March 17 in history has been indelibly inscribed if for no other reason than the 1936 flood in southwestern Pennsylvania. The next day is actually more significant, even with the potential hangover from St. Patrick's Day parties. Most notably, the actual crest of 46.4 feet in the infamous flood actually came on March 18. Another illustration is the year 1816. That year, on March 18, two of the companies involved in the original turnpike system in southwestern Pennsylvania were authorized by the state Legislature. Not only that, but Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city on March 18, 1816. During the second decade of the 1800s, the westward movement across the state was but one of the causes that created a need for a coordinated system of state roads. A major concern was the recently completed National Pike through Uniontown, Brownsville and Washington. A non-toll road, it didn't help Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. In fact, it bypassed Pittsburgh for Wheeling as a major point on the journey to the west. The War of 1812, and the movement of troops from the east to the Erie area demonstrated the need. Land speculators were active in northwestern Pennsylvania. A number of Westmoreland countians had settled in what became Clarion County and others, for example. The Pittsburgh-Greensburg Turnpike Company, formed in March 1814, was among the early ones created by the state. They provided for funds from private subscriptions primarily, with other funds from the state Legislature. Completed in 1818, the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh portion of the turnpikes quickly became a great commercial road to the undeveloped west, despite competing with the toll-free National Road to the south. Local companies were the key to building them, setting the path, arranging for what construction was necessary, and other aspects. The two formed by the act passed that March 18 were the Somerset-Mt. Pleasant and the Mt. Pleasant-Robbstown (West Newton) companies. Robbstown, which became West Newton, was important as a point of departure on the rivers for the west. Among many others during that period between 1815 and 1820 were Armstrong, Indiana and Cambria turnpike; Washington and Pittsburgh turnpike, and New Alexandria and Pittsburgh turnpike. Some were existing roads upgraded, while others were created from local roads or paths. An example was the Stoystown and Greensburg Turnpike Road Co. with its board of managers. It met to organize at a Laughlintown residence for six days. For five of them, the members were "on scene" planning the "westward course." Those early companies, which collected tolls for wagons, stagecoaches, horses, and cattle, were not profitable despite good traffic on most of them. Their investors, however, were generally people with businesses along the roads. They were satisfied because of the business generated by the roads and the improved value of property along them. The state appropriations were eventually needed to maintain and improve them. Broad-wheeled wagons were charged lesser tolls than those with narrow wheels, a feature of toll charges. Narrow wheels caused more damage to the roadways. When finally a complete turnpike path across the western part of the state was completed from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh as a target of that effort, it took only 56 hours to travel by stagecoach between the two cities. By 1816, Pittsburgh had so far outgrown the provisions of the borough charter (of 1794) that the state Legislature formulated and passed a bill incorporating as a city "the mayor, aldermen, and citizens of Pittsburgh." The measure signed by Gov. Simon Snyder set up a city government that consisted of a mayor, select and common councils, a recorder, and 12 aldermen. One of the reasons for passing a city charter was the effect of Pittsburgh growth on the county courts, which were getting quite burdened. A mayor's court was created for the city and authorized to try cases formerly handled by the Court of Quarter Sessions as well as violation of city ordinances. The mayor and aldermen had the powers of justices of the peace. The mayor also could issue licenses to draymen and tavernkeepers, and permits for theatrical entertainments. Pittsburgh consisted of but two wards at that time. In 1829, it was further divided into four — West, South, East and North. STOPPED B&O-PRR MERGER The recent merger mania recalls the railroad situation when the rails were in their prime in southwestern Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the eastern and central United States. In 1901, the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired control of the Baltimore & Ohio, which had gone into receivership in 1893 from expanding too fast. A merger of the two was planned by the PRR, but President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to invoke the anti-trust laws, or using "the big stick," as it was called. By 1904, the PRR sold its stock in the B&O. THIS DATE IN HISTORY March 17 has several distinctions on the pages of the past. One is that John Covode, a prominent Westmoreland political figure who in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the resolution to impeach President Andrew Johnson, was born in 1808. News was made in 1905 by the New York Central Railroad deciding to found the new town of Clymer in Indiana County. On the same day, street car service between Latrobe and Derry commenced on Westmoreland Railways. Monessen's commercial area was hit by a fire in 1916, which not only destroyed one building but some adjoining ones. In 1931, the Allegheny County commissioners voted to spend $3 million on the Homestead high-level bridge. The first steel wage contract with the Steelworkers' organizing committee in Pittsburgh in 1935 established the $5 a day minimum wage, the 40-hour week, vacations with pay, and seniority rights for steelworkers. The Mt. Pleasant Library Association was formed in 1939. In 1992, a Uniontown discount store and adjoining businesses were hit by flames. However, as noted in part last Sunday, the day was distinguished by a famous flood. In 1955, AFL Teamsters prepared to restore delivery service by downtown Pittsburgh stores after nearly 16 months although not all contract differences were finally worked out. Trolley service between Apollo and Leechburg was shut down by the flood in 1936, and never reopened. A family of four in Rossiter in Indiana County was drowned. There were many other effects from the flood on March 17 and succeeding days, which made the date one to remember. CLARION NORMAL START Clarion State University got its start as a Methodist seminary in 1867, opened as Carrier Seminary of Western Pennsylvania. A normal school had been advocated there, the first mention coming at a teachers' institute in January 1858. But the school didn't materialize until 1887, after three very slow and painstaking decades. The Methodist seminary resulted from the 1865 Erie Conference of that denomination when it took action to sponsor two additional seminaries. The other was in Randolph, N.Y. The Carrier Seminary began using a new building in 1871 which remained around for quite a while. The seminary curriculum included a normal course for the training of teachers. In 1874, the seminary trustees petitioned the courts to change the name to Carrier Normal School as the seminary declined. While nothing resulted, a chain of events was started. County school superintendent A.J. Davis, a strong normal school booster, and another man began working in earnest on the idea in the 1880s. In 1883, Davis took a new job with the State Department of Public Instruction, and in 1885 gained its approval for the normal school. Meanwhile, battered somewhat by the Panic of 1873, the seminary continued to decline. Clarion State Normal School, an organization formed in 1886, purchased the seminary facilities. Two dormitories were built and the seminary building renovated. The proposed normal school gained state approval in early 1887. Clarion State Normal School became a reality when it began classes April 12 of that year. Professor Davis presided over the birth of the then two-year school as it grew. In 1903, a three-year program was inaugurated at the then equivalent of a secondary school, and the fourth year was added in 1913. SPORTS HISTORY A Jeannette man had the major role in an amazing collegiate football upset in 1933, when the then Carnegie Tech shocked Notre Dame, 7-0. The Tartans were able to do that on more than one occasion between the World Wars. A two-day guard who weighed only 170 pounds, Bernard (Bunny) Burzio put on a quite sensational performance for a lineman against the Irish. Burzio reportedly had 31 tackles in a game in which Notre Dame ran only 48 plays. He also recovered two Tech fumbles and two by Notre Dame, one of the latter leading to the game's only score. Burzio had some All-American mention, and taught and coached at several high schools, including Shaler, before his eventual retirement from East Allegheny. There, he taught shop and served as a guidance counselor. One New York newspaper gave him a third-team All-America berth, along with tackle Frank (Tiger) Walton of Pitt.

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