Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Rices Landing in Greene County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Rices Landing

 
 
Rices Landing Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bradley Owen, September 6, 2021
1. Rices Landing Marker
Inscription.
Settlement of Rices Landing

One of the earliest overnight visitors was George Washington, when he and his troops camped here on their way to Pittsburgh during the French & Indian War.

In 1786, John Rice purchased land on the east side of Enoch's Run, a tributary of the Monongahela River, and named the settlement Rices Landing. Abijeah McClain purchased land on the west side of Enoch's Run and named it Newport.

While Ben Franklin was mapping the area in 1801, he combined the two and named it Rices Landing. Enoch's Run eventually became Pumpkin Run. A one-story red brick jail with cast iron window bars dating back to the 1850s is situated alongside Pumpkin Run.

Local Commercial Center

The availability of abundant natural resources and the close proximity of the river led to the development of numerous early industries from the 1850s to 1950s. These included a blacksmith shop, a cooper shop, planing mill, grist mill, paper factory, the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop, the Excelsior Pottery Works, the Vesuvius Manufacturing Company, and coal mining.

Along with the industrial development, commercial interests were also developing including warehouses, hotels, clothing stores, drug stores, general stores, restaurants, a theater, pool hall, saloons,
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
and the Rices Landing National Bank.

Company houses and a company store were constructed alongside existing houses on Main Street with the development of Greene County's first commercial mine in 1902. The construction of a 50-by-20-foot frame train station near Third Street in 1910 allowed passengers access to transportation instead of walking a mile north to the station at the Dilworth mine.

In 1913, construction of the tunnel and bridge for the expansion of the rail line altered the original town by eliminating buildings on the southwest side of Main Street from Pumpkin Run to First Street. It also shortened Water Street. The keystones that embellished the concrete abutment in the railroad bridge were made using patterns made by the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop.

Lock & Dam No. 6

In 1856, the Monongahela Navigation Company completed Lock & Dam No. 6 in Rices Landing. Engineered by Slyvanus Lothrop, the fixed crest dam was constructed on a solid rock foundation with walls 15 feet in height.

The lock was protected by cribs and fenders with floors of heavy longitudinal timbers covered with spiked planks. A lock keeper was hired to collect the tolls. The first boat through the original lock was the Ariadne, a small passenger boat.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acquired the navigation system on
Rices Landing Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bradley Owen, September 6, 2021
2. Rices Landing Marker
The parking lot for the Rices Landing Trailhead of the Greene River Trail can be seen in the distance.
the Monongahela. Beginning in 1914, they began the reconstruction of the lock and dam at Rices Landing. A new fixed crest dam and two locks, each 56 feet by 360 feet, was completed in 1916. The new locks allowed for larger tows. Two houses were built to house the lock master and the chief engineer.

Completion of the Maxwell Locks and Dams in 1964 rendered the Rices Landing Lock and Dam useless. It was abandoned and the river walls were demolished in 1965. The concrete land wall and the middle wall are still present as well as the two houses. In 2000, the houses were turned over to the Rices Landing Borough.

One house contains the Borough Office and the Lock 6 Museum. A model of the Kittanning, a paddle wheeler used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, occupies a portion of the museum alongside a model of early Rices Landing. An air whistle used to signal boats is also on display.

Captions:

Caldwells Atlas of 1876.

View looking north of Rices Landing.
Greene County Historical Society Library

Rices Landing Train Station.

Views of Lack & Dam No. 6 in Rices Landing.
Greene County Historical Society Library

1965 demolition of Lock & Dam 6.
 
Erected 2020 by Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Rivers of Steel, Greene
Mural At The Trailhead Parking Area image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bradley Owen, September 6, 2021
3. Mural At The Trailhead Parking Area
County Museum, Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & CommerceSettlements & SettlersWaterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1786.
 
Location. 39° 57.08′ N, 80° 0.211′ W. Marker is in Rices Landing, Pennsylvania, in Greene County. Marker can be reached from Main Street north of Rices Landing Road (County Route 1010), on the left when traveling north. Marker is located on the Greene River Trail just south of the Rices Landing Trailhead parking lot. The parking lot is located on Main Street across from Rices Landing United Methodist Church. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 125 Main Street, Rices Landing PA 15357, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Monongahela River (within shouting distance of this marker); Railroad (within shouting distance of this marker); Rice's Landing Jail (approx. 0.2 miles away); Gateway Mine (approx. ¼ mile away); Isaac Hewitt Pottery (approx. 0.3 miles away); Foundry (approx. 0.3 miles away); W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop (approx. 0.3 miles away); Dilworth Mine (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rices Landing.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on September 14, 2021. It was originally submitted on September 11, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. This page has been viewed 358 times since then and 71 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on September 11, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=181527

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 28, 2024