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The first settlers of Carroll Township settled as early as 1771.
Thomas Nichol kept a ferry at the point where Donora now stands
and there were also a number of grist and sawmills on Pigeon and
Mingo creeks before 1800. Joseph Beckett ran a distillery opposite
the old brick house at Baird Stations.
One of the first glass factories west of the Allegheny Mountains
was established in Carroll Township by Major H.A. Warne, a soldier
of the War of 1812 in connection with his boat building business.
Another glass factory was erected at Dry Run by Samuel Black in
1824. Power for this factory was supplied by oxygen.
The first school in Carroll Township was a log building near
Witherow's blacksmith shop, 3 ½ miles southeast of Monongahela.
It was opened before 1796, but, unfortunately, records have been
lost to the exact year.
There has been much coal mining in Carroll Township, which occurred
at Black Diamond, Catsburg, Ivill, Schoenberger, Dunkirk and Hazelkirk
mines. Farming also was widespread in the area during the early
years.
In early times, a tavern known as Valley Inn was kept in the
small village of Baidland, two miles from Monongahela. Early churches
originally located in Carroll Township have since moved to Monongahela.
The Horseshoe Bottom Presbyterian Church was a log building erected
about 1785, three miles south of Monongahela on a farm owned by
William Crawford. It is said the building had additions made until
it had 16 corners. This church moved to Monongahela in 1807. The
Horseshoe Bottom Baptist Church, built in 1790 on land belonging
to Abraham Frye, moved to Monongahela in 1880.
Some of the first families to settle in Carroll Township about
1790 were: Depue, Cole, Nichol, Stillwagon, Weyandt, Coulter,
Van Voorhis, Hamilton, and Frye. These hard-working families founded
the Carroll Township area and many of their descendants still
live in Carroll Township and the Mon Valley area.
Resource: History of Wahington County, Earle R. Forrest,
Published in 1926.
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