Description

Edinboro is an urban center with a "small town atmosphere" located in a rural setting. It is a college town and a lake resort in the summer months. There are attractive residential areas, busy commercial districts, an industrial park, a lakeside resort, and recreational opportunities. There is also a "sense of community pride" maintained by most permanent residents. They like Edinboro as a place to live, to work, to raise a family or to retire. Even newer residents believe that Edinboro is a special place affording educational, cultural, social and recreational opportunities in a small town atmosphere not found in many communities. A better understanding of present day Edinboro is possible only through an understanding of its historical development.

The area now known as Edinboro and Washington Township was first inhabited by the Eriez, Iroquois, and Cornplanter Indians. The region itself was a dense forest with no accessible roads. The Indians referred to the region as Conneauttee, meaning "land of the living snowflake." In 1801 William Culbertson built a gristmill near the outlet of Conneauttee Lake, subdivided a portion of his 500 acre tract and established the beginnings of present day Edinboro.

Farm land was cleared in the surrounding countryside and the future community began to take form. Congregations of the Presbyterian and Methodist church organized and formed the roots of the still active churches. The first school was built by William Culbertson around 1825. Edinboro's postal service traces back to 1837 when a branch office was established as part of a postal circuit through Erie and Crawford Counties. Through the early 1800's the community continued to grow in support of the surrounding farms, and in 1840 it incorporated with a population of 232 and land area of 500 acres. Edinboro continued to develop as an old New England town architecturally. The second half of the 1800's saw significant changes in Edinboro. A turnpike made of planks was completed in 1852 between Erie and Meadville via Edinboro. The road south of Edinboro to Venango still bears the name Plank Road. An academy was started in 1855. This academy became the State Normal School in 1861 and evolved into the present day Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

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