[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CELEBRATING 250 YEARS OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GUY RESCHENTHALER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 24, 2023

  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 250th 
Anniversary of Westmoreland County, the history of its people and their 
service to Western Pennsylvania.
  Westmoreland County was founded on February 26, 1773 through an Act 
of Assembly signed by Governor John Penn. While the British already 
maintained a presence in the region, Westmoreland was the first county 
to be founded west of the Allegheny Mountains and represented a new 
frontier for Pennsylvania. Westmoreland's people endured hardships when 
the county was sought by Virginia during Dunmore's War. The county seal 
at Hannastown was attacked and burned by American Indians in 1782. 
Three years later, the county seat was moved to Greensburg where it 
stands today.
  This new frontier also played a role in testing the strength of our 
country's leadership during the Whiskey Rebellions, when farmers from 
Western Pennsylvania fought back against the first federal tax on 
spirits. What could have been a far bloodier conflict was handled 
fairly but firmly by President George Washington and Pennsylvania's 
leaders, proving to the world that America could handle its own 
disputes without resorting to tyranny.
  Although neighboring Allegheny County was first formed from parts of 
Westmoreland, their economic lives have remained inseparable. 
Westmoreland's plentiful coal resources fueled Pittsburgh's 
revolutionary steel industry, leading to the formation of Carnegie 
Steel by Westmoreland County native Henry Clay Frick. Wages from those 
same steel plants helped to draw workers and feed families across the 
Allegheny River. Farmlands of Westmoreland helped provide eggs, oats, 
and alfalfa to the rest of the Nation for years, cementing the county 
as an essential arm of American industry.
  Mr. Speaker, the story of Westmoreland County is uniquely American 
and important to Pennsylvania. You cannot tell the story of our country 
without speaking of the people who worked hard to turn a frontier 
county into an engine of American industry. On behalf of the people of 
Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District, I congratulate the citizens 
of Westmoreland County on this remarkable milestone and look forward to 
building on this storied history over the next 250 years.

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