History
The land on which this town stands was part of a tract purchased from John Haft on January 24, 1827, by Daniel Houston, a near relative of Gen. Sam Houston, leader of the Texans in their war for independence from Mexico. After the Chartiers Valley Railroad was completed through that section in 1871, David C. Houston, a son of Daniel Houston, saw the possibilities of a town at that point and laid out the present plan of Houstonville. The first house in the new town was completed in the summer of 1871 by A. T. Haft and the second by J. C. Johnson. A few years later H. E. Riggle laid out a plan adjoining which was called Riggletown until the Borough of Houstonville was incorporated on May 13, 1901. The town grew slowly for several years, but with the development of gas in the ‘80s and coal in later years the town has grown until now it is of considerable importance. There are a number of coal mines in the vicinity, and branch roads have been built from the Chartiers Valley Railroad to Midland, McConnells Mills and Westland. The main line of the Washington-Pittsburgh electric line passes through the town.
Read more about this topic: Houston, Pennsylvania
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“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
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