Editing Fayette City, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==

Fayette City was originally known as Freeport, founded in the 1794 by [[Col. Edward Cook House|Colonel Edward Cook]].<ref name="Moskala">{{cite book |last1=Moskala |first1=Eric |title=From Freeport to Fayette City: A History of a Small Town in Southwestern Pennsylvania from Its founding in 1800 to its Zenith in the 1920s |date=2019 |isbn=978-1696421089}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fayette County Genealogy Project |url=http://www.pagenweb.org/~fayette/bios/cook001.html}}</ref><ref name="burns">{{cite web |last1=Burns |first1=Marta |title=Col. Edward Cook and Family of Washington Twp., Fayette Co. |url=https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~pamonval/genealogy/bios/biocookfamily.html}}</ref>  In 1825, Freeport was renamed Cookstown in honor of Colonel Cook who had died in 1812.<ref name="burns"/>  On April 11, 1854 the town's name was changed to Fayette City, in honor of the [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]].<ref name="Moskala"/>

In 1895 the [[Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad|Pittsburgh and Lake Erie railroad]] completed an extension to Fayette City.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt:US-PPiU-ais198223/viewer|title=Guide to the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company Records, 1860-1999 AIS.1982.23 {{!}} Digital Pitt|website=digital.library.pitt.edu|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref name="Moskala"/>

A ferry operated between Fayette City and [[Allenport%2C_Washington_County%2C_Pennsylvania|Allenport]] from 1820-1962.<ref name="Moskala"/>

In 2012, the mayor Herbert Vargo Jr. pled guilty to running a numbers scheme and was sentenced to a year of probation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fayette City mayor gets first offender probation in numbers |url=https://www.wtae.com/article/fayette-city-mayor-gets-first-offender-probation-in-numbers/7458739 |access-date=Oct 31, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pickels |first1=Mary |title=Embattled Fayette City mayor wants family money back |url=https://archive.triblive.com/news/embattled-fayette-city-mayor-wants-family-money-back/ |website=Trib Live |access-date=June 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Harr |first1=Jennifer |title=Fayette City mayor admitted to ARD for running lottery |url=https://www.heraldstandard.com/uncategorized/2012/oct/30/fayette-city-mayor-admitted-to-ard-for-running-lottery/ |website=Herald Standard |access-date=Oct 30, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pierce |first1=Paul |title=Fayette City mayor to face trial for gaming |url=https://archive.triblive.com/news/fayette-city-mayor-to-face-trial-for-gaming/ |website=Trib Live |access-date=June 10, 2012}}</ref>

===Coal Mining===

Fayette City's mining history dates to 1830, when the Cardondelet, Furlong, and Snow Hill mines were sunk.<ref name="Moskala"/>

The town received many European immigrants who came to work in local coal mines.<ref name="Moskala"/> Like many towns in this area, Fayette City has been home to many coal miners supporting the coal industry in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/fayecho1.html |title=Coal Miners Memorial Echo Mine, Fayette City, Fayette Co., PA, U.S.A. |access-date=December 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707140257/http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/fayecho1.html |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>  These immigrants included people from Italy, Poland, Austria-Hungary, and [[Rusyns]].<ref name="Moskala"/>

