Rain Day Festival

The Beginnings of a Tradition

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?

Overview of Rices Landing from the Greene County Historical Society archives.

Rices Landing

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…

Foundry and Machine Shop - Outside

W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop

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.

Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Birmingham / drawn from nature, lithographed & published by Otto Krebs, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Pittsburgh Coal Seam

Named by H.D. Rodgers of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, the first reference to the Pittsburgh coal bed was on a 1761 map. In the mid 1700s at Fort Pitt, coal was being mined on Coal Hill, or as it is known now, Mount Washington. The coal was extracted from drift mines in an outcrop about 200 feet above the Monongahela River.

Eva K Bowlby Public Library

Eva K Bowlby Public Library

From the outside, Eva K. Bowlby Public Library fits right in with all the other the stately homes on North Richhill Street, built during Greene County’s first gas and oil boom days. Wildcatters and lucky leaseholders of the early 20th century brought their sudden wealth to Waynesburg’s north side and converted pastureland into dream homes. The hillside behind the library was once a turkey farm.

Crucible Mine

Crucible Mine

In 1911, the Crucible Coal Company began to develop Greene County’s second largest mine. Located along the Monongahela River, less than two miles south of Rices Landing, the high quality coal from the Pittsburgh seam was to be shipped to Midland to be converted to coke for the company’s new steel mill.