Images of America: Murrysville and Export

 In 1820, Jeremiah Murry organized Murrysville within old Franklin Township in Westmoreland County.  Murrysville became a borough in 1976 and an official municipality in 1978.  Cornelius Berlin built Export's first houses, and the town became a borough in 1911.  Murrysville was home to the oldest, longest-producing gas well, and Export is the first place where coal was exported abroad.  Murrysville is also the site of the boyhood home of Judge Thomas Mellon, founder of Mellon Bank.  These industrial communities began as farm villages and grew with an influx of immigrants.  As these ethnically diverse towns prospered through national acclaim for their carboniferous resources, so grew the townspeople through endurance and fortitude.  Murrysville and Export is a visual journey through the evolution of these tight-knit communities.  Helene Smith is an award-winning playwright, with 50 published books based on history.  The photographs in Murrysville and Export are from the author's and Karl Koch's private collections, as well as from generous local individuals.