Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, and on the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) from its confluence with the Ohio River. A variety of manufacturing plants had kept the residents busy in the twentieth century; however, the city has suffered a fair amount of economic malaise lately due to the decline in the steel-making capacity in the region.
Originally called Brighton, Beaver Falls was chartered as a borough in 1868. It adopted the commission form of government in 1913.
Travellers would often stop in Beaver Falls while going through Western Pennsylvania since there were many modes of transportation through the area. Some of these modes included the Beaver and Erie Canal (1844-1872), the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (1875-1993), and the Pennsylvania Turnpike (1952-present). The city was linked to Ellwood City in 1914 by the Pittsburgh, Harmony, Butler and New Castle Railway, an interurban trolley line. The line closed on 15 June 1931.
The population was 9,920 at the 2000 census. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.3 square miles (6.0 km2), of which 2.1 square miles (5.4 km2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km2) (7.02%) is water.
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