela Health. With nearly
1,400 employees, the facility offers intensive
care, emergency care, skilled care,
rehabilitative services, behavioral health, and
inpatient and outpatient surgery.
The hospital also offers a range of clinical
services and functions as a regional referral
center for advanced medical treatment in
selected areas such as cardiac care, open heart
surgery, cancer care, and women's services. In
addition, the hospital offers physical,
occupational, and speech therapy as well as home
and hospice care.
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The Greensburg Volunteer
Fire Department was organized on January 12,
1891 and is considered one of the best volunteer
departments in the nation. The City's original
firefighting equipment consisted of two hose
carts with leather fire buckets and included
Hose Company #1 and Hose Company #2.
Presently, the Greensburg Volunteer Fire
Department has a membership of 350 firefighters.
Its firefighting equipment now boasts five fire
engines, one ladder truck, three rescue trucks,
two salvage units, and five additional pieces of
specialized equipment. The Greensburg VFD also
has a Rescue Dive Team and Air Rescue East Team.
The Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department’s own
Jack Simon served as the Pennsylvania State Fire
Commissioner for five years.
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Greensburg-Hempfield Area Library
www.ghal.org
The Greensburg -
Hempfield Area Library offers a wide
range of services to its patrons. These
services include: a computerized card
catalog, a wide selection of best
sellers, access to 200 periodicals, a
workplace site with career information,
the Ebsco magazine indexing service,
SHARE WESTMORELAND magazine service, an
extensive large print collection, and
large print circulation to nursing
homes. There is a reference section and
the Pennsylvania Room collection of
local history, including back issues of
the Greensburg Daily Tribune, 1889-1952.
At the Greensburg – Hempfield Library
you will find a large number of foreign
language tapes and books, books on tape,
and a video tape collection. Patrons can
also use the extensive phone book
collection, Inter-Library loan services,
a CD music collection for circulation,
ACCESS Pennsylvania, and a wide variety
of programs for children and adults.. |
Greensburg
Culture, Recreation, and more
The Westmoreland Trust is
the organization responsible for the purchase
and renovation of both the Palace Theatre and
the Greensburg Train Station. The Palace Theatre
originally opened September 2, 1926 as the Manos
Theatre. Today it hosts the widest variety of
live entertainment in the area in a beautifully
renovated facility that seats 1,320 people.
Visit
http://thepalacetheatre.org to learn about
the latest shows.
The Train Station now serves as an active train
terminal with 13,000 passengers traveling
through each year. It has a public lobby with a
visitor's information center, specialty
concession area, public restrooms, a waiting
area, and elevators to the train platforms.
Located in the old passenger terminal is the Red
Star Brewery and Grille, a local establishment
that has attracted much attention. This
restaurant and microbrewery offers six,
sometimes seven fresh brews on tap. To learn
more visit
www.redstarbrewery.com
The Westmoreland Trust also leases the
Greensburg Garden and Civic Center building from
the City of Greensburg. The GGCC is the
headquarters for the Greensburg Garden Club,
Greensburg Civic Theater, and the Greensburg
College Club. The GGCC was built by
philanthropist Katherine Mabis McKenna and
donated to the City of Greensburg in 1969 as a
memorial to her son, Mennel M. Smith. The Center
is a multi-use facility and is utilized by over
100 organizations and well over 100,000 people
each year.
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The Train Station in Greensburg |
The Palace Theatre |
Westmoreland Museum of American Art
www.wmuseumaa.org
The Westmoreland Museum
of American Art was established in 1949 as the
Woods Marchand Foundation at the bequest of Mary
Marchand Woods. This founder bequeathed her
entire estate in order for the Museum to be
built in Greensburg. In 1959, the Museum was
opened exhibiting collections of American and
southwestern Pennsylvania art. The mission of
the Museum is "to educate, inspire and enrich
the public through the presentation of American
Art and to create an experience in which the
arts are enjoyed, understood and can thrive."
Recreation
Thomas Lynch Field
This facility has a wide array of activities for
the community. It includes the Kirk S. Nevin
Arena, the Veterans' Memorial Swimming Pool, an
Aerobic Center, athletic fields, and walking,
jogging, and biking trails.
Mt. Odin Park
This park has an 18-hole golf course, tennis
courts, driving range, and pavilions for rental.
St. Clair Park
St. Clair Park is the site of the Robertshaw
Amphitheater, playgrounds, toddler lots, and
outdoor concerts. The summer concert series at
St. Clair Park draws a wide audience for
everything from Big Band to Classic Rock,
Country, and more. To learn more, visit
www.summersounds.com.
YMCA
The Greensburg YMCA became an incorporated
non-profit organization in 1890. The current
building on Maple and Pittsburgh Streets was
designed by David Shaw Atkinson in 1913 for
$95,000. The YMCA has been a part of the
Greensburg community since that time. Programs
available at the facility include aquatics,
childcare, group exercise, gymnastics, martial
arts, sports, and teen programs. To learn more,
visit
www.greensburgymca.org.
Education
Seton Hill University
www.setonhill.edu
Seton Hill is a Catholic University rooted in
Judeo-Christian values and follows the tradition
of Elizabeth Ann Seton. This co-ed school has a
15:1 ratio of students to professors. There are
over 30 majors to choose from and Seton Hill
offers both graduate and under graduate
programs.
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
www.upg.pitt.edu
The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (UPG)
was established in 1963 as one of four regional
campuses for the University of Pittsburgh. On
Sept. 3, 1963, the campus began operating as a
two-year program with class of 56 full time day
students and approximately 156 students in the
part time evening program. This liberal arts and
science campus became a four-year program in
1987. Today campus has nearly 2000 students
enrolled on a yearly basis. The
student-faculty-ratio at UPG is 18:1 and the
average class size is 25 students.
Roads and Routes
State Routes 66 and 136
begin in Greensburg and State Routes 130, 819,
and 119 pass through. U.S. Route 30 passes
Greensburg to the south and the Route 66 Toll
Road bypasses Greensburg on the west. The
Pennsylvania Turnpike is only five miles south
of Route 119 in New Stanton. The original
Lincoln Highway passed through town on
Pittsburgh Street.
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Greensburg, Westmoreland County, PA
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