Hello all,
I am a student in a Boundary Law class at UMaine, and I am trying to locate records for a public road in Pennsylvania as part of a research assignment. I have been striking out through the local Westmoreland portals, and moved to the state resources. I am in the weeds of sorts with the state archives, DOT, etc trying to find where documents exist to research a public road constructed in 1940. I found a GIS map with the road in question, but it doesn't lead me to what I am looking for. The documents, deeds, plans, etc of the actual road.
Can anyone familiar with Pennsylvania and research nudge me in the right direction? Thanks.
You might go here and then call the coordinator listed for the area in which your road exists.
The most famous PA "road" completed in 1940 was the PA Turnpike, 160 miles built in 23 months utilizing an abandoned railroad and its many tunnels?
Is that the "road" of which you speak?
@mathteacher I wish that were the road. That sounds quite interesting.
But, no, it's actually just a small road in Greensburg, Unity Township called Legislative Route # 64175 (now White School Road). It's in various deeds and affects the property of which i have my research project on. I started this project on a parcel in that area and am sort of stuck with it now. So i am doing my best to locate what I can.
I see L.R. 64175 mentioned in several deeds, but cannot find it's creation. I see it on PennDOT's local roads GIS map, and that's how I discovered it was created in 1940. But having trouble finding other information on it. All said, I just want to verify the width, read the documentation on its conveyance and creation, and learn how to navigate the research process in its entirety. If I were to survey this property in real life, I would want the info if I could get it.
Here's the tail end of a ChatGPT query that might help. Good luck!
Nice — thanks. Short answer first, then the supporting detail and what I couldn’t confirm.
Short answer
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White School Road (Unity Township / Greensburg) is the state-inventory road SR 2015 (also listed as Bennett’s Dairy Road / White School Road) in Westmoreland County and is about 3.75 miles in SR length, running from the Greensburg-Mount Pleasant Road area north toward Marguerite Road/US-30 (so functionally a south–north connector). Pennsylvania Highways+1
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The road is a two-lane township/state road (typical local/collector profile). I could not find an authoritative online source that gives a specific construction/creation date of 1940 or that publishes the measured pavement width or legal right-of-way width for the entire route. If you need exact pavement width or ROW (in feet) or a firm 1940 construction record, the primary records are held by PennDOT / Westmoreland County. Pennsylvania Highways+1
What I found that supports the above
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State route listing: PAHighways’ Westmoreland county route list shows SR 2015 with names “Bennett’s Dairy Road and White School Road,” its termini and the 3.75-mile length. That gives a reliable LRS/SR identity and approximate orientation. Pennsylvania Highways
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PennDOT township map: The PennDOT Unity Township Type-5 map labels White School Rd in the Unity/Greensburg area (official PennDOT map product). That confirms placement and alignment in the township road network. PennDOT GIS
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PennDOT data exists (SLD): PennDOT publishes Straight Line Diagrams (SLDs) and county SR/segment maps (Westmoreland SLDs / SR segment PDF) that include SR 2015 — those SLD files are the right place to look for roadway attributes (lanes, posted widths, shoulder types, sometimes lane/pavement widths). I wasn’t able to find a single public PDF page online that explicitly prints the numeric pavement width for SR 2015 that I could extract here, but the SLDs are published by PennDOT for every county. PennDOT Docs+1
About your 1940 hypothesis
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I searched historic-map sources (USGS / Sanborn / county historic map indexes and OldMapsOnline) and county inventories. I found historic map collections (Sanborn/USGS, Westmoreland historic maps listings) where you can check mid-20th century maps for when “White School Rd” first appears, but I did not find an explicit online record that states “White School Road was built/created in 1940.” The available online maps I could locate (historic map indexes) show map coverage that would allow you to check 1920s–1950s maps; you’ll likely find the road on mid-century maps if it existed then. digital.libraries.psu.edu+2OldMapsOnline+2
How to get exact answers (where the numbers live)
If you want the precise, authoritative numbers (pavement width / lane widths / right-of-way width; and whether a state construction project originally built the road in 1940), these are the most direct sources:
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PennDOT — Westmoreland SLD / Roadway Inventory (Straight Line Diagram and Roadway Inventory). The SLD PDF for Westmoreland will list SR 2015 and may include lane count, functional class, and other attributes; the roadway inventory tables will include widths and shoulder info. (PennDOT District office or the SLD PDFs are public.) Pennsylvania.gov+1
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PennDOT District Office (District 12) — Records or Plans. District maintenance or project plans often have ROW and pavement widths for specific segments (and historic plan sets sometimes show original construction dates). You can contact PennDOT District 12 (the Greensburg/Westmoreland district) and request the SLD or historical project plans for SR 2015 / White School Road. Pennsylvania.gov+1
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Westmoreland County Engineering / GIS / Recorder’s Office. County right-of-way records, county road inventories, or older county road project files may note when a road was accepted as a public road and the legal ROW width. The county’s historic-maps page and the county engineer are other good contacts. Westmoreland County
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Historic topographic / Sanborn maps (USGS, Sanborn). If you want to prove presence by a particular year (e.g., “present in 1940”), the USGS topo quads and Sanborn/insurance maps are the way to show the road’s appearance on maps of a given year. Search the Greensburg quad for 1930s–1950s editions. digital.libraries.psu.edu+1
Quick offer (pick one)
I can follow up immediately (right now) with one of these concrete pulls — tell me which you prefer and I’ll fetch it and paste the result with exact citations:
A. Download and paste the PennDOT Straight Line Diagram (Westmoreland) page(s) for SR 2015 (should show SR attributes).
B. Pull historic USGS topo / Sanborn map images for the Greensburg quadrangle (1920s–1950s) and check when White School Road first appears.
C. Compose an email / phone script you can use to request ROW/pavement width or historical construction records from PennDOT District 12 or Westmoreland County (I’ll include the specific file names and references to quote).
Say A, B, or C and I’ll fetch it now. (If you want me to do A and B, say “Both” and I’ll grab the SLD first and then the historic maps.)
I’d try a couple things:
1- Contact your local DOT, they’ll likely have information to share.
2- If you have GIS maps that date close to the time when the road was built or paved, look for owners on your parcel or nearby. Search property owners under the grantor index for that timeframe at the register of deeds.
Im in NC and normally find ROW deeds when the road is paved. Good luck.
You could try this site: iROW - Right of Way Plans
LR is an older designation. If it is still a state road it will have an SR number (probably different). As mathteacher noted it looks to be SR 2015 now.
When requesting ROW information from PennDOT you will need, SR#, county, segment and offset of the section you are interested in.
You can find the segment and offset here: Videolog
Go to the District 12 website and see if there is a email for an archivist or a request for information form.
If there is none, I've had good luck just calling the office or emailing general information to find the contact.
Good luck.