Latrobe, Pennsylvania

Latrobe (/ləˈtroʊb/ lə-TROHB) is a borough with home-rule status in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,060 at the 2020 census. It is located near Chestnut Ridge within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Latrobe was the home of the Latrobe Brewing Company, the original brewer of Rolling Rock beer. Latrobe was the birthplace and childhood home of children's television personality Fred Rogers and former professional golfer Arnold Palmer. The banana split was invented there by David Strickler in 1904. Latrobe is also home to the training camp of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Latrobe was long recognized as the site of the first professional American football game in 1895 until research found an 1892 game with paid players.

In 1852, Pennsylvania Railroad civil engineer Oliver Barnes laid out the plans for the community that was incorporated in 1854 as the borough of Latrobe. Barnes named the town for his best friend and college classmate, Benjamin Henry Latrobe II, who was chief engineer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Its location along the route of the Pennsylvania Railroad helped Latrobe develop into a significant industrial hub. Latrobe was also served by the Ligonier Valley Railroad from 1877 to 1952.

From 1895 until 1909, Latrobe was the home of the Latrobe Athletic Association, one of the earliest professional football teams. The team's quarterback, John Brallier, became the first football player to admit playing for money. In 1895, he accepted $10 and expenses to play for Latrobe in a 12–0 victory over the Jeannette Athletic Club. Brallier was thought to be the first professional football player until the 1960s. Then, documents surfaced showing that Pudge Heffelfinger, a former three-time All-American from Yale, was employed to play guard for the Allegheny Athletic Association three years earlier. In 1897, Latrobe was the first football team to play a full season with a team composed entirely of professional players. In 1898, Latrobe and two players from their rivals, the Greensburg Athletic Association, formed the first professional football all-star team for a game against the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, to be played at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park. Duquesne went on to win the game 16–0. On November 18, 1905, Latrobe defeated the Canton Bulldogs, which later became a founding member, and two-time champion, of the National Football League, 6–0. Aside from Brallier, the Latrobe Athletic Association included several of the era's top players, such as Ed Abbaticchio, Charles Barney, Alf Bull, Jack Gass, Walter Okeson, Harry Ryan, Doggie Trenchard, and Eddie Wood, and manager Dave Berry.

The banana split was invented in 1904 in Latrobe by David Evans Strickler at the pharmacy that later became named Strickler's Drug Store. In 2004, the National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) certified Latrobe as the birthplace of the banana split. The town holds an annual festival in honor of the dessert.

Historically, two interurban lines served Latrobe. The Westmoreland County Railway Company connected Latrobe to Derry and operated from 1904 to 1932. The Latrobe Street Railway Company connected Latrobe to Kingston and began operations in 1900. This line was purchased by West Penn Railways, which eventually linked it with its network running through Youngstown, Pleasant Unity, and eventually to Greensburg and Uniontown. Service ceased in 1952.

Coal mining was once an important industry in Westmoreland County. While mining activity has largely ceased, most of the city of Latrobe lies in a zone where abandoned underground mines are prevalent, according to a March 1, 2022, article in The Latrobe Bulletin. In 2017, a home in the city's Cramer Heights neighborhood started to collapse after its foundation shifted. The house was condemned and eventually had to be torn down. After this incident, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection urged Latrobe residents to research whether their properties are undermined and consider applying for mine subsidence insurance.

Latrobe has two sites on the National Register of Historic Places. Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Latrobe was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1903. Citizens National Bank of Latrobe is a 1926 structure designed by the Greensburg firm Batholomew and Smith.