History:

The history of this region began soon after General Forbes' expedition which was sent to retrieve the lamentable defeat of General Braddock at Braddock's Field.  Settlements had already been made west of the mountains, prior to the purchase of lands from the Indians by the Penn heirs in 1768.  Washington County was then part of the so-called "disputed territory", claimed by both West Virginia and Pennsylvania which was called Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania and Youghiogheny County in Virginia.  Washington County was not formed until 1781.

The present Borough of Finleyville is a partial tract of land which was called "Mt. Pleasant" containing 405 acres in which Captain John Wall settled in 1775.  Upon arriving and settling on his new tract of land, he immediately built a stone dwelling near a junction of two roads - - one leading from Pittsburgh to "Red Stone Old Fort" now know as Brownsville, PA. and the second a road from Cox's Fort, which is in the vicinity of the James Chapel United Methodist Church, to Catfish Camp, now Washington, PA.  He was a military man and organized a company of militia and rangers from among the early settlers of his neighborhood to protect families from barbarous attacks of unfriendly Indians while Washington County was under the jurisdiction of Virginia.  During the Revolutionary War, he served as Captain under commission from Pennsylvania.  Because of territorial disputes between Pennsylvania and Virginia, he did not receive the patent for his land until the year 1787.