C'MON Tyrone, you're on your own has long been the chant of GAA fans the county over, but the same can't be said of Strabane, as the 12,000 strong population of Strabane, USA can testify to.
Located in Northern Washington County, around 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, North Strabane Township was established on March 28 1781. The 12th of 13 original townships in Washington County, the township was named after our very own Strabane to honour those from these parts who origanally settled there, as was nearby the Donegal Township.
The history of the 27 square mile North Strabane Township is somewhat complicated and reaches back to colonial times.
Originally Strabane Township encompassed part of Canton and Somerset Townships and the towns of Washington and East Washington. However border changes over the 50 years saw Washington town taken away by petition and on October 7 1831, North and South Strabane Townships became completely seperate, independent entities, split by natural borders such as creek beds.
It is widely recorded that the first settlement in the Township was established by a gentleman by the name of John Fromam, who set up a mill, which still exists today in Linden. Fromam set up the town of Louisburgh, which, for reasons unknown, no longer exists.
Other names known to have made Strabane their home in its infancy include the Wilson, Pollock, Crawford, Speer, Gamble and White families. Many of the roads in existance today in the area were named after settlers and these include Patterson Road, McBride Road, Christy Road and Johnson Road.
While predominantly a farming town in the early days, towards the close of the 19th century, Strabane became a mining town and home to five important coal mines. Another early industry was the North Strabane Water Company.
By the turn of the century, the first rail road in and out of the area had been established, opening it up to the rest of America.
From there, things began to develop quickly in Washington area, and in the early 1900's a township council or 'Supervisors' as they are known, was formed.
In 1956, the township police forced was established. Prior to this time, police services had been handled primarily by constables with assists from state police, county sheriffs and from local municipalities. Louis Turko was the first Chief of Police and he received the princely sum of $50 a month for his troubles.
Since the '50's, little has changed in the North Strabane Township, apart from the obvious developments in the road infrastructure and investment.
Today, the Township is still governed by a Board of Supervisors, charged with similar duties undertaken by our own Strabane District Council. Meanwhile the day to day management of the Township is overseen by the Township Administration. Strabane is also provided with and subjected to all the usual services and legislation, including fire station, public works, planning enforcement, a library and recreation facilities. One major positive of living in our American namesake is low taxes. In fact taxes haven't increased in over ten years.
With regards to religion, Strabane appears fairly mixed. It is home to several different churches, including the First Christian Church, Hill Church (a branch of the United Presbterian Church), Joy Chapel, St Johns Russian Orthodox Church, View Crest Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Church of the Nazarene.
Education-wise, North Strabane Township is part of the Canon-McMillan School District, which caters to several Washington townships and has an overall enrolment in excess of 4,000 pupils.
Meanwhile, the climate doesn't appear to be much warmer than our own, with temperatures at this time of year averaging around 28 degrees. It does appear much drier however.
The obvious question now has to be would it not have made sense to twin Strabane, Co Tyrone with the North Strabane Township instead of Zeulenronda in Germany and Sioux Falls, USA? Just a thought.
