Meadowlands, PA

Meadowlands is a census-designated place within Chartiers Township in central Washington County, about eight miles north of the city of Washington. The community sits in a township shaped by farm fields, coal and oil, and the transport routes that carried people and goods across southwestern Pennsylvania. The Concord Coaches stage line once ran through the Meadow Lands on the Pittsburgh–Washington road, and the Chartiers Valley Railway later connected the valley to the region's growing coal trade.

Mining was the chief occupation in the Meadow Lands and nearby parts of Chartiers Township for much of the area's working history. The township's railroad reached Washington in 1871, opening routes for coal, milk, farm produce, and other trade. Today Meadowlands is part of the Chartiers-Houston School District, and the larger township includes commercial activity along Route 19 and Interstate 79. The 2020 census counted 839 residents. Meadowlands carries the feel of a place that grew beside transportation and industry, even as newer homes and services have filled in around the old routes.