Settlement begins
Local railroad-history research identifies Samuel Holliday's first settlement efforts in the area in 1755.
A canal town in 1843
“Quite a flourishing village on the canal.”
That was how Sherman Day described McVeytown — still noted as formerly Waynesburg — in his 1843 account of Pennsylvania. He recorded new brick and frame houses, Methodist and Presbyterian churches, and nearby furnace, foundry and forge activity. The 1840 population was listed as 348.
The canal did more than move goods. It tied the borough to a wider transportation network along the Juniata, helping turn what had been a small settlement into a place with manufacturing, trade and regular connections to Lewistown and points west.
“Quite a flourishing village on the canal.”
Sherman Day, 1843 · historical description of McVeytown
