Steal a kiss, take a selfie and enjoy the drive between these sturdy bits of the past that have survived floods, vandals and time itself to tell the story of 19th century rural America. They can all be driven through – one lane only. Interestingly, it’s the movement of the traffic that gives life to the old wooden beams, stretching them and keeping them supple. Legend has it that kisses have been stolen in them, far from prying eyes.
When it comes to taking its place in American history, Greene County is unparalleled. And it’s because of a parallel of latitude that Pennsylvania’s southwestern-most county stands above all others. The famous Mason-Dixon Line, run from 1763-67 by British astronomers and surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, ends its journey at the edge of Greene County.
History can be full of surprises and sometimes even a mystery or two. Maybe even a ghost. Greene County Historical Society has all of this and more.
Fall days in Greene County set the stage for Civil War reenactment as the 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and the 31st Virginia Infantry Company H file onto the battlefield and commence warfare.
Greene County’s love of farmers markets gives visitors another excursion during the road trip. Add picking up local produce and baked goods from among your stops at Thistlethwaite Vineyards for wine, Shields Nursery for plants, and Waynesburg Milling Company to pick up a gift made by a local artisan. Once you taste fresh picked tomatoes, you’ll be glad you did.
Waynesburg is perhaps best known for a summer-time event, their annual Rain Day celebration on July 29. The local holiday is known around the globe and receives national attention each year as locals enjoy the festivities on High Street in Greene County’s “County Town” hoping that rain will fall from the sky, keeping a tradition alive that dates back a little over a century. But how did such a small rural community get their own holiday?
One of the best known steamboat tugs and the only one still on a river is the W.P. Snyder, Jr., originally built in 1918 and owned by the Carnegie Steel Company. It was originally named the W.H. Clingerman and was one of the first steel hulled steamboats. In September of 1945, it was sold to the Crucible Steel Company and renamed W.P. Snyder, Jr.
The Pennsylvania, Monongahela & Southern Railroad was organized in 1902 under the Pennsylvania Railroad to extend the rail line from West Brownsville to Rices Landing. In May 2000, the abandoned rail bed was dedicated as a rail-trail along the Monongahela River.
Along the Greene River Trail Rices Landing Settlement of Rices Landing One of the earliest overnight visitors was George Washington, when he and his troops camped here on their way to Pittsburgh during the French & Indian War. In 1786, John Rice purchased land on the east side of Enoch’s Run, a tributary of the…
William A. Young, a descendant of two established families of Washington and Greene counties, purchased a plot of land in Rices Landing in 1900. The following year his mother, Rachel A. Young, bought the adjoining lot and sold it to her son in 1902. William Young built his foundry and machine shop on these two parcels of land and operated the facility until his death in 1940. Young’s sons, Walter and Carl, carried on the operation until 1965.