Exurb of the Week: Midway (Pittsburgh, Washington: school district, live, shop)

[runpens1]

Midway is a smaller borough (0.44 sq.mil.) in northwestern Washington County 22 miles west of downtown Pittsburgh and about 4 miles west of the Allegheny County line. It is located just west of the town of McDonald, also within the Fort Cherry School District. Its borders the townships of Robinson and Smith.

Midway's early history dates back to forty or more years before the outbreak of the Civil War. In the seventeen hundreds, the Iroquois, Shawnee and Delaware Indians roamed this part of the country. Numerous of the early settlers built forts to which they could flee when necessity warranted. In 1865, the railroad was completed and began operations between Pittsburgh and Steubenville. Ohio. was then known as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. Its name derives from having been the midpoint stop of those two cities. Prior to the Civil War, the village was known as Egypt. Midway was incorporated as borough in 1903 out of the neighboring townships. Its population gradually grew in the coming years due to the booming railroad and coal industries in it and the surrounding areas and reached its peak of just shy of 1,200 in 1970 and 1980, with a period of decline following.

Today, Midway has about 870 residents. Its population decline mostly has to do with the aging population and decline of industries within the area. Much of the housing within the town has been looking pretty run down. There isn't really much of a downtown business district. The only businesses within the town include a gas station, pizza shop, a couple churches, and there is a small borough park. The Panhandle bike trail also comes through the town. There still is a little bit of open land in some parts of the borough limits that were never incorporated into what is considered the town portion. This general area is located in between the growing suburban/exurban corridors of Canonsburg area and the airport area. Therefore, it is and will remain a small town where people can still live close enough to opportunities.