Wheatland Borough

Mercer County, Pennsylvania

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Wheatland Borough Hall is located at 71 Broadway Avenue, Wheatland PA 16161.
Phone: 724‑347‑7060.

Beginnings [1]

The borough of Wheatland was incorporated February 21, 1872, and the town was platted in the same year., The proprietors of the site were James Wood and Sons, the iron manufacturers. It is said that Captain Wood of Pittsburg had often noticed in passing along the canal between Newcastle and Sharon the beautiful site where Wheatland stands, and as a result finally purchased the tract from the family which had first settled there. In 1863 the first furnace was completed and three others were built during the next two years. Captain Wood controlled the large business here until his death in 1868, and J.J. Spearman, another well-known iron manufacturer, was also connected with the furnaces at Wheatland during their prosperous days.

The Shilling family were the first settlers at Wheatland and owned the land until it became a site for the iron mills. George Shilling of Westmoreland county came here and bought the land, which he later found to be covered by a warrant. This was one of the many land contests in Western Pennsylvania which resulted from varied methods of getting title to land in this part of the state. After losing his suit for the land, Mr. Shilling bought it again from the legal owners.

Besides the Shillings, several families of note were among the early settlers of this vicinity. Near the river between Wheatland and Middlesex was Squire Canon, a settler of 1797, and founder of a family whose descendants are still numerous. Not far away was Rev. James Satterfield, a Presbyterian divine whose career left many permanent results. The father of Hon. M.C. Trout came here from Westmoreland county about the same time with the Shillings, and Dr. John Mitcheltree, the pioneer physician of the Shenango valley, resided near Wheatland.

The principal industrial enterprises of Wheatland at the present time are the Sharon Foundry Company, of which W.W. Shilling, a descendant of the pioneer of that name, is president, and the Shenango Iron and Steel Company.

  1. Riesenman, Joseph Jr., History of Northwestern Pennsylvania, 1943, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., New York

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