Borough of Harmony

Pennsylvania, USA

Harmony Before there was a Harmony

George Washington_reduced_copy1

Before the European settlers came to Western Pennsylvania, the area was home to the Erie, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, and Iroquois tribes. A settlement referred to as “Sancock” by the Delaware and as “Murdering Town” by George Washington was located near the current site of Harmony Borough.
George Washington visited the area in 1753 when Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, learned that the French were on Lake Erie and had started a line of forts on French Creek. He immediately dispatched George Washington to warn them to stop. Washington, his guide, Christopher Gist, and an entourage of several Native Americans, white servitors, and a French interpreter, followed the old trails from Logstown, along the Ohio River, northward towards Venango. On the trip north, Washington spent the night in Murdering Town and ate with the natives.

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