Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Ohiopyle, PA

Ohiopyle is a borough in Fayette County whose name comes from the Lenape phrase 'ohiopehhla,' meaning 'white, frothy water,' a reference to the foam of its waterfall.

Ohiopyle was laid out in 1868 by Andrew Stewart under the name Pile Falls, was renamed Falls City in 1880, and took its present name in 1891 to end confusion with another Falls City railroad stop.

Ohiopyle had a population of just 38 at the 2020 census, making it one of the smallest boroughs in all of Pennsylvania.

At the 2000 census Ohiopyle had 77 people in 34 households, so its year-round population has been shrinking even as tourism booms.

Ohiopyle is believed to be the only municipality in Pennsylvania that is completely surrounded by a state park — the roughly 20,500-acre Ohiopyle State Park.

Ohiopyle State Park, formally dedicated on May 28, 1971, draws well over a million visitors a year to a borough of fewer than 40 residents.

Ohiopyle Falls, a roughly 20-foot drop on the Youghiogheny River, sits right in the middle of town, and the river flows through the borough itself.

In May 1754, a young Colonel George Washington tried to float his expedition down the Youghiogheny toward Fort Duquesne but abandoned the river route when he reached the falls at Ohiopyle.

The B&O Railroad arrived in Ohiopyle in 1871 and turned the village into a fashionable summer resort, with thousands of visitors arriving by train from Pittsburgh and Cumberland.

Commercial whitewater rafting on the Youghiogheny began at Ohiopyle in 1963, and rafting, hiking and biking now drive the borough's economy.