NORTH CHARLEROI. This borough, originally known as Lock No.4 from the lock of that number in the Monongahela River at this point, dates back to 1880, when a station called West Monessen was established on the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad at this point to accommodate a village of eleven houses,
a store and postoffice and a telegraph office. The plan of lots was laid out first in 1885 by John Conrad and later by others. The growth of the town started about 1890 when the industrial development of Charleroi began. The place is still known by its original name of Lock No.4, from the postoffice, but the town was incorporated as the borough of North Charleroi on May 14, 1894.Lock No.4, one of the most important on the river, was built in 1844 by the United States Government and is now in charge of about twenty men. The importance of this dam is shown by the shipments through the locks during February, 1926, taken from the reports of Lockmaster Caseber to the war department. A total of 606 steamboats and 3,205 barges, both loaded and empty, passed through during the twenty-seven days the lock was in commission.
The Charleroi-M&nessen bridge across the Monongahela at this point was constructed in 1906 by the Mercantile Bridge Company at a cost of $275,000, in additioin to the purchase price of real estate, which brought the total up to $320,0OO. This company was first organized in 1903 by D. M. McCloskey, Tom P. Sloan and Henry Sheets, of Charleroi; Henry Nelson, of the American Bridge Company, and John Percival, of Pittsburgh. The bridge was formally opened for service November 2, 1907.