Conway, PA

Conway is a Beaver County borough on the Ohio River, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The 2020 census counted 2,168 residents. The town grew from land settled around 1800 by Revolutionary War veteran General John McKee, but the railroad is what gave Conway its working identity. Conway Yard became a major Pennsylvania Railroad gateway to the west and, from 1956 to 1980, was the world’s largest rail yard. Norfolk Southern still operates the yard today, with locomotives, classification tracks, and railroad traffic shaping the borough’s northern edge. The river and rail line are not backdrop here; they are the reason the place is on the map.

Conway’s current routine is a mix of yard work, river roads, Freedom Area schools, borough services, churches, local businesses, and the volunteer fire department’s response to incidents around the railroad. PA 65 connects the borough to Pittsburgh, the airport, and Beaver County, while Freedom sits just across the local road network. Conway is compact, but its industrial footprint is bigger than its population suggests. You can feel that in the way the streets turn toward the Ohio, the yard keeps moving, and a small borough carries a very large chapter of American railroading beside its homes.