In the early 1900s, there were over twenty mines operating around Fayette City.  Many of these mines were consolidated under ownwership by the [[Monongahela_River_Consolidated_Coal_and_Coke_Company|Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company]] <ref name="Moskala"/>, <ref name="mrccc">{{cite web |title=Apollo, Arnold No. 1, and Fayette City (fka O'Neill) Mines; Monongahela Consolidated Coal & Coke Co. and Pittsburgh Coal Co. (423-O-7) |url=https://myreadingroom.library.pitt.edu/objects/TazZgpjpCa4MP9efupF28K |website=Archives & Special Collections (A&SC) |publisher=University of Pittsburgh}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Coal Mines Near Fayette City
|-
! Mine Name !! Opened !! Closed !! Notes
|-
| Tremont ||  ||  || 
|-
| [[Naomi Mine explosion|Naomi]] || 1870 || 1907 || 35 miners killed in explosion
|-
| Marine ||  ||  || 
|-
| Arnold 1 ||  ||  || <ref name="mrccc"/>
|-
| Arnold 2 ||  ||  || <ref name="mrccc"/>
|-
| Arnold 3 ||  ||  || <ref name="mrccc"/>
|-
| Hill Top ||  ||  || 
|-
| Fayette City ||  ||  || <ref name="mrccc"/>, <ref>{{cite web |title=FAYETTE CITY (COOK ST) Abandoned Mine Reclamation Project |url=https://files.dep.state.pa.us/Mining/Abandoned%20Mine%20Reclamation/AbandonedMinePortalFiles/Accomplishments/OSM26_2754_104.1_EMER_Fayette_City_Cook_Street.pdf |publisher=DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION |format=PDF}}</ref>
|-
| Furlong ||  ||  || 
|-
| Apollo ||  ||  || 
|-
| Bargedde || 1863 ||  || 
|-
| Little Redstone || 1879 || 1915 || 
|-
| Cardondelet || 1834 ||  || 
|-
| Connecticut || 1865 || 1872 || 
|-
| Turnbull || 1848 ||  || 
|-
| Troytown/Alps || 1844 ||  || 
|-
| Alice ||  ||  || 
|-
| Snow Hill || 1932  ||  || 
|-
| Stimmel || 1863 ||  || 
|-
| Vesta 1 ||  ||  || <ref>{{cite web |title=Vesta 1 |url=https://www.coalcampusa.com/westpa/klondike/vesta-1-coal-mine/vesta-1-coal-mine.htm |website=coalcamp usa}}</ref>
|-
| Vesta 2 ||  ||  || 
|-
| Vesta 3 ||  ||  || 
|-
| Vesta 4 || 1933  || 1984 || At one time was the largest bituminous coal mine in the world <ref>{{cite web |title=Vesta No. 4 Mine |url=https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:9116.004.CL |website=Historic Pittsburgh}}</ref>
|-
| Clipper ||  ||  || 
|}


Fayette City was the site of the [[Naomi Mine explosion]], December 7, 1907.<ref name=herald1/><ref name="UHS_2007">{{cite journal |last=Susa|first=Jenny|date=December 2, 2007|title=Naomi Mine disaster recalled |url=https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MineRescue/conversations/topics/5925 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140707124557/https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MineRescue/conversations/topics/5925 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 7, 2014 |journal=Uniontown Herald Standard |accessdate=6 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fayette City |url=https://swpahistory.wordpress.com/pennsylvania/papublicschools/westmoreland-county-school-districts/bvasd/municipalitiesbva/bvafayettecity/ |website=SWPA History Historic This and That of Southwestern Pennsylvania}}</ref>  All of the men killed in the Naomi disaster were immigrants from eastern Europe.<ref name="Moskala"/>

Fayette City was also the location of an explosion in the Apollo Mine in January 1926.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://genealogytrails.com/penn/fayette/disasters/index.html |title=Fayette Co PA Disasters}}</ref>

By 1920, the mines around Fayette City started to close.<ref name="Moskala"/>

===Churches===

The town has been home to numerous churches since its founding.  These include:<ref name="Moskala"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Fayette City Churches
|-
! Church Name!! Year Organized !! Details
|-
| Free-Will Baptist Church || 1820 || Closed in 1870
|-
| The Church of Christ || 1836 || 
|-
| The Presbyterian Church || 1871 || Building built in 1901
|-
| The Reorganized Mormon Church || 1886 ||
|-
| St Edwards Slavish Church || 1902 || [[Greek Catholic]], later combined with St Esubius in 1964<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Edwards Roman Catholic Church of Fayette City, Pa. |url=https://www.facebook.com/FayetteGenSociety/posts/st-edwards-roman-catholic-church-of-fayette-city-pa-st-edwards-was-at-145-s-high/4847584388617358/ |website=Fayette County Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania}}</ref>
|-
| St Esubius Catholic Church || 1905 ||
|}