MEADVILLE, med'vil, Pa., city and county-seat of Crawford County, on French Creek and on the Erie and a branch of the Pittsburgh, Bessemer and Lake Erie railroads, about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh and 30 miles south of Erie. The first settlement was made in May 1788 by David Mead and others. It became a borough in 1823 and in 1866 was chartered as a city. It is in a fertile agricul tural region, in the vicinity of extensive oil fields and in the part of the State noted for its iron and steel industries. The chief manu facturing establishments are the Erie Railroad shops, the Phoenix iron works and the Mead ville malleable iron works, the Keystone vise works, chocolate chips factory, Barbour silk mills, shoe-button fastener works, silk mills, printing works, confectionery factories, engine works, tool, casting and brass works, chemical works, corset factories and other manufactories.
The city has many churches, an academy of music, courthouse, three parks, the county fair grounds, a race-track, iron bridges and several fine wholesale and retail buildings. Its educa tional institutions are the public and parish schools, a high school, the Meadville Theo logical School, opened in 1844 by the Uni tarians; Allegheny College, opened in 1815 by the Methodist Episcopals; Pennsylvania College of Music, Meadville Business College and a public library. There are the City Hospital and Saint Joseph's Hospital. The three banks have a combined capital of over $350,000. The government, according to the commission plan adopted in 1913, is vested in a mayor and four councilmen. The electric-light plant and the waterworks are owned and operated by the city. Pop. 12,780.