Sandy Lake, PA

Sandy Lake began with Alexander Brown and a group of settlers who followed streams through the Allegheny foothills. Thomas Brown laid out the town in 1849 as Brownsville, and the borough incorporated ten years later. The first post office had opened in 1833, but mail trouble caused by another Brownsville led to the name change to Sandy Lake in 1868. The new name came from the sheet of water west of town, surrounded by farms.

Today Sandy Lake Borough shares the lake with Lake Township; only a small portion of the water lies inside the borough. The lake, roads, and farming country shape recreation and daily errands, while Mercer County roads link the community to the rest of northwestern Pennsylvania. The borough's history remains easy to follow: a settlement became Brownsville, a postal problem forced a new name, and the nearby lake supplied the one that stayed. Sandy Lake is a place where town government and water meet at the edge of farm country.