As the Ligonier Valley Historical Society, it’s our duty to share the history of our area. In our new blog series, If Ligonier Valley Could Talk, we’ll explore the histories of faded newspaper clippings and oral histories passed down from generation to generation in Ligonier Valley. Our first post spotlights Laughlintown, home of Compass Inn Museum and Ligonier Valley Historical Society.
But of course, everything happens in towns like Laughlintown. Life and death. Happiness and grief. Hard times, and good ones too. Laughlintown’s story is written in disparate pieces—diary entries; vignettes in old letters now tucked in the back of dresser drawers or stuffed in old boxes in attics; faded newspaper clippings. But, most of all, it is written in memories passed from person to person, family to family, in stories shared through tears and laughter at reunions and funerals and chance meetings of long-lost friends. They are the stories of those who have deep roots here, names which go back to the days when the sound of wagon wheels and the ring of the smith’s hammer echoed along the old “pike.” These names were old when the iron furnaces glow in the night, when six-mule teams haled logs off the mountain, and when the first Mack trucks labored their way noisily over the new Lincoln Highway. – Ralph Kinney Bennett, “God Made This: The Town at the Bottom of the Mountain” [1]
Laughlintown’s Humble Beginnings
Established in 1797, Laughlintown, then known as East Liberty, is the second oldest settlement in Westmoreland County and the oldest in the Ligonier Valley. The name was changed to Laughlintown in the early 1800s in honor of the founder, Robert Laughlin. This change took place because of the creation of the United States Postal Service and the need to have different town names in each community. Laughlintown predates Ligonier which was not incorporated until 1834.
During the French and Indian War in 1758, the British army cut the Forbes Road through Westmoreland County 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 accommodated herds of animals and wagons headed west. By the early 1800s, the State Road fell into disrepair. The state legislature responded by settling up the turnpike system, in which private companies improved and maintained sections of the road. Traffic only increased from there.
View of Laughlintown, Pa looking toward the West and Chestnut Ridge- Photo by Seal Burnett 1894
How Geography Influenced Laughlintown’s Development
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 completing the arduous journey over the mountain. 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; the Washington, California, and Westmoreland furnaces provided jobs for local residents. In the early nineteenth century, Compass Inn was one of six inns operating in town. In addition to the inns and iron furnaces, Laughlintown also had general stores, blacksmith shops, saddle and harness makers, a wheelwright, a wagon maker, a gingerbread bakery, a tannery, woolen and flour mills, hatter, a tailor and livery stables.
In the early 1800s, Laughlintown saw many notable travelers:
Henry Clay – Senator/Speaker of the House who created the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850
Daniel Webster – a prominent statesman and lawyer who contributed to the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which settled several territorial issues and enacted a new fugitive slave law
Andrew Jackson – an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman who served as the 7th president of the United States and the last president to duel with pistols
William Henry Harrison – an American military officer and politician who served as the 9th president of the United States for 31 days in 1841, becoming the first president to die in office and the shortest-serving U.S. president in history
Zachary Taylor – an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until he died in 1850
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.
Ziders Brothers General Store in Laughlintown, Now The Country Cupboard- Photographer and date unknown
Laughlintown’s Transition from Popular Rest Stop to Quiet Village
Improvements in transportation technology sparked Laughlintown’s decline as a stopover for overland travel. 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 bypassed Laughlintown and quickly became the most popular form of travel. As a result, the bustling town of the early 1800s 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 Creek, 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 turning of the twentieth century, Laughlintown contained three stores, a gristmill, a blacksmith shop, a 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 route through Pennsylvania. This time, it was automobiles instead of stagecoaches and wagons that rolled through the town.
Compass Inn with siding Circa 1910
Laughlintown Today: A Beautiful Historic Destination
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. The naming of this establishment took place on a Sunday afternoon in the spring of 1917. Mr. W.L. Mellon, Sr., a nephew of the Mellons, was making a report that day of the progress of work underway, and all through his conversation, he referred to the rushing stream over rocks and the rolling of rocks down the stream bed. His frequent mentioning of this incident impressed Mr. Mellon and prompted him that evening to select the name “Rolling Rock” with the members of his family present. [2] It still operates as an exclusive club today.
Laughlintown today is an unincorporated, primarily residential community of approximately 332 people. Aside from being home to our organization, It’s also home to some light industry and local businesses, including our neighbors at the Original Pie Shoppe. Locals and visitors alike can still see the vital history of this once thriving community in its historic buildings and industrial landmarks, such as the iron furnaces. To learn more about Laughlintown, contact us for more details or visit Compass Inn Museum to experience our rich history firsthand.
Additional Reading
[1] Bennett, Ralph Kinney. “God Made This: The Town at the Bottom of the Mountain.” The
Laughlintown Bicentennial, 1997, 3.
[2] Carlson, A.G. “A Gracious History of Sportsmanship and Stewardship: The Rolling Rock Club.” Laughlintown: Commemorating its 150th Anniversary, 1947, 23.
[3] Sharp, Myron B. “Notes and Quotes on the Compass Inn and the People of Laughlintown, Pennsylvania 1828-1870.” https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/viewFile/3098/2929
[4] “History of Laughlintown.” Ligonier Valley Historical Society. Accessed July 28, 2021. https://www.compassinn.org/history-of-laughlintown
