Everson, Pennsylvania

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Everson, PA 15631 - Fayette County

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When Christopher Gist led the first white settlers over the Allegheny Mountains and into what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania, they found the land that later became Everson/South Everson occupied by an Indian tribe under the leadership of an Indian who the settlers dubbed Chief Jacob. A stream of water ran through his reservation and that stream became Jacob's Creek. Those first settlers came in 1755. In 1783 Jacob's Creek became the dividing line between Fayette and Westmoreland Counties.

Back in 1755 that portion of Southwestern Pennsylvania was in Augusta County, Virginia, and so if you are researching your ancestors and find they are listed as born in Virginia, this is the explanation. In June of 1780, Pennsylvania and Virginia reached an agreement and a state line was established between the two states that put present-day Fayette County into what was then Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Then in 1783, Fayette became a separate county from Westmoreland County. In 1862 the portion of Virginia bordering Fayette County, Pennsylvania, became West Virginia.Tyrone Township was established in Westmoreland County in 1773 before the erection of Fayette County in 1783. In 1877, Tyrone was divided into Upper Tyrone (eastern section) and Lower Tyrone Townships. Everson is located in the section that became Upper Tyrone Township. In late 1903 a group of citizens decided to form a borough and apprised the township supervisors and other officials. Under the leadership of Dr. M. A. Noon, the present borough was established. Mr. B.M. Everson, a local industrialist, operated a small mill on the Fayette County side of Jacobs Creek and granted permission to give the new borough his name. The area below the borough from the B & O Railroad tracks to Jacobs Creek remained in Upper Tyrone Township and became known as South Everson.

During the 1880's when the coal and coke industry was a booming business in the area, there was a large immigration of families from Poland. Those who settled in the area of Everson established the first Polish Catholic Church in the Pittsburgh Diocese which attracted many other Polish Families to the area. The proximity of working in the salt mines of Poland made the transition of working in the coal mines of Pennsylvania easy for these immigrants.