Courts give form to Westmoreland County

 April 6, 1773

Hanna’s Town, the first seat of government for Westmoreland County, and where English courts first administered law west of the Allegheny Mountains, was created by an act of the Penn Proprietary government on February 26, 1773. The act directed that court was to be held pro tem, at the home of Robert Hanna, until such time that a permanent county seat could be selected.

On April 6, 1773, court was first convened at Hanna’s Town, with Robert Hanna as presiding judge. It was on this date that the Quarter Sessions Court gave form to Westmoreland County, which then comprised all of southwestern Pennsylvania. The Court created the townships, laid out public roads, established dates for the popular election of magistrates and other key public officials, granted licenses, set fees, and applied the law – bringing order into the disordered and often chaotic environment of the western Pennsylvania frontier. Court continued to be held at Hanna’s Town until the summer of 1786 at which time the county seat was moved to nearby Greensburg.