city, seat of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, U.S., on the French Creek, 87 miles (140 km) north of Pittsburgh. The oldest settlement in the northwestern part of the state, it was founded by David Mead and other settlers from Northumberland county in 1788. Meadville developed as the commercial centre of a fertile dairy region; natural-gas deposits are nearby. From 1923 to the mid-1980s (the plant closed in 1990) the manufacture of slide fasteners (zippers) was a major industry. Meadville now has a diversified industrial base with more than 100 manufacturers of tool-and-die products. The city is the seat of Allegheny College (1815). Conneaut Lake, the state's largest natural lake, is 10 miles (16 km) west, and the Erie National Wildlife Refuge is 10 miles east. Inc. borough, 1823; city, 1866. Pop. (1990) 14,318; (2000) 13,685.