Many of the County Links on the left will keep you specifically in or near Washington County, right below Pittsburgh in southwestern PA. We add new listings and links on a regular basis.
Washington County indeed has a proud historic heritage. While settled primarily by Scottish and Irish immigrants moving from Virginia, the county's history of community actually is much older. Washington County is home to Meadowcroft Rock Shelter that is one of the oldest known sites of human settlement in North America.
Preserved by the Washington County Historical Society is the residence of Dr. Francis J. LeMoyne, a leading abolitionist and founder of the Western Abolition Society in 1824. The Western Abolition Society also founded the Underground Railroad, which surfaced in such places as West Middletown and Washington where the LeMoyne House remains today as a legacy to the Civil War.
George Washington's early years as a surveyor enabled him to see the need for a "national" road through the Allegheny Mountains connecting the eastern seaboard centers with the Ohio Valley and the western frontier. Completed in 1818 and still in use today, the National Pike (Route 40) runs through Washington County. Route 40 connects Washington City with the southeast of the state and with West Virginia and Ohio to the west. Route 40 was America's first federally funded transportation system. Numerous antique shops and historical points of interest such as the Century Inn of Scenery Hill-the oldest hostelry along National Pike-is still located along Route 40.
Scenic Washington County boasts a number of historic and architectural landmarks including 23 well-maintained covered bridges, the National Pike, and its renowned courthouse, which is considered one of the finest examples of Italian renaissance architecture in the United States.