Editing Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania (section)

== History ==
The region in which Lower Burrell is located was originally part of the hunting reserves of the [[Iroquois]]. Permanent European settlement began in the 1760s, and Westmoreland County was created in 1773. In 1852, due to an increase in population in the area, Burrell Township was carved out of [[Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania|Allegheny Township]] on court order of Judge Jeremiah Murry Burrell. In 1879 Burrell Township was divided into two separate townships, Lower Burrell and [[Upper Burrell]]. The present-day cities of [[New Kensington]] and [[Arnold, Pennsylvania|Arnold]] were once part of Lower Burrell Township. In the years that followed, Lower Burrell transformed from a quiet, rural farm community to a residential and commercial area while Upper Burrell stayed primarily rural. Upper Burrell Township is still somewhat rural, though it has experienced some suburban growth and sprawl in recent years.

In 1959, in the midst of the growth of their community, township residents voted to make Lower Burrell a third class city. Lower Burrell continued to grow substantially until the 1980s. Like many communities in Western Pennsylvania, Lower Burrell suffered economic and population stagnation with the collapse of local heavy industry. Since the early 1990s, Lower Burrell experienced slight growth, though one of its only large shopping centers remains mostly vacant. Preliminary data from the 2010 census shows that Lower Burrell has lost about 5 percent of its population since 2000.

The [[Allegheny River Lock and Dam No. 4]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2000.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>