Belle Vernon

History

Noah Speers was the father of Louis M. Speers, born in a log cabin on the Speers homestead/Gibsonton farm in 1810. The younger Speers played a large role in the development of Belle Vernon. During his lifetime, the population grew to about 700, and there was a steam ferry connecting Belle Vernon with Allen Township across the river. The little hamlet boasted five dry goods stores, four groceries, two glasshouses with 87 employees, a boot and shoe, cabinet, chair, wagon, saddle/harness, blacksmith/tanning shops, and two sawmills. Louis Speers owned a sandbank outside of town which produced the best quality glass sand. He also owned a large coal works and a large boat yard with more than 50 employees. Louis resided on the northwest corner of Main and 2nd streets. Boat hulls were built at his boatyard (owned in partnership with a man named Morgan Gaskill), located on 3rd Street in the 1830s and 1840s. Several steamboats are noted to have come from the yard, including the Minstrel, which in 1842 fell off its building docks killing one and injuring 10. The St. Anthony bound for Galena, Illinois, and the Cassandra headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, came from the Belle Vernon yard. Two boats bound for customers in Pittsburgh were the Alert and the Avalanche (1847). In 1853, Mr. Speers built a sawmill with partner William Latta, a boat builder, below the mouth of Speers Run. It was destroyed by fire in 1877 and rebuilt by his son William F. Speers. William, who spent three months in Libby Prison during the Civil War, left the army after attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. William went bankrupt soon after completing the new mill and sold it to the Belle Vernon Saw and Planing Company in 1880. The small village of Speers across the river, laid out in 1860 by a kinsman,…

Geography

Belle Vernon is located at (40.126936, −79.868285), nestled in the northwestern corner of Fayette County, with abutting borders on Washington County, to the west across the river, and Westmoreland County to the north. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and , or 20.29%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,192
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,916
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  2,666
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,511
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,395
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,363
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  2,298
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,131

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2024-09-11
  4 km WNW of Claysville, Pennsylvania
• M 2.9 — 2020-10-06
  5 km WSW of Bolivar, Pennsylvania