St. Marys (Pennsylvania)

St. Mary's ( formerly St. Mary's City or Sainte Marie) is the only city ( City) and the largest city in Elk County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The city had the last census (2000) 14,500 inhabitants.

German and Belgian colonies

St. Marys was founded in December 1842 by Catholic settlers from Bavaria, who had left the Belgian port of Antwerp, Europe. Between 1843 and 1848, Matthias Benzinger ( 1800-1856? ) From Bavaria Forchheim another colony nearby, the suburb Benzinger Township.

As of 1849, the Belgian government acquired on the initiative Charles Rogier in Pennsylavania first 10,000 acres of land ( about 4,000 acres ) and put over 200,000 francs ready to promote there the Auswandung impoverished farmers from the overpopulated western Flanders. Lured by the promise of each family 25 acres of land (10 acres ), one funded by the Belgian Government transport from Antwerp via New York and Philadelphia to St. Marys and a better future in the United States founded the first originating mainly from Dentergem sixty Flemish settlers under Professor Victor De Ham (1805-1879) in July 1850 eight kilometers north of St. Marys away is the town Leopold castle. In the New henceforth Flanders said environment founded Abbé Jean -Louis Cartuyvels (1811-1874) with ten originating mainly from Sint -Truiden Flemish four kilometers east of St. Marys, another settlement, New Brussels, the American Association for the colonization of Sainte -Marie helped. Four kilometers south of St. Mary's, there was also the Irish settlement Kersey. Five years later, another 80,000 acres were acquired and increased the population of the settlements, to 3,000 inhabitants. The Belgian colonies, however, were now financially ruined by land speculation and further pulled their settlers.

1872 married a native of Felldorf in Württemberg Peter Straub ( 1850-1913 ) one of the Benzinger daughters and acquired the brewery founded in 1855 by Charles people, known as the Straub Brewery today.

1991 decided the residents of St. Marys and Benzinger the merger of their cities.