West Mayfield, Pennsylvania
| West Mayfield, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
| Borough | |
Former school in central West Mayfield
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| Motto: "A Nice Place to Live" | |
 Location in Beaver County and state of Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates: 40°46′43″N 80°20′12″W / 40.77861°N 80.33667°WCoordinates: 40°46′43″N 80°20′12″W / 40.77861°N 80.33667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Beaver |
| Incorporated | 1923 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Borough Council |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
| • Land | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,017 ft (310 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,239 |
| • Density | 1,558/sq mi (601.7/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Area code(s) | 724 |
| Website | www |
West Mayfield is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2010 census.
The authoritative written history of West Mayfield comes from Edith Porter's "West Mayfield History", reprinted here from Milestones, Vol. 27, No. 1, Winter 2002.
At the founding of Beaver County, the Borough of West Mayfleld was part of South Beaver Township. In 1816, it came within Chippewa's bounds upon founding of that township. In 1887, the land passed into the newly formed White Township. Around this time, the site known as Mayfield was little more than a station on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The station stop took its name from a farm up on the hill known as Mayfield Cottage. West Mayfield, then, was the area west of the station stop. It had areas too. The Oakville area centered around the present Rock Avenue just southwest of 37th Street. Another section was known as West Park. These names survive in the vicinity today in the name for a school, West Park; the name of a part of Route 251, Oakville Road; and the name of the community, West Mayfield. Its increasing industrialization and the need for more and better schools led to the split from White Township and its incorporation in 1923.
Most of West Mayfield lies along the north and south of a long, steep hill called 37th Street, part of Route 251. To the south is a hollow which was once part of the Harbison farm and coal yards. Before the industries began, there were only the farmlands of the Whites, Edwards, Harbisons, Ridings, Waggoners and Schuttes, about a dozen houses and a little schoolhouse. Thirty-seventh Street was a narrow dirt road traveled by a few buggies and wagons in the summer and in the winter by a similar number of sleds and sleighs. When it snowed, the young people of College Hill and Geneva College had bobsled parties on the road.
Most of the names we have found among the early settlers were English. John White, credited with being the first settler, came to this area about 1792-93 under the "Settlement and Improvement Act of 1792". He came from County Antrim, Ireland. John Edwards appears to have bought land from John White on 37th Street hill, now part of West Mayfield. He was born in Wales and came to this area sometime after 1852. Other prominent names in West Mayfleld which appear to be English, Irish or Scotch are Scranton, Patterson, Portman, Calhoun, Ridings, Garvin, and Goe, Schutte and Gumph are evidently German names. Rouzer, Keller, Ohnsman, Smith, McConnels, Patterson and Ridings were instrumental in forming the charter for the township as it broke away from White Township.
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Wikipedia