page_title: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania / History
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a section of a map that is part of the Darlington map collection housed in the Archives Service Center, University Library System, University of Pittsburgh, [1] Pittsburgh, PA US The original map from which this portion was taken can be found here.
context_page_description: Allegheny County is a county in the southwest of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2019 the population was 1,216,045, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh.
  Allegheny County is included in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and in the Pittsburgh Designated Market Area.
  Allegheny was Pennsylvania's first county to bear a Native American name, being named after the Allegheny River. The word "Allegheny" is of Lenape origin, with uncertain meaning. It is usually said to mean "fine river", but sometimes said to refer to an ancient mythical tribe called "Allegewi" that lived along the river before being destroyed by the Lenape.
context_section_description: Little is known of the region's inhabitants prior to European contact. During the colonial era, various native groups claimed or settled in the area, resulting in a multi-ethnic mix that included Iroquois, Lenape, Shawnee, and Mingo. European fur traders such as Peter Chartier established trading posts in the region in the early eighteenth century.
  In 1749, Captain Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville claimed the Ohio Valley and all of western Pennsylvania for Louis XV of France. The captain traveled along the Ohio and Allegheny rivers inserting lead plates in the ground to mark the land for France.
  Since most of the towns during that era were developed along waterways, both the French and the British desired control over the local rivers. Therefore, the British sent Major George Washington to expel the French from their posts, with no success. Failing in this objective, he nearly drowned in the ice-filled Allegheny River while returning. The English tried in 1754 to again enter the area. They sent 41 Virginians to build Fort Prince George. The French learned of the plan and sent an army to capture the fort, which they then resumed building with increased fortification, renaming it Fort Duquesne.
  The loss cost the English dearly because Fort Duquesne became a focal point of the French and Indian War. The first attempt to retake the fort, the Braddock Expedition, failed miserably. It was recaptured in 1758 by British forces under General John Forbes; he had it destroyed after its capture. The British then built a new, larger fort on the site, including a moat, and named it Fort Pitt. The site is now Pittsburgh's Point State Park.
  Both Pennsylvania and Virginia claimed the region that is now Allegheny County. Pennsylvania administered most of the region as part of its Westmoreland County. Virginia considered everything south of the Ohio River and east of the Allegheny River to be part of its Yohogania County and governed it from Fort Dunmore. In addition, parts of the county were located in the proposed British colony of Vandalia and the proposed U.S. state of Westsylvania. The overlapping boundaries, multiple governments, and confused deed claims soon proved unworkable. In 1780 Pennsylvania and Virginia agreed to extend the Mason–Dixon line westward, and the region became part of Pennsylvania. From 1781 until 1788, much of what had been claimed as part of Yohogania County, Virginia, was administered as a part of the newly created Washington County, Pennsylvania.
  Allegheny County was officially created on September 24, 1788, from parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties. It was formed due to pressure from settlers living in the area around Pittsburgh, which became the county seat in 1791. The county originally extended north to the shores of Lake Erie; it was reduced to its current borders by 1800.
  In the 1790s, a whiskey excise tax was imposed by the United States federal government. This started the so-called Whiskey Rebellion when the farmers who depended on whiskey income refused to pay and drove off tax collector John Neville. After a series of demonstrations by farmers, President George Washington sent troops to stop the rebellion.
  The area developed rapidly in the 1800s to become the nation's prime steel producer; Pittsburgh gained the label "Steel Capital of the World".
  In 1913 the County's 125th anniversary was celebrated with a week long chain of events, the final day September 27 was marked with a steamboat parade consisting of 30 paddle wheelers which sailed from Monongahela Wharf down the Ohio to the Davis Island Dam. The boats in line were the Steel City (formerly the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati packet Virginia), the flag ship; City of Parkersburg, Charles Brown, Alice Brown, Exporter, Sam Brown, Boaz, Raymond Horner, Swan, Sunshine, I. C. Woodward, Cruiser, Volunteer, A. R. Budd, J. C. Risher, Clyde, Rival, Voyager, Jim Brown, Rover, Charlie Clarke, Robt. J. Jenkins, Slipper, Bertha, Midland Sam Barnum, Cadet, Twilight, and Troubadour.
caption: 1680 British map of western Pennsylvania and Allegheny County from the Darlington Collection
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