Chartier's Old Town

Chartier's Old Town is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Tarentum, Allegheny County, dedicated 2015.

at marina off E 1st Ave. at bridge, Tarentum

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

An early Shawnee Indian village located at the site of present Tarentum. It was named for Pierre (Peter) Chartier, who had a trading post here from 1734 to 1743. He was the son of Martin Chartier, a French explorer. Several heavily traveled Indian paths intersected nearby. In 1829, Henry Brackenridge laid out lots for a town along the Pennsylvania Canal and named it Tarentum for an ancient Greek city in present-day Italy.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Princeton University Library

Historical maps covering this location

1733 · A map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish settlements adjacent… (Princeton University Library)
1782 · Carte de la Pensylvanie et du Nouveau Jersey (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1792 · A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1872 · Allegheny, Washington, Greene counties. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1908 · New Kensington, Pennsylvania (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania, 1792, covering the location of Chartier's Old Town, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania, 1792, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

Chartier's Old Town

Historical maps covering this location

More markers nearby