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Old 01-17-2022, 07:39 AM
 
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Trafford is a borough and small town (1.45 sq. mil.) located primarily in western Westmoreland County and about 20 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, just across the line from Monroeville and bordering North Huntingdon and Penn townships (which it shares a school district with). Though there is a small portion of the borough limits that is in Allegheny County, likely due to land disputes with the laying out of the town, similar to McDonald in Washington County. It was a thriving industrial town in its heyday along the Turtle Creek. Its population is currently a little over 3,000.

Trafford's history began as a small village in North Huntingdon Township in the late 19th Century. Then, the Turtle Creek Valley Railroad, headed by George Westinghouse, constructed the rail line, from the village into Murrysville area to supply gas drilling equipment with the boom that was occurring in the area at the time. The line was later extended to Saltsburg (in Indiana County) to supply larger quantities of coal to the Pittsburgh market, connecting with main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad through the Turtle Creek valley. The borough was later incorporated in the early 20th Century when Westinghouse purchased a larger chunk of land for the primary purpose of building a manufacturing plant and town along the active rail line. it was named for the borough of Trafford near Manchester, England, where many of its early settlers came from. The Trafford Foundry began in 1903 and thrived throughout the 20th Century. The borough's population peaked in 1970 at over 4,400.

Today, though Trafford has experienced less problems with decline then the towns further east in the Turtle Creek valley area, possibly due to being located further out, one can still tell of its coming of age. Many of the houses, including the row in the Allegheny County portion along rt. 130, and businesses look to be run down. There still is somewhat of an active downtown business district and industrial companies, but nothing like before. There is however some smaller portions of open land within the borough limits, where one new greenfield housing development is still being built near the Penn Township border, which actually allowed the borough to have its first population increase in decades in the 2020 Census. There is a larger park, the Westmoreland Heritage trail (built on the old Turtle Creek Valley RR line) that provide recreational opportunities for those living in Trafford. That combined with being part of a good school district and close enough to areas that provide enough amenities should make Trafford a more livable, older small industrial towns for years to come.
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Old 01-17-2022, 08:10 AM
gg
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,825,203 times
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They have a very good football team and won the state 5a championship.

https://www.wtae.com/article/penn-tr...nship/38489639
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