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The History of Leechburg
| In 1826, Leechburg was known as "Friendship," when the survey began for the Pennsylvania Canal. In 1827, David Leech came to the area with a contract to build a canal-lock and dam across the Kiskiminetas River.
In his first year here, David Leech bought 172 acres of land from Matthew Shields. This land had been previously owned by White Maddock, an Indian chief of renown.
Leech built the canal lock on his own land. Then he purchased another 165 acres of land. This 337 acres, which cost him $1,500, he called "Leechburg."
Leech got the water rights of the dam from the Canal Commissioners, and with it he ran a sawmill, gristmill and woolen factory. He se up a boat yard, upon which he built freight and passenger boats.
Leech then organized a company to carry passengers, and became an agent for Pittsburgh boat companies. The first boats from Blairsville to Pittsburgh went through Leechburg in 1828. Many of the boats carried salt and other supplies for the westward movement of civilization.
In 1853, Leech organized Leech, Chamberlain & Co. By 1856 the company had constructed the Allegheny Valley Railroad from Pittsburgh to Kittanning.
Leech built the town's first school, and paid the first teacher's salary ($20/month) with his money, in 1829. The school operated until 1843.
One of his sons, David F. Leech, married in 1849, and Leech gave them one of his houses as a wedding present. The house is currently the home of Leechburg Museum and Historical Society, at First and Main.
Leech became ill and died in 1858. His son, Addison, ran many of his businesses at that time. The Addison House restaurant at First and Market is named in honor of Addison Leech.
On March 22, 1850, the General Assembly enacted an Act making Leechburg a borough. David Leech was the first Burgess (Mayor). At that time, the population of Leechburg was 359. In just the next 50 years, the population had increased to 2,459. Leechburg's high mark for population was in 1950, when population hit 5,067. Today, Leechburg's population is just under 2,500.
In 1887, council paid Addison Leech $1000 for ground to open Second Street above Main Street, from Center Avenue to Siberian Avenue. Gas street lights were installed the same year. In 1888, council established the first speed limits on borough streets--6 m.p.h.
In 1897, voters approved what was at the time a very large bond issue in the amount of $21,300 for the improvement of streets Paving of many streets took place as a result.
In 1928, a $75,000 bond issue resulted in the repaving of Market Street and the construction of the old borough building on Second Street.
In 1945, a bond issue was approved in the amount of $35,000 to construct the athletic field on Logan Avenue, which the borough had purchased from Leechburg Realty Company in 1921.
Parking meters were first installed on March 4, 1946.
Our Industrial HeritageWilliam Rogers and T.J. Burchfield bought land in 1871, and build puddling, annealing and heating furnaces, two knobbling fires and a refiner fire. Out of this mill came 250 tons of finished iron a month. This mill was known as the Siberian Iron Works, so named after Rogers' trip to Russia to learn Russia's secret of making planished iron. Siberian Avenue is named after this mill.
In 1874, a tin mill was established with three stacks and 90 boxes of tin daily production. The employment in these mills was 150.
Laborers for the iron mill were recruited from Russia, England and Wales, because the process was new to the United States.
In 1874, Rogers invented a furnace which used natural gas to heat the furnaces in the mill.
In 1875, the company failed, and Joseph Beale, John Kirkpatrick and John Wallace bought it at auction. This became Kirkpatrick, Beale & Co.
The plant ran until 1900 until U.S. Steel Corporation took over the plant.
In the meantime, Beale had disposed of his interest in the mill in 1879 and built the Western Pennsylvania Steel Works in town. Later, he and a partner built four sheet mills in addition to the steel works. U.S. Steel took over this plant in 1900 as well.
After U.S. Steel took over, the plants were enlarged and new machinery brought in. Soon there were 11 sheet mills and annealing furnaces. The workforce climbed to 700.
A complete machine and roll turning shop was added. This plant was famous for "Keystone" copper bearing steel and the nationally known "Apollo Best Bloom." This plant was one of the few which deoxidized sheet steel for electrical purposes due to the use of natural gas.
The West Penn Steel mill started by Beale was the first steel plant in the United States to be operated entirely by American employees. It was the second plant in Pennsylvania to make billets for open hearth furnaces--the other being the Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, owned by Andrew Carnegie. Beale paid Carnegie $10,000 to use the process in Leechburg.
Beale's son, Addison, later was in charge of all American Sheet & Tin Plate Company mills in our area, including 11 in Leechburg, 38 in Vandergrift, 5 in Hyde Park and 6 in Saltsburg.
Mesta Machine Company was founded in Leechburg in 1887 by George Mesta, operating here as Leechburg Foundry & Machine Company. The first Mesta plant here was destroyed by fire in 1888, and rebuilt in 1889. The company later moved its operations to West Homestead, where it operated until the 1980s.
Natural Gas
In 1869, Beale organized a company to drill for oil across the river from Leechburg. They didn't get oil, but at 1200 feet they struck gas. They continued to drill for oil, but eventually gave up.
At first, they could find no use for the gas, and they let it escape into the air. Then a pipeline was carried into town near the site of the mill, and another pipe was raised into the air nearly 65 feet. An open flame burned atop the pipe, lighting the town.
The first natural gas company to be chargered in Pennsylvania was Leechburg Light & Fuel Co., which bought gas from Consumers Gas Co., which had wells in the Aladdin area.
The American Gas Company began here in 1903, putting new pipe lines in Leechburg. In 1925, American Gas became Columbia Gas, which merged with People's Gas in 1938.
Other Industries
From the time of David Leech until 1944, Leechburg had flour mills and gristmills. The first roller process flour east of the Mississippi was made in Leechburg.
Pittsburgh Shovel Company purchased ground and buildings at the site of a former foundry, and began making shovels in 1898. Shovels from the plant were known for their high quality and were shipped nationally and internationally.
Allegheny Ludlum
The Leechburg Steel and Tin Plate Company changed its name to the West Leechburg Steel Company on March 4, 1904. The company was founded to make cold rolled strip steel.
The first purchase in West Leechburg were 10 acres of ground nd 75 acres of coal, with 300 tons of production of steel monthly, employing 60.
In 1902, a 12 inch hot strip mill was built so the company could have an independent supply of hot roll material for the cold rolling mills. More cold reducing mills were then added.
Twenty more acres were purchased in 1908, on which a 9-inch hoop and strip mill and two open hearth furnaces were constructed.
In 1922, a continuous 16 to 20-inch hot strip mill, a 16-inch continuous cold rolling mill, a new pickling department, a machine shop and additional warehouses were added. The mill capacity was 180,000 tons of hot rolled and 40,000 tons of cold rolled strip steel annually. There were in excess of 1,000 workers at the plant in 1925.
Production of stainless and alloy strip steel began in 1929. That was the year that the first "Steckel" mill for cold reduction went in. (In 1950, there were 11 "Steckels" in the plant, the oargest battery of such mills in any one plant in the world.) In 1950, 50,000 tons of stainless steel was produced annually.
A continuous 12-inch hot strip mill was completed in 1930, capacity 135,000 tons a year.
The company merged with Allegheny Steel Company in 1936. A year later, production of silicon strip steel began, and by 1950, the annual output of this steel was more than 60,000 tons.
In 1938, Allegheny Steel and Ludlum Steel merged, bo become Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation.
In 1950, the West Leechburg plant had 2,400 employees.
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