Documentary History of American Water-works

Greensburg

Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Greensburg was incorporated in 1799.

The Greensburg Gas and Water Company was incorporated in 1858 by Egar Cowan, E. J. Keenan, C. R. Painter, Jacob Turney, Joseph Greer, and Charles McCausland with the "exclusive authority to supply with gas light or water the borough of Greensburg and its vicinity, in the county of Westmoreland."

The Westmoreland Water Company of Greensburg Borough was incorporated on September 24, 1886 to supply water to the Borough of Greensburg. This company built a gravity system that began operating around 1888. This company was acquired by the Westmoreland Water Company of Ludwick Borough in 1913, the latter company changing its name to the Westmoreland Water Company.

The Westmoreland Water Company was sold in 1927 to the Community Water Services Company, which in turn sold it to John H. Ware, Jr. in 1945.

The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County was incorporated on April 15, 1942, and bought the Westmoreland Water Company in 1950 for $6,946,730.

Water service is provided by the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County

References
1858 An act to incorporate the Greensburg Gas and Water Company. April 1, 1858.

1858 Supplement to an act to incorporate the Greensburg Gas and Water Company, approved the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. April 16, 1858.

1888 "Greensburg," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1890 "Greensburg," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.

1891 "Greensburg," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.

1897 "Greensburg," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.

1913 Greensburg Borough, Appellant v. Westmoreland Water Company, 240 Pa. 431, April 28, 1913, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

1914 "The Westmoreland Water Company of Greensburg," Pennsylvania Bureau of Engineering. Describes the water system of the eight companies that formed the Westmoreland Water Company in 1913.

1927 "Westmoreland Water Company Holdings Sold," The Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pennsylvania), December 7, 1927, Page 10.

1945 "Water Company Sold," The Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pennsylvania), December 1, 1945, Page 7.
Westmoreland Water Company sold by the Community Service Water Company to John H. Ware, Jr.

1950 "Westmoreland Co. Buys Water Plant," The Indiana Gazette, January 24, 1950, Page 17.
Westmoreland County Municipal Authority agrees to purchase the Westmoreland Water Company for $6,946,730.

1950 "Better Water Supply," The Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pennsylvania), July 29, 1950, Page 8.
Westmoreland County Municipal Authority authorized to purchase the Westmoreland Water Company.

2005 "Water Battles: Municipal Authorities and the Destabilization of Local Governance in the Great Depression," by Nicholas G. Bauroth, Western Pennsylvania History 88(4):30-37 (Winter 2005)