Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Site, Transportation

Location

416 S Main St, Greensburg, PA 15601, USA

Lat/Long

40.298987, -79.5432

Grant Recipient

City of Greensburg

In April 1927, West Penn Railways opened a new trolley station and office building in the city of Greensburg in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1904, West Penn Railways was an electric interurban trolley line providing transportation services throughout the southwestern part of the state. At a time when many rail transportation companies found themselves increasingly in competition with cars and buses, the September 27, 1927 Daily Courier noted that the growth of West Penn Railways had remained steady despite motor cars and that it was currently running 234 miles of track through just over 200 communities in Pennsylvania. The company offered an affordable, reliable, and convenient regional transportation option to those living in the mountainous southwest part of the state.

However, as roads continued to improve and car ownership increased, traffic on the trolley line diminished and it was abandoned in 1952. In 1954, the city acquired the former station in Greensburg to be used as a new city hall, and city government offices were relocated to the building that August. As of 2025, the former trolley station remains home to the Greensburg City Hall, one of the few surviving reminders of West Penn Railways, an instrumental component in the development of Westmoreland County.