Relocation - Community

Geographic Location

Fayette County, with an area of 800 square miles, is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania along the state’s southern border and is the second county from the western boundary. The center of Fayette County is about 45 miles south and a little east of Pittsburgh. The County’s entire western boundary is the Monongahela River. This river follows a generally northward course for this portion of its length, but its many bends make Fayette County’s western boundary a very irregular one. For most of this distance, the Monongahela separates Fayette and Greene Counties, but the northern portion separates Fayette and Washington Counties. Fayette’s neighbor to the north is Westmoreland County, and to the east its neighbor is Somerset County. Both of these boundaries are rather irregular lines. The southern boundary of Fayette County, the state line, is the Mason and Dixon Line running due east and west at parallel 39° 43’ 26”. For most of this distance, Fayette County borders West Virginia, but the last few miles to the east are a common boundary with Maryland.

The eastern part of Fayette County is mountainous, with Chestnut Ridge rising to heights of nearly 3000 feet. This area, which comprises the greater part of five townships and two boroughs, is very sparsely populated and is topographically quite different from the western two-thirds of the county.

The part of the county to the west of the mountains consists of rolling hills with a gradual slope toward the Monongahela River. The great bulk of the county’s residents live in this area.

There is one natural break through the mountains in Fayette County, the pass through which the Youghiogheny River flows from the east. This river arises in western Maryland and flows generally northwestward through Somerset, Fayette and Westmoreland counties until it joins the Monongahela River at McKeesport. The Youghiogheny is not navigable but its course forms a natural transportation lane through Fayette County, a lane used by several railroads and bike trails.

The other natural transportation lane of the county is the Monongahela River Valley, a north-south lane between Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The Monongahela is navigable as far south as Fairmont, West Virginia. Railroads and highways follow its banks, some on the east for Fayette County side, and some on the west or Greene County side.