Leechburg, PA

Leechburg is an Armstrong County borough on the Kiskiminetas River, a canal port that became a steel town and now doubles as a river-trail community. Civil engineer David Leech arrived in 1827 to build a dam and lock for the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal; the first canal boats passed through two years later, and Leechburg incorporated in 1850. Railroads soon took over the freight work. The Leechburg Rolling Mill opened in 1872, made the first tin plate in the United States, and became the first steel plant to use natural gas as a fuel in 1874.

That industrial history still shows up in the town’s bridges, churches, and riverfront streets. Pittsburgh Shovel Works opened in 1898 and made shovels used in the Panama Canal construction, while the Armstrong Trail now follows parts of the old rail corridor. The Kiski-Conemaugh Water Trail gives the river a recreational role, and the borough still maintains its own police, fire, and ambulance services. Leechburg is a place where canal engineering, immigrant-era industry, and water access all share one narrow valley.