Did you know that Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful got its name from a 1906 book by Fred High called "Waynesburg, Prosperous & Beautiful: a Souvenir Pictorial Story of the Biggest and Best Little City in Pennsylvania"? Read it online at: http://archive.org/details/waynesburgprospe00high

Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful is a Main Street program that operates in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Downtown Center. Funded by the Department of Community and Economic Development, we are currently in year four of a five year funding cycle that subsidizes administrative and operational expenses for Main Street communities. Main Street programs emphasize critical time-sensitive stabilization and revitalization of historic downtowns business districts.

Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful borrowed its name from a 1906 pictorial review that was assembled by Mr. Fred High, a Waynesburg resident who believed our community was special and worthy of creating a book that captured its youthful essence. A century later, we can revisit what was, reflect upon what is, and purposefully direct what is yet to be.

In 1906, Fred High wrote the introduction of his book, “I wish to return my heartiest thanks to all who have in any way helped or aided in making this representative collection what it is. May you appreciate my work as much as I appreciate your kindness, and may this mutual effort go forth to convey a faint idea of our beautiful city, our friendly people, our homes, our businesses and some of the golden industrial opportunities that simply await your pleasure.

One hundred years have passed, and now I am in the extraordinarily gratifying position of Executive Director of the Main Street program in Waynesburg, PA.

I didn’t have the opportunity to witness Waynesburg in its youth, but I have been afforded the challenge of restoring it to the great stature it once possessed.

Thanks to those like Fred High and other citizens who had the foresight to preserve the waning vestiges of our culture; we are afforded this opportunity to recapture our history, and contemplate its affect on the present, as we purposefully direct the future of this wonderful town we call home.