e purpose of the
railroad was to connect Pittsburgh with the canal at Massillon, Ohio.
The railroad quickly superseded the canal, however, and when men
perceived that the mountains could be conquered by a portage road, it
was a natural step to plan the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio
railroads on a system of easy grades, so that all obstacles of height
and distance were annihilated. The Pennsylvania Railroad was
incorporated April 13, 1846, and completed its roadway from
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh February 15, 1854. The canal was for a time
operated by the Pennsylvania Canal Company in the interest of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, but its use was gradually abandoned. The
division from Pittsburgh to Johnstown ceased to be operated in 1864, and
that portion which was in the Juniata Valley was used until 1899, while
the portion lying along the Susquehanna River was operated until
1900.[C]

[Footnote C: There is an interesting relief map of the portage railroad
of the Pennsylvania Canal in the Carnegie Museum.]

[Illustration: Over the mountains in 1839; canal boat being hauled over
the portage road]

Other railroads came as they were needed. The Baltimore and Ohio
received a charter from the State of Maryland on February 28, 1827, but
did not reach Pittsburgh until December 12, 1860, when its Pittsburgh
and Connellsville branch was opened. The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad
was built into Pittsburgh July 4, 1851, and became part of the
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway in 1856, that line reaching
Chicago in 1859. The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis
Railway (the "Pan Handle") was opened between Pittsburgh and Columbus,
Ohio, October 9, 1865. The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, now a part
of the New York Central Lines, was opened into Pittsburgh in February,
1879. The Wabash Railway completed its entrance into the city on June
19, 1904.

XIII

[Illustration: View of Old Pittsburgh, 1817]

In 1784 the town was laid out and settlers, among whom were many Scotch
and Irish, came rapidly. The town was made the county seat in 1791,
incorporated as a borough in 1794, the charter was revived in 1804,
and the borough was chartered as a city in 1816. The first charter
granted to Pittsburgh in 1816 vested the more important powers of the
city government in a common council of fifteen members and a select
council of nine members. In 1887 a new charter was adopted giving to the
mayor the powe