The town was named after Alexander Young, whose first lot was recorded November 25, 1815, in the Recorder’s office of Westmoreland County. There was a dispute to the name of the town over if it should be called Martinsburg or Youngstown. The name Youngstown was settled upon after it was found that a town of Martinsburg already existed in the Commonwealth. James Keenan’s recorded plan of land on April 3, 1816, recorded the town as Youngstown Borough. As the community grew, and more people settled in the area, the citizens formed a political government. The residents petitioned the legislature in Harrisburg to form Youngstown Borough out of their lands. Governor George Wolf approved act No. 168 of 1830, on April 2, 1831. This act erected Youngstown, in the County of Westmoreland, into a Borough. Act No. 168 laid out the borough lines, and provided for elections of the burgess and other town officials, and stated the duties of the officials. As the town progressed, the residents felt themselves restricted by the Act of 1830 and petitioned Westmoreland County Court of Quarter Sessions to become subject to the Act of April 3, 1851. The Act of 1851 provided for more modern borough government than that permitted by the previous special act of legislature. The residents of the borough and their officers did not act quickly, since the petition to become subject to the Act of 1851 was not approved by Borough Council until July 25, 1905.