Another firm that located in South Connellsville was the Wilder Metal Coating Company. It coated steel sheets with zinc for roofing, down spouts, heating ducts and other products made from light metal. The plant burned down in 1915 and the unoccupied plant of the Pittsburgh Safe Company was acquired. The business continued for a time until the factory moved to Niles, Ohio.
The Yough Light, Heat and Power Company was another firm that established a plant in South Connellsville in 1899 and located a plant on the east bank of the river. It was organized primarily to furnish power to the Connellsville Suburban Street Railway, in operation between Connellsville and South Connellsville. The plant was sold in 1902 to West Penn Power Company who built a dam on the river at Greene Junction and a larger, more modern complex on the west bank of the Youghiogheny River that increased services to include industries, coal mines and homes. A car barn located at the end of Pittsburgh Street burned in 1902.
The Connellsville Water Company was to extend service to South Connellsville area shortly before 1900, although some families had water piped into their homes as early as 1885 by the “gravity flow” method from the Reidmore Dam. The Connellsville Water Company acquired property in 1891 in the borough of South Connellsville and constructed a pumping station on the east bank of the Youghiogheny River at Gibson Avenue. The pumping station was abandoned and another one built on the east bank of the Youghiogheny River at its junction with Laurel Run in Connellsville Township in 1898. The filter building was erected in 1906 and the chemical building in 1926. The station served South Connellsville, the city of Connellsville and Connellsville Township. The pump house and filtering plant were dismantled in 1975 and South Connellsville now receives water from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County also has a five million gallon water tank located on Wine Street in the borough. The gas lines were laid in the borough before the water lines and the treatment plant and sewer lines were completed in 1951.
SWPA History 