Ligonier, Pennsylvania

Ligonier is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,573 at the 2010 census. Ligonier was settled in the 1760s. The borough is well known for nearby Idlewild Park, one of the oldest amusement parks in the country, and nearby Seven Springs Mountain Resort. Another tourist attraction is Fort Ligonier Days, a parade and craft market that takes place every fall over the course of three days, and the Ligonier Market in the summer months. Ligonier is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Ligonier is the site of a reconstruction of Fort Ligonier, an example of a frontier fort of the French and Indian War. Ligonier is also known for its downtown square, the Diamond, which has a bandstand in the middle.

History

In 1758, when British forces launched a major campaign to remove French forces from the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsburgh, this spot on Loyalhanna Creek was the site of their westernmost camp before reaching the Ohio. It was an enormous army, a virtual moving city of 6,000 people, that temporarily made this the most populated spot in Pennsylvania second only to Philadelphia. The fort was named Fort Ligonier after John Ligonier, a British noble of French origin who held the rank of Field Marshal in the British Army. Eventually, the name of the settlement that grew up around the fort was shortened to Ligonier.