Alice, Here is some information about Rich Valley/Mansfield/Carnegie, a bit more then you asked for though. Terry (1) The old name for the Scott Township side of Carnegie Who helped to lay out the borough od Mansfield? Wm Nicholson aged 86, died at the Columbia Hospital, Wilkinsburg, Sunday. Condenced from the History of Carnegie Borough by Larry Ciptak. He was born on the site of city home Marshalsea (Mayview). He moved to Scott twp in early life and was justice of the peace for 20 years, being a Democrat. While he served as justice helped lay out he borough called Mansfield. Mr Nicholson also laid out Chartiers cemetery where he was buried. He was the last of a family of nine children. He built the first school house in that part of Scott township, now Upper Saint Clair township which still bears his name. He leavesa wodow one son, Albert W and one daughter Mrs John F McKibben of Wilkinsburg. SI 08-06-1908 In 1765, Major William Lea-an English Army office, built the Old St Luke's Episcopal Church in Woodville, the church is the oldest church west of thh Allagheny mountains. The first white pioneers to settle in what is know known as Carnegie was John and James Bell from Virginia in 1768, in the following year they constructed permanent cabins. The first post office was established in 1853, with Mansfield have churches and schools, the next natural step was the post office The first church erected was the First Presbyterian Church built in 1852-53. United Presbyterian Church organized their congregation in 1856, and built the Church in 1858. Then came the Methodist Church in 1859 and the Baptists organized in 1868. 1876 the German Catholics built St Joseph's Church and in 1880 St Luke's Church was erected. Mansfield was incorporated into a borough September 6, 1872, the same day Chartiers incorporated as a borough also. Large employers at that time were, Mansfield Coal and Coke Co., Steen and Sons Colliery and Grant Mining co. In 1883 J C Kirkpatrick and Company built the Chartiers Iron and Steel Co, bringing many new families in to Mansfield and surrounding areas. By 1891 Mansfield boasted having four churches, seven doctors, a school, a bank and other businesses. There were 2 wooden covered bridges crossing the Chartiers creek, connecting Mansfield and Chartiers. Chartiers bring the first ward and Mansfield the second ward. Gas lines were laid out on Main st and Washington ave in 1885-89, and Chartiers st was the first to be paved in 1888. February 20, 1894 residents voted to consolidate the two boroughs by a vote of 670 to 125. The new Carnegie government consisted of a Burgess and a 6 person council. Andrew Carnegie allowed the new town to be named in his honor and in return he donated $200,000 for the build of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library which open May 1, 1901 The first high school built in Carnegie was erected in 1899. Carnegie continued to grow and by 1916 there were three railroad lines and 14 metal industries together they employed 6,270 people. Carnegie's population grew every year until about 1950, then with he closing of Superior Steel in 1960's.By 1970 the population had dropped to 1,023 people. From teh History of Allegheny County. Mansfield Borough, This was incorporated September 6, 1872, from the northwestern part of Scott township. The town is laid out for Mansfield B. Brown, by J. B. Stilley, in August, 1870. At that time is was a hamlet, deriving such importance as it possessed from its location on the Panhandle railroad and Noblestown plank road. The site of the town was orginally embraced in a tract of seven hundred avres owned by Philip Ross, one of the earliest settlers in Chartiers valley. He was a resident of Maryland prior to his emigration to the west, and in addition to his lands he owned a tract of two hundred thousand acres on Harrod's creek, Kentucky, ten miles inland from Louisville, to which four of his sons, Stephen, Philip, Reuben and Benjamin subsequently removed. The residents in the present limits of the town and its vicinity in 1856 were Mansfield B Brown, Col. J. B. Glenn, Richard Lea, and Charles Bedell. In 1867 the houses in regular order on the east side of Main street, begining at the bridge, were those of the late Mark Rowan;--Newell, on the site of J. C. Bedell's stable; D Ward, where the opera-house stands; the general stores of Kennedy & Bedell and W. J. Ford & Co.; the tollhouse on the plank-road, at the present location of Hardy's drugstore; the notion-store of Mrs Richards; the house of J. M. Larimar; the blacksmith-shop of Orrie Carnahan; the shoeshop of John Rumpf; the house and shop of Leonard Kearns, and thehouses of Joshua Stephenson and -- Clingan. On the oppisite sides of the street were the Presbyterian church, the houses of Messrs, Bets, Roach, Carnahan, Walker, Bigham, Ewing, Mills and Evans, Mrs McQuintty, Mrs Harvey, Mrs Hand and Mrs McKain. On Washington avenue were the Methodist church, the brick house corner of Lincoln street, and the residence of Squire Rowland. The township schoolhouse was on Lydia Street, and Rev. F. R. Wotring lived at the termini of Lydia and Hayes. The present residence of Robert H. Brown, Mrs M. B. Brown and S. Kennedy, with others on Chestnut hill and the bank of the creek, complete the list. A contributor to the Item of January, 1873, thus describes the town and its advantages at that time: Mansfield [including Chartiers] has now a population of about two thousand souls, and is favorably located in the rich valley of the Chartiers a short distance below the confluence of Chartiers creek and Robinson run, at and around the junction of the Pan Handle and Chartiers railroads, and at a distance from the courthouse in Pittsburgh of about five miles by land and about seven and three-fourths by rail....Thus desirably situated at a convenient distance from the great center of ther business interests and the religious influence of Western Pennsylvania, Mansfield is also favored with the most modern facilities of ingress and egress to and from all desirable points....In addition to outlet and ingress by railroads, vounty and township roads from every point of the compass center in Mansfield. Nature, in fact, seems to have intended the territory upon which the town is located for the concentration of a large population and for a convenient center of business and trade for an extended community; and a judging from the rapid increase in its population in the last year or two, we conclude that the time is not far in the future when this seeming intention will be made true by the existing facts. The Article concludes with a flattering allusion to the beauty of the surrunding county, its religious and educational advantages, and the healthfulness of the locality. It is problematical whether the town has realized its early indications as to future growth and importance. The opening of coal- mines in the vinicity stimulated its growth for some years, and this industry has continued to be the chief reliance of the population. It has been reguarded favorably as a place of residence for persons engaged in business in the city, and the accession to its population from this class constitutes a large and desirable element. No manufactures have been established within the borough limits, but its laboring classes are largely represented in the neighboring iron-and lead-works. Main street is the principal business throuhfare, and every brance of mercantile pursuit is represented. The streets are graded, lighted with natural gas and provided with an adequate system of sewerage. The population in 1880 was 1,172, and at the present time is probably 2,000. A postoffice was established under the name of Rich Valley in October, 1853. The name ws changed to Mansfield Valley in Auust, 1865. The Educatioal interests of the borough are well sustained. The first school-building after the inaguration of the public-school system was built about 1840, on the Rowland property, northeast of Washington avenue. Among the teachers here were John Morrow and Mary Rogers. A new schoolhouse was built in 1859, and a third in 1865, the former nearly opposite the present location, the latter on Jane street. The town became a separate school district upon its incorporation in 1872, and the first board of directors consisted of F. R. Wotring, D. J. Rogers, G. K. Ormond, George Clark, W. U. Smith and R Christy. The school term was seven months, and the first teachers were Missed Katie McElroy, Anna Rogers and others. The intelligent appresiation of the common schools by the general community is indicated by the large and commodious structure recently erected for educational purposes. It is built of brick, three stories high, ninty feet long and sixty feet wide, and surmounted by a belfry rising to a height of one hundred and thirty-eight feet. Four large school-rooms occupy he first floor; the second is divided into an equal number and a director's room, and the principal feature of the third is a lyceum hall. Every provision has been made for the comfort, convenience and healhfulness of the pupils. The aggregrate cost was thirty-five thousand dollars. The first number of the Mansfield Item was issued on Tuesday, January 7, 1873. It was a twenty-column folio, but has since been enlarged. The plant was completely destroyed by fire September 4, 1876, but the paper survived this loss and has become a valuable property. Mr. C. Kneppe, by whom the enterprise was orginated, is still proprietor. The Item has been in every sense a valuable local journal, and from its files, through the courtesy of the editor, many interesting data have been gleaned. Home News< and The Business Man, established in 1872 and 1875 respectively, are published monthly from the Item office, and also the Mansfield Wochensblatt, a monthly, established in September, 1885. The Mansfield Presbyterian Church as an organization under its present name dates from 1855, although virtually a continuation of Mount Pisgah Church, organized in 1830. The church-edifice was built in 1852, largely through the efforts of Mansfield B Brown and Hugh Lee, and enlarged in 1883. Revs. John B. Wotring was pastor from 1869 to 1878, and J. M. Duff, the present ineumbentm, was installed in 1880. The following is a list of elders, wih dates of installation: 1853, James Frew, William Foster; 1857, Mansfield B. Brown, Hugh Lee, S Yourd, Thomas McMillen; 1885, Robert H Brown, Alexander Patterson, William Irvin, George Clark and G. B. Forsythe. The United Presbyterian congregation was organized in 1858, with twenty-five members. The frst trustees were David Hill, Ebenzer Ramsey and J. K. Cubbage; the first elders, Alexanger Boyd and J. B. Glenn. Rev. Alexander Calhoun was pastor from 1858 to 1861; George K. Ormond 1870-73; Cyrus B. Hatch, 1876-79, T. C. Atchison was installed in 1881, and is in charge at present. A two-story brick church edifice was built in 1858 at the present location. It was destroyed by fire in 1872, and the present stone building was erected in the following year. The first Methodist, sormon in Mansfield was perached in 1855, by Rev. James L. Graham, in the "wool-house" on Main street. Rev. James Beacom, Robert Blackburn, M. D., Eli Edmundson, R. F. Smith and J. Q. Cook met at the residence of Mr Cook, on Washington avenue, on an evening in the summer of 1857, when the first action for building a church was taken. Until its completion, in 1859, the United Presbyterian church was occupoed. Mr Beacom has been succeeded as pastor by A. Scott, R. L. Miller, S. Crouse, Isreal Dallas, D. L. Dempsey, S. Y. Kennedy, T. H. Wilkinson, Edward Birkett, James Hollingshead, N. G. Miller, W/ D. Stevens, J. L. Deens, L. R. Beacom, S. T. Mitchell and -- Lynch. There are also a Methodist Protestant and two African Methodist churches in the borough. The Baptist Church, Rev. J. B. Yeates, pastor, was organized in 1868, and worships in a recently dedicated frame edifice on Washington avenue.