West Newton, PA

West Newton grew at the place where the Old Glades Indian Trail met the Youghiogheny River. The Simeral family operated a ferry here, and in 1788 Revolutionary War veterans wintered at Simeral's Ferry while building boats for a journey west; they later founded Marietta, Ohio. Isaac Robb laid out the town a few years later, first calling it Robbstown. The 2020 census counted 2,665 residents. River commerce, a covered toll bridge, the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad, the Markle Paper Mill, coal mining, and U.S. Radiator - which employed more than 500 workers - built the borough's working history.

Radiator production ended by the 1950s, and later manufacturing gradually gave way to a borough where many residents work outside the town. Interstate 70 and Route 51 keep West Newton tied to the Pittsburgh region. The 1908 steel bridge still spans the river, while the former P&LE rail line now carries the Great Allegheny Passage. Anglers use the Youghiogheny, and the borough's pool and athletic association add year-round civic facilities. West Newton's present map holds the river, a former factory center, a trail corridor, and an old bridge that still makes the town's transportation history visible.