The Irish standard., 1886-09-18
A DESERTED j q VILLAGE.
The Rise and Fall Of a Modern
Pennsylvania Village.
How Wheatland Sprang Up to Be zsusv
City OF Thirty Thousand Inhabitants
and Suddenly Dropped to an In
=. significant Village.

phenomenal progress, metropolitan aQ-
vancement and subsequent disastrous de-
cline, has been written time and again, and
stands to-day as one of the most strange
and entertaining studies of the history OF
oildom.
Yet town rivaling it in every respect,
although but very little known, lies with
in two miles of this place, down the fertile
Shenango valley. Wheatland, in the
earlier Of the seventies, was known as
one Of the most fourishing manufact-
uring towns in Western Pennsylvania.
Great iron-works belching forth smoke
and fame, threw the CLEANS OF
their ruddy piles to the sky, and
cast weird shadows on the surrounding
hills. Its streets resounded with the hum
of industry, and no one who passed through
the place at the time would have dreamed
that ten or twelve years later the sounds
of the furnaces would be stilled, the great
structures themselves crumbling away,
and the once busy streets grass-grown and
deserted. Such, however, is the state of
affairs at present. The decline Of Wheat
land was even more rapid than its rise.
James Wood, Pittsburgh manufacturer,
at one time had occasion to travel fire.
quently between Erie and Pittsburgh. On
these trips he was enchanted with the view
of the broad valley two miles south of
Sharon, and where Wheatland is now situ-
ated. In his fancy he pictured a model
town, with regularly laid-out streets, neat
houses and business blocks, all giving evil
dence of answering to the impulse of great
iron interests. The dream became an ana-
bition of his life, and was actually car
ried out as originally conceived. In
1872 be, with his sons, who were en-
gagged with him in the iron business, laid
out the first town plat. Tbs place was
named Wheatland in honor of President
Buchanan's home, and the erection Of
works was at once begun. Where waving
wheat and corn had testified to the thrift
of the farmers year previous great piles
of building materials were hauled, and the
noise of the hammers and saws of scores
of busy mechanics disturbed the quiet
.peacefulness of the scene. With the COM
pletion of the works Wheatland expert
enced great boom. People by the hum
dreds hocked to the new town to enter into
business and to secure employment i'll the
various industrial establishments. Town
lots sold rapidly and at high prices: and so
great was the rush that houses could not
be built fast enough.
A fine school-house, several magnificent
churches and other public enterprises were
completed. The citizens were an enter
'prising lot of people and had plans
drawn by an architect for q huge
market house modelled after the one
at Harrisburg, the State capital. a fine
tract of land was to have been con-
verted into a grand park for public pu1'-
poses. In the mean time, Sharon and it's
little neighbor on the north, Sharpsvil]e,
were booming in common with other iron
towns. A project was set on foot by
number of wealthy residents to build q
street railroad from Sharpsville, through
Sharon, to Wheat1and, to accommodate
the immense travel between these places
1t was common talk that the three towns
would soon be united as one grand city,
:rivaling in time Pittsburgh and Allegheny.
"A bank charter was issued for an institu-
ion at Wheatland. But just as the climax
of prosperity was reached and the value Of
real estate and other property was at its
highest, the crash came and the mills at
.Wheatland went under with immense liza
biities. In the general panic which swept
over the entire country terrible business
stagnation followed in this section, and
one by one the fondly cherished dreams of
great enterprises faded or burst like soap
bubbles. The iron works at Wheatland
never ran steadily again, and the ex-
odus of its inhabitants began. From
q population of over thirty thou
sand tho number has dwin-
died to less than two hundred, and long
rows of deserted houses, slowly succumb-
ing to the crumb1ing touches Of Time,
stand as monuments to great industry.
The great iron works arc crumbling to
pieces; the company's houses, erected at
great cost are in deplorable state. Fires
have removed many Of the finer structures,
and more desolate place would be hard
to find. The salo OF lands for taxes at
Mercer, the county seat, every year in
.clude many lots situated in Wheatland.
Yet the town may revive at any time.
Rumors state that an enterprising firm
have leased the works, which have been in
litigation for years, and will repair and
start the same. Natural gas, which is
being introduced into the Shenango valley,
will have powerful effect in this direc-
tion, and the shattered castles of fifteen
years ago, that the three towns would be-
come link symmetrical and firm, under
common municipal authority, may be re-
allied. Sharon and Sharpsville however,
have increased steadily in wealth and
population, which makes the decline of
'Wheatland more strange and unexplain-
able than otherwise.
Stolid Mr. Smokes Affirmative