Nov 30, 2018 3 min read

“When you walk down the street, all the longtime residents want to talk to you.”

That’s how Fred Foster describes Smithton. And if anyone knows Smithton, it’s Foster – he’s 65 years old, has lived in the Westmoreland County community his whole life, and is the president of borough council.

There’s truth in what he says – he was more than willing to chat about Smithton when approached by me on one of Smithton’s streets on an unseasonably warm morning late in October. And when I was standing on a street a few minutes before, looking up and down it to see where the best photo opportunities could be had, one local politely asked if there was someone I was trying to find.

Not far over the line that separates Washington and Westmoreland counties, and not too far removed from Interstate 70, Smithton is, without a doubt, small. Encompassing four square blocks, its public library is open only a handful of hours every week, it has one full-time police officer, its borough council meets once a month, and its Facebook page is packed with notices about events revolving around the American Legion post and volunteer fire department. There’s a barbershop, too, along with a few mom-and-pop eateries.

It’s small-town America that offers a sense of comforting familiarity to its residents.

“Everything is within walking distance,” Foster points out.

Smithton’s population consisted of 385 residents as of 2014. Surrounded by South Huntingdon Township, the community came into being thanks to coal, coke ovens and shipping. The Jones Brewing Co., which brews Stoney’s Beer, was once located in Smithton, but it has since relocated to Latrobe, the Westmoreland County community that the Latrobe Brewing Co. calls home. Like most other small communities in the region, a few blighted, dilapidated structures bump against well-maintained homes and businesses.

By far the most famous resident to come from Smithton is Shirley Jones, who was Shirley Partridge on “The Partridge Family” and won an Oscar for her performance in the 1960 film “Elmer Gantry.” Her family owned the Jones Brewing Co., and they lived in a stately Smithton abode that has since been torn down. None of Jones’ family still lives in Smithton, and she has not visited in quite a while, according to Bud Seglowich, Smithton’s historian. However, she did appear at a festival several years ago where she “just stopped in and signed autographs for a couple of hours. She was really nice.”

This year, a pollinator and wildlife habitat was launched for monarch butterflies in Smithton by California University of Pennsylvania. It includes benches, shrubs, flowers and landscaping stones, and is designed to attract the butterflies as they migrate to and from Mexico. The borough received an $8,000 grant for the project, with an eye toward downtown beautification.