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History of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, USA
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(Brighton)
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Originally called Brighton, Beaver Falls was chartered as a borough in 1868. It adopted the commission form of government in 1913.
In the 1870s, Beaver Falls was home to a Chinatown and had up to 225 Chinese residents, brought in to work at Beaver Falls Cutlery Company.
wikipedia
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1880 - Beaver Falls, Pa., File Works Burned; Loss $400,000 - FIRE IN FILE WORKS
Pittsburg, April 19.- The Western File works at Beaver Falls, Pa., caught fire at 10 o'clock in this morning, and totally destroyed the building, together with its stock and machinery. Loss estimated at $400,000; insurance 125,000. The origin of the fire is not known, but suspected to be a spark from the shovel factory. Over 200 hands are temporarily thrown out of employment.
The Dubuque Herald
Dubuque, Iowa
April 20, 1880
1891 - DASHED INTO ETERNITY - A SERIOUS COLLISION AT ROCK POINT ON THE P. & L. E. R. R.
One man killed and four others badly injured - A train crowded with laborers runs into a freight - A brakeman said to have given the wrong signal - the killed and injured.
BEAVER FALLS, PA, April 25, - a serious accident occurred on the Pittsburg and Lake Erie railroad, between Rock Point and Homewood, in which one man was killed and four men badly hurt. Freight train No. 42 was running west at a fair rate of speed, and upon turning one of the sharp curves near Rock Point the engineer saw the construction train standing on the track only a short distance away. He hurriedly gave the danger signal and whistled down the brakes, but before the speed of the train could be checked in crashed into the working train, demolishing the cars and causing the loss of life. The construction train has been stationed near Rock Point for some time, and the men had just boarded the train to move to another place. Consequently the cars were crowded with workmen, and it was a wonder that more were not... Read MORE...
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1893 - April 8 – The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania between the Geneva College Covenanters and the New Brighton YMCA.
wikipedia.org
April 8, 1893
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1895 - Beaver Falls
Beaver Falls, a post-borough of Beaver co., Pa., on the W. bank of the Beaver River, and on the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago, and the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Rail roads, 34 miles N.W. of Pittsburg. The railroad here crosses the river by a bridge which connects the town with New Brighton. Here are 3 banks, 12 churches, 5 hotels, a college, water-works, natural and artificial gas, and electric lights. It is a manufacturing centre, and has large file works, flouring-mills, steel works, 3 planing-mills, an axe factory, a shovel-factory, glass-factories, tile-works, white Ware potteries, bridge-works, and a nail-mill. About 2500 operatives are employed in these manufactures, and the capital invested is about $2,600,000. Coal abounds in the vicinity. An electric street-railroad in course of construction will connect the town with the county-seat 4 miles distant. Pop. in 1890, 9735.
Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott
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1904 - Beaver Falls Borough
This busy manufacturing center is situated in the valley of the Big Beaver Creek, about three and a half miles from its mouth. The town occupies mainly a plateau some fifty or sixty feet above the creek, and has thus excellent natural drainage. The hills on either side, especially to the west, rise boldly to a height of perhaps two hundred feet, with immense perpendicular cliffs, making very wild and picturesque scenery. The high ground here was formerly covered with those blocks of granite known to geologists as "erratics," which are supposed to have been transported hither from the Canadian highlands by icebergs and deposited as the bergs melted
Very early the immense water power afforded by the Falls of the Beaver at this point, and the consequent possibilities of successful manufacturing being carried on here, impressed themselves upon all visitors. Among those who perceived these advantages at an early period was General Daniel Brodhead, who, while commandant at Fort Pitt... Read MORE...
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1916
Beaverfalls, a banking post-borough of Beaver co., Pa., on the W. bank of the Beaver River and on the Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Rs., 32 miles SW. of Pittsburg. It is connected by bridge with New Brighton. The borough is an important manufacturing centre, Md its industries comprise extensive file-, steel-, wire-, nail- and bridge-, tube-, glass- and chemical-works, saw-factories, rolling- and planing-mills, etc. It is the seat of Geneva College. Coal and natural gas abound in the vicinity. . Pop. in 1890, 9736 ; in 1900, 10,054.
Lippincotts New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns, Resorts, Islands, Rivers, Mountains, Seas, Lakes, Etc., in Every Portion of the Globe, Part 1 Angelo Heilprin Louis Heilprin - January 1, 1916 J.B. Lippincott - Publisher
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