Port Allegany is a borough in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,135 at the 2020 census. It is unusual among places in Pennsylvania that make reference to the Allegheny River; it used the spelling Allegany, more commonly encountered in place names in neighboring New York.
The town developed as a port on the Allegheny River, and provided a place where travelers coming overland from the Susquehanna River could continue by boat.
Economy
In the 1800s natural gas was discovered in the area, which led to the expansion of industries including glass firms, chemical plants, cheese factories, machine shops, brick plants, sawmills, planing mills and tanneries. The area also produces crude oil, and it is not unusual to see small gas or oil wells and storage tanks in fields, forests or back yards in the region. The introduction of hydraulic fracturing produced an increase in local production of gas and oil, and a boost to the local economy, in the 2000s and 2010s.
Port Allegany has long been associated with glass manufacturing. Saint-Gobain, a glass container producer, is located there, in a facility that has been owned at different stages by Pierce Glass and Ball-Incon. A concrete tower that is part of the manufacturing plant is the tallest structure in Port Allegany and is visible from most of the small downtown area. From 1937 to 2016, Port Allegany was also home to a factory of the Pittsburgh Corning Corporation. The "PC", as the factory was known locally, was the only producer of architectural glass building blocks in the United States, and also produced Foamglas insulation.
In the middle of the 20th century, the town was home to a factory that manufactured Kewpie dolls.
Geography
Port Allegany is located in eastern McKean County on the east side of the Allegheny River. U.S. Route 6 passes through the borough, leading west to Smethport, the county seat, and east to Coudersport. Pennsylvania Route 155 joins US 6 through the center of town but leads northwest down the Allegheny River valley to Eldred and south to Emporium, passing over the Eastern Continental Divide at Keating Summit along the way.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough of Port Allegany has a total area of , of which , or 0.39%, are water.
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Demographics
As of the census