Editing Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (section)

===19th century===
The town was the site of the first institution of [[higher education|higher learning]] west of the [[Allegheny Mountains]], Jefferson College. Founded in 1802, it was the eleventh such institution in the United States. The [[Phi Gamma Delta]] and [[Phi Kappa Psi]] fraternities were both founded at Jefferson College. Phi Gamma Delta, of whom President [[Calvin Coolidge]] was a member, was founded in 1848. Phi Kappa Psi, of whom President [[Woodrow Wilson]] and over 100 [[U.S. Congress]]men claim membership, was founded in 1852. The school would go on to become [[Washington & Jefferson College]] in nearby Washington.

For generations, Jefferson College financially supported Canonsburg by accounting for much of its income. In 1868, however, the college was moved to nearby Washington, leaving behind empty college rooming and boarding houses, known as the "forts". Canonsburg's largest financial draw having left, it would take the introduction of the railroad system to return the city to its former glory. The railroad system, on its way from [[Carnegie, Pennsylvania|Mansfield]] (Carnegie) to [[Washington, Pennsylvania|Washington]] (See: [[Chartiers Branch]]), was fully operational, as scheduled, on May 18, 1871. The first scheduled train departed from the Washington depot carrying "borough authorities, the committee of arrangement and reception, as well as Rankin’s Cornet Band and a number of…prominent citizens who had been invited to join the excursion." They traveled to Mansfield, where they waited for the special to arrive from [[Pittsburgh]]. The special had 12 coaches pulled by two locomotives and was filled with a large number of dignitaries, most especially the mayors of Pittsburgh and Allegheny. The special then made it down the newly laid tracks, passing stations full of spectators to cheer on the train. Canonsburg had a large crowd of supporters, and many people climbed aboard the train to ride along to Washington. There, led by Pittsburgh's Great Western Band, the crowd marched to Town Hall for a round of speeches. The Washington Reporter editor pronounced the day "a grand success."