Eighty Four, Pennsylvania

Eighty Four is a small unincorporated community mostly within Somerset Township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies approximately 25 miles southwest of Pittsburgh and is in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Eighty Four is accessible via Pennsylvania Route 519 and Route 136 and interstates 79 and 70. The closest international airport is the Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay Township.

Origin of name

There is some dispute amongst local historians regarding the origin of the name of the community. However, the most plausible explanation seems to be that Eighty Four was given its name to commemorate the election of Grover Cleveland as President of the United States in 1884. The state historical marker sign near the post office relates this theory.

Other origin stories include: The village was located 80 degrees and 4 minutes west longitude. Eighty Four, PA was mail drop #84 on the Railway Mail Service. The village is located on the 84th tract of land carved out by the Northwest Ordinance. There was confusion with the mail for Smithfield A (Eighty Four) and Smithfield B. Since mail for A was getting mixed up with mail for stop B, to end the confusion the town was named after the year 1884. This was a story that surfaced during the centennial 1984. General David "Crazy Legs" Hamilton and his outfit of 84 soldiers held off an attack of outlaws on December 30th of 1869 at the present day location of the town.

2000 census information

• Postal ZIP code: 15330
• Telephone area code: 724
• County Name: Washington
• Coordinates: 40.1819°N 80.133°W / 40.1819; -80.133

• Elevation: 1049
• Population: 5012

Recent News

A house fire erupted on Valley View Road and a local teenager, Alex Wright, saw the blaze and rushed into his neighbor's house to rescue the baby that was trapped on the second floor. He was thanked by the mother of the child who said "Alex is a hero to the community, and I thank God everyday that there are people in the world like him." Recently a local fisherman, Christopher McConnel, was fishing in a pond on Patterson Road when he snagged a shocking item, a .45 calibur pistol. He immediatly called the State Police who determined that the gun was used in a shooting early that week. The owner of the weapon has been identified and taken into police custody, but his identity is not being released.

Features

Eighty Four is a part of the Canon-McMillan, Trinity, Ringgold, and Bentworth school districts. It is also home to the 84 Lumber company's world headquarters and home of the first 84 Lumber store.

See also

• Ninety Six, South Carolina and Eighty Eight, Kentucky are other examples of towns with numerical names.