The History of Laughlintown

Established in 1797, Laughlintown, then known as East Liberty, is the second oldest settlement in Westmoreland County and the oldest in Ligonier Valley. The name was changed to Laughlintown in the early 1800s in honor of its founder, Robert Laughlin.

During the French and Indian War in 1758, the British army cut the Forbes Road through what is now Westmoreland County during the campaign to take Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh. The Forbes Road continued to be the primary route through the county during the latter half of the eighteenth century. However, by 1785, the state legislature recognized the need for an improved thoroughfare. They authorized the construction of a state wagon road, or the “State Road”, which ran roughly along modern day Route 30. Also known as the Pennsylvania Road, this route connected Pittsburgh with Philadelphia and was able to accommodate herds of animals in addition to wagons headed west. By the early 1800s, the State Road fell into disrepair. The state legislature responded by setting up the turnpike system, in which private companies improved and maintained sections of the road. Traffic only increased from there.

Geography played a central role in Laughlintown’s development as a resting place for travelers. The town is located at the foot of Laurel Hill, the steepest ridge in the Laurel Mountain Range, making it a natural place for travelers to stop and rest either before or after making the arduous journey over the mountain. In the early nineteenth century, Compass Inn was one of six inns operating in town. In addition to inns, Laughlintown also had general stores, blacksmith shops, saddle and harness makers, a wheelwright, a wagon maker, a tannery, woolen and flour mills, a hatter, a tailor, and livery stables.

During the turnpike’s heyday, up to 100 Conestoga wagons crossed Laurel Hill, and at least three separate stage lines stopped in Laughlintown daily. There were also three iron furnaces within a mile of Laughlintown, providing jobs for local residents. In the early 1800s Laughlintown saw many notable travelers. These included Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, and Zachary Taylor. Because of its popularity as a rest stop along the turnpike, early nineteenth-century Laughlintown is often compared to today’s Breezewood, the popular hotel and rest stop where Route 70, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the Lincoln Highway meet.

Improvements in transportation technology sparked Laughlintown’s decline as a stopover for overland travelers. The Western Division of the Pennsylvania Canal was completed in 1831, connecting Johnstown and Pittsburgh, and the Pennsylvania Railroad between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia was finished in the 1850s. While competition from the canal system somewhat affected the stagecoach industry, the railroad devastated it. The railroad by-passed Laughlintown and quickly became the most popular form of travel. As a result, the bustling town of the early 1800’s settled down into a quiet village.

In the early nineteenth century, Ligonier and Laughlintown were similar in population and purpose. At the end of the Turnpike Era, however, Ligonier continued to grow because of its location on the Loyalhanna, the active promotion of an organized town, and the establishment of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. Laughlintown, on the other hand, became a small, quiet community. One hundred years after its founding, at the turn of the twentieth century, Laughlintown contained three stores, a gristmill, a blacksmith shop, wagonmaker shop, a saddlery, and a boarding house.

In 1913, the Lincoln Highway Association chose the old Pittsburgh-Philadelphia Turnpike for the new transcontinental highway’s route through Pennsylvania. The Lincoln Highway brought a resurgence of traffic through Laughlintown. This time, it was automobiles instead of stagecoaches and wagons that rolled through the town.

Like Ligonier, Laughlintown became a retreat for affluent Pittsburghers who wished to escape the noise and pollution of the city. In the early twentieth century, the wealthy industrialist Richard Beatty Mellon established the Rolling Rock Club on 12,000 acres of land just south of the old turnpike. The club offered space for hunting, fishing, and horseback riding and served as a rural retreat for Mellon’s friends and family. It still operates as an exclusive club today.  

Laughlintown today is an unincorporated, primarily residential community of approximately 332 people (Best Places, March 2020). It is home to Compass Inn Museum and Ligonier Valley Historical Society, as well as some light industry and other businesses, including The Original Pie Shoppe.