Green Tree's roots run deep...and long
Whether the stunt was resourceful or devious depends on whether one lived in Banksville or what is now Green Tree.
In the mid-1880s, both areas belonged to the former Union Township. According to historical accounts, people in Green Tree, many of them farmers, wanted to create an independent borough -- a plan opposed by laborers and miners in Banksville.
On the morning of a related hearing in Allegheny County Court, some Green Tree men piled railroad ties onto a rail line between Banksville and the West End. Because of this tactic, Banksville objectors didn't get to court until after Green Tree's petition to form a new borough was approved.
"The rest is history," said Marilyn Albitz, president of the Historical Society of Green Tree.
Green Tree -- now a suburb of