West Mifflin, PA

West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,829 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

The borough was founded in 1786 and named for its location on the west bank of the Monongahela River opposite Pittsburgh. The first settler in West Mifflin was Ebenezer Shriver, who built a cabin on what is now Shriver Road in 1786. In 1810, he sold his land to James Duquesne and John McMillan. Duquesne laid out a town which he called " Duquesneville" after his patron, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. However, when Duquesneville failed to attract settlers, McMillan renamed it " West Mifflin" after the English town of Merton near London where he had lived before coming to America.

In 1812-13, West Mifflin became one of the first municipalities in Pennsylvania to be served by a railroad line when the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad reached it from downtown Pittsburgh. The railroad brought industry and jobs to West Mifflin; among those early businesses were a foundry and machine shop operated by George Haddock & Sons (later known as Haddock Machine Works), an ironworks owned by William Henry Bessemer & Sons (later known as Bessemer Steel), and a brewery operated by Jacob Miller & Son (later known as Pabst Brewing Company). In addition to these industrial businesses, West Mifflin's early residents also engaged in agriculture; among those early farmers were Joseph Bechtel Sr., who farmed along what is now Blair Road; John Suter Jr., who farmed along what is now Old Route 30; and Nicholas Longacre Jr., who farmed along what is now North Main Street.

In 1892-93, West Mifflin became home to one of America's earliest municipally owned electric utilities when the Borough Council voted to establish an electric lighting system using electricity generated by steam turbines located at nearby Aliquippa Power Plant #1 (now Aliquippa Nuclear Generating Station). This system provided light throughout much of downtown West Mifflin for more than 50 years until it was replaced by electric streetlights installed during World War II.

Today, many of West Mifflin's historic buildings remain standing; among them are Duquesne Hall (built in 1902 as a Carnegie library), Sts Peter & Paul Catholic Church (built in 1886), East End Schoolhouse (built c1850), Uniontown Elementary School (built 1916), PNC Bank Tower (formerly First National Bank Building; built 1931), Allegheny County Courthouse Annex building (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5) (#6) (#7) (#8) all built between 1930-1940); as well as numerous homes dating from the late 1800s through today including examples such as: 5405 Shriver Rd.; 5609 Blair Rd.; 7001 North Main St.; 8017 North Main St.; 9503 Old Route 30; 10502 Old Route 30; 11507 Blair Rd.; 12508 Blair Rd.; 13509 Blair Rd.; 14509 Blair Rd..