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Sharon's Yesterdays & Tomorrow An Outline of the Growth of Sharon and its Industries.... and a History of the McDowell National Bank, June 1935
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An Outline of Sharon's History
The first railroad was
completed and operated through Sharon in and as a result the coal and iron
business developed rapidly. From a population of 900 in
1860, the population had jumped to approximately 4,000 by May
1, 1868 when the McDowell National Bank had its inception in the private
bank of D.C. Strawbridge. With the iron and coal business
established and the railroads in operation. Sharon was beginning to have
growing pains. A regular fire department was organized in 1873 to replace the bucket brigade which had its beginning in 1856. The city building, and headquarters for the fire department. was erected on Chestnut Avenue in that year. Engine, hose and hook and ladder companies were organized and in 1887 they were reorganized as the Sharon Fire Department. In 1871 the town was first lighted with gas lights, artificial gas
being made at the plant on Silver Street. This was later replaced by
natural gas piped from the vicinity of Franklin, Pennsylvania. The first water company was put into operation in 1885 and was the
forerunner of the present Shenango Valley Water Company. In these early days the ground level of State Street was several feet
below the present level and, to keep people out of the mud, elevated
sidewalks were erected. Not so many years ago traces of the old Street
level were plainly visible. An undulating sidewalk rose and fell to meet
the various heights at which buildings were erected. Sharon was one of the first boroughs in Western Pennsylvania to take
advantage of the provisions of the law passed in 1889, authorizing a
borough to pave a public street after two-thirds of the property owners
along the street had petitioned for such improvement. Today there are only
4.8 miles of dirt streets within the city limits [1935]. There are 58.8
miles of paved and ashed streets. Sewer construction began in 1893. The first telephone exchange was opened in Sharon in 1884, and this
company was later acquired by the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.
The McDowell National Bank still uses, as one of its trunk lines, the
number, 38, which was its original telephone number. In 1892 came electric lights and the first street cars. It is interesting to note that the Sharon District still has a good street railway system, with modern equipment and good road bed. |
Looking Down West State Street about 1868
Sharon's Skyline about 1868, Looking Northeast from a point just west of Irvine Avenue
Sharon Fire Department 1909 More information on the Sharon Fire Dept.
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