The boundaries of Versailles township are thus described in the order of court for its erection:
"Beginning at the mouth of the Youghiogheny river, thence up said river to the mouth of Crawford’s run, thence by the line of the county to the mouth of Brush creek, thence down Turtle creek to the mouth thereof, thence up the Monongahela river to the place of beginning." Of the original subdivisions of the county, it was probably the smallest. The name is one of a very few French words that possess political significance in a region which has been rendered historic by the resistance and final defeat of that people.

The following-named persons were residents of Versailles at the respective dates given:
1790. James Plummer, George Strahan, Joseph Clark, John Long, Andrew McCullagh, John Neel, John Clark, David Boyle, Robert Hays, Hugh Caldwell, Hugh Black, John Whigany, William Thompson, Joseph McCullagh, John Kizer, Robert George, Joseph Robinson, Robert Boggs, Thomas Plummer, Alexander Greer, John Culbertson, John Noble, Jacob Ludwig, John Crawford.
1795. Thomas King, James Wallace, David Maxwell, John Heron, Alexander Howe, John Frederick, James Gill, Edward Queen, David Wallack, William Barber, Michael Heilman, William Wallace, Andrew McGowan, Alexander White, John Ekin, David Shaw, William Shaw, David Carson.
1796. Allan Anderson, James Paxon, James Irwin, R. Colhoon, Samuel Stoops, Adam Clugston, Jesse Nash, Andrew Irvine, William Johnston, Thomas Cunningham, David Kerr, William McDonough, Nathaniel Cunningham, Joseph Reed, James Reed, Robert George, Robert Logan, Josiah Woods, John McKee, Philip Miller, John Means, Peter Blue, Elisha Smith, James Robb, James McKee, James Wilson, William Rankin, James Breden, John Williams, James Montgomery, Andrew Johnston, Philip Key, William Ellrod.

The population was but sparse, and the settlements often very remote one from the other, exposing the inhabitants to all the hardships and deprivations of pioneer life. It is not easy to appreciate the difficulties of those times amid the innumerable comforts and conveniences of the present. The region was separated from the Atlantic coast by vast mountain ranges. Salt, iron and all kinds of merchandise were transported from the east by the rudest manner of conveyance. No railroad, canal, turnpike or even carriage-road could be traced, and the bridle-paths were in many places rough and precipitous. The products of the country were abundant, but it was with the greatest difficulty that the surplus could be disposed of to advantage. Money was exceedingly scarce, business was limited to exchange and barter on a very small scale, and even some of the necessaries of life could be procured only with the greatest difficulty. Besides the moral courage necessary in removing so far from the nearest settlements on the eastern slope of the mountains, the settlers were subjected to many annoyances from the hostile savages of the western country. The sudden invasions of this barbarous enemy were frequent sources of alarm and apprehension. It was not an unusual occurrence for the people to repair to the accustomed place of worship on the Sabbath armed with the rifle and other appendages as necessary as the Bible or Psalter, prepared to defend, if necessary, their pastor and fellow-worshipers.

A family by the name of Keyser resided near the present borough of McKeesport. They were attacked by the Indians, and of eight all were killed but one, who escaped by swimming the river. A man named McNulty, two brothers Neal and a Mr. Cozens were, at different times, killed by the savages. No Indian outrages were committed subsequent to 1780.

The population of that part of the county east of the Monongahela river between Turtle creek and the Youghiogheny was 5,293 by the census of 1860.

The immediate cause of the division of Versailles was the growth of two villages. Port Perry and Coultersville, at the opposite extremes of its territory. In a petition for division presented at the April sessions, 1869, the following line was suggested:
"Beginning on Westmoreland county line near the house of John Ludwig, and running thence by the cross-roads near James Black’s to the Monongahela river above Saltsburg." Robert Clugston, Thomas McMasters and Thomas Penney, to whom the matter was referred, reported favorably; and at the election, September 4, 1869, the measure received popular sanction by a vote of one hundred and eighteen to sixty-eight. The division was consummated finally by decree of court in September, 1869, erecting North and South Versailles, and for sixteen years the name of the original township was obliterated from the map of the county.

July 3, 1875, by decree of court, the second precinct of South Versailles was erected into the township of Versailles. The sentiment in favor of separate municipal organization in this precinct seems to have been practically unanimous. James D. Hilands, John B. Kelly and Levi Edmundson constituted the commission by whom the proceedings were conducted under the court. The population in 1880 was 727.

The Baltimore & Ohio railroad passes through the southern part of the township, and at several places along this line villages have sprung up, notably Christy Park and Ellrod’s. There are valuable coal-deposits, amply compensating for the rugged nature of the country and the unsatisfactory returns realized from agriculture. Natural gas has been developed to some extent. The streams are Long, Still and Jack’s runs.

There are no churches. The schools are live in number, and were sustained in 1885-86 at a cost of about eighteen hundred dollars.