Development of Evans City
Businesses, people, and pollution start to appear.
After purchasing the land Boggs constructed a grist mill, the first one there, and due to his large purchase of land and his mill, Evans City was actually known as Boggs’ Mill from 1804 to 1836. The population however was sparse with very few people and businesses being in the area per square mile. Evans City would move closer to its modern day look in 1832 when Thomas B. Evans bought 200 acres of the Boggs farm and began selling parts of the land lots he had purchased. From this, the population began to slowly rise as more and more families and businesses moved into the surrounding area. Also, Boggs’ Mill would no longer be the name for the area by the late 1830’s when it was changed to Evans burgh after Thomas B. Evans. One thing that hindered the growth of Evans City was the fact that around this time many people were interested in the booming oil industry of Western Pennsylvania, and there was not sufficient means of travel to the secluded area of Boggs’ Mill or Evans burgh.
During the 1800’s the oil craze was in high gear, and Evans City was not known to have any large holdings of oil for most of the 1800’s. Instead many people were going to areas like Karns City, Petrolia, and others, some of which no longer exist. In spite of many people trying to move out into other areas, Evans City’s population was still slowly increasing. The final change of the areas name took place in 1882 when Evans burgh was officially incorporated into a borough, and got its name known today, Evans City. It was in the 1890’s however, when Evans City received several booms that helped expand its businesses, as well as population. Although all of these factors helped the city to grow, one other thing they all did was cause an increase in the amount of pollution and environmental degradation that follows with them, however, such adverse effects on the environment were necessary if Evans City was to grow. One geographic factor that brought about an increase to Evans City was the opening of a coal firm in the area in 1890 by Enos and John Barkey, who worked under the Klee Coal Co. The mining of coal in the area was rapid thus additional population was required to increase the workforce in the small town mine. This was a common occurrence for another part of industry that affected Evans City. The population by this time had increased from mere dozens of families living in the area, to about 637 with such new found outlets of work.
It was the discovery of oil in the 1890’s that brought more people and businesses to Evans City around the start of the twentieth century. Evans City was similar to many other oil boom towns of the 1800’s in that it was small, but once oil was discovered the population started to increase rapidly as many people wanted to reap the benefits of the oil trade. This discovery however would have an end result that was similar to many other oil boom towns of the day. A third factor that caused a rapid rise in population and growth in Evans City was the introduction of railroads and other forms of transportation into the region. The first steam railroads were rolling through Evans City by the 1880’s and more would follow. The first major steam railroad that went to Evans City ran from Allegheny City, through Evans City, and into Zelienople, thus connecting the once secluded Evans City area to some of its neighboring cities. As time would pass the railroads would run further and connect Evans City to much farther distances, in fact during the first half of the twentieth century a person buying a ticket in Evans City could travel to any terminal in the U.S. and Canada. Also, the Harmony Route, which was part of the electric trolley system, gave people the means to easily travel from New Castle to Pittsburgh, and also from Butler to Pittsburgh; however, both routes had to make stops in Evans City. Thus more and more people were coming through the once barely populated area of Evans City. Even when the city was struggling financially and the Harmony trolley route had to be stopped, the city replaced it with a bus route that would still allow for easy access to and from Evans City to several of the larger Cities in the region.
www.formerwesternpaoilboomtowns.weebly.com/
During the 1800’s the oil craze was in high gear, and Evans City was not known to have any large holdings of oil for most of the 1800’s. Instead many people were going to areas like Karns City, Petrolia, and others, some of which no longer exist. In spite of many people trying to move out into other areas, Evans City’s population was still slowly increasing. The final change of the areas name took place in 1882 when Evans burgh was officially incorporated into a borough, and got its name known today, Evans City. It was in the 1890’s however, when Evans City received several booms that helped expand its businesses, as well as population. Although all of these factors helped the city to grow, one other thing they all did was cause an increase in the amount of pollution and environmental degradation that follows with them, however, such adverse effects on the environment were necessary if Evans City was to grow. One geographic factor that brought about an increase to Evans City was the opening of a coal firm in the area in 1890 by Enos and John Barkey, who worked under the Klee Coal Co. The mining of coal in the area was rapid thus additional population was required to increase the workforce in the small town mine. This was a common occurrence for another part of industry that affected Evans City. The population by this time had increased from mere dozens of families living in the area, to about 637 with such new found outlets of work.
It was the discovery of oil in the 1890’s that brought more people and businesses to Evans City around the start of the twentieth century. Evans City was similar to many other oil boom towns of the 1800’s in that it was small, but once oil was discovered the population started to increase rapidly as many people wanted to reap the benefits of the oil trade. This discovery however would have an end result that was similar to many other oil boom towns of the day. A third factor that caused a rapid rise in population and growth in Evans City was the introduction of railroads and other forms of transportation into the region. The first steam railroads were rolling through Evans City by the 1880’s and more would follow. The first major steam railroad that went to Evans City ran from Allegheny City, through Evans City, and into Zelienople, thus connecting the once secluded Evans City area to some of its neighboring cities. As time would pass the railroads would run further and connect Evans City to much farther distances, in fact during the first half of the twentieth century a person buying a ticket in Evans City could travel to any terminal in the U.S. and Canada. Also, the Harmony Route, which was part of the electric trolley system, gave people the means to easily travel from New Castle to Pittsburgh, and also from Butler to Pittsburgh; however, both routes had to make stops in Evans City. Thus more and more people were coming through the once barely populated area of Evans City. Even when the city was struggling financially and the Harmony trolley route had to be stopped, the city replaced it with a bus route that would still allow for easy access to and from Evans City to several of the larger Cities in the region.
www.formerwesternpaoilboomtowns.weebly.com/
