McKean, PA

McKean is an Erie County borough surrounded by McKean Township, about ten miles south of Erie along Pennsylvania Route 99. The borough was formed in 1861 out of the township and was first known as Middleboro. Its small original footprint sat on the Edinboro Plank Road, and the first house in the area had already been built by Benjamin Cullorn in 1810. The name changed officially to McKean in 1970, giving the borough a newer label over an older crossroads.

Religious buildings preserve another layer of the place. A Methodist society organized nearby around 1819, held meetings in schoolhouses, and built its first church in town in 1857; the building was enlarged in 1869. St. Francis Catholic Church followed in 1876, replacing an earlier church dedicated in 1833. The 2020 census counted 475 residents. With Erie five miles north along Route 99 and Edinboro eight miles south, McKean remains a small borough with a long church, road, and township history.