1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Uniontown

UNIONTOWN, a borough and the county-seat of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., about 40 m. S. by E. of Pittsburg. Pop. (1900) 7344 (449 foreign-born); (1910) 13,344. Uniontown is served by the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore & Ohio railways. Coal, iron and natural gas are found in the neighbouring region. The manufactures include glass products, iron, steel, enamel, radiators, coke, flour and bricks. The original village was surveyed and laid out in 1776 on land owned by Henry Beeson, and the borough was incorporated in 1796. From 1827 to 1832 Uniontown was the seat of Madison College, formed from Union Academy (founded 1808); in 1832 the college was merged with Allegheny College, of Meadville, Pa. In 1866 the buildings were turned over to the Soldiers’ Orphans’ School (now at Jumonville, a suburb), which occupied them until 1875. In the south-eastern part of the county is the district known as Great Meadows; here George Washington built Fort Necessity in 1754, and General Edward Braddock died and was buried here after his defeat by the French and Indians in 1755.