Saint Marys was founded by Bavarian Catholic immigrants in 1842, and today it still retains the early settlers' work ethic, industrial nature, and religious devotion.
The original settlers intended to take up farming as their primary industry, but the terrain was found to be unsuitable to widespread agriculture. Fortunately, there were other resources to which they could turn. First among these was logging, facilitated by powerful new steam engines, and the corresponding lumbering industry.
Brickmaking was popular for a while, as well as brewing. Around the turn of the 20th century, carbon and powdered metal became an important part of the borough's economy. Saint Marys was also the site of an early light bulb manufacturing company, the Novelty Incandescent Lamp Company; through a series of mergers and name changes that company became Sylvania, which still maintains a major facility in Saint Marys over 100 years later.
In 1992, Saint Marys absorbed the surrounding township of Benzinger and incorporated as a city, leading to the slogan "Pennsylvania's Newest City". Most of the "city" limits remains wild, with business and residences found primarily within the former borough limits.
Today, powdered metal, carbon, beer, and light bulbs are still the cornerstones of the Saint Marys economy, but like many old industrial areas, the city is shifting toward more service-oriented businesses.
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Saint Marys (Pennsylvania) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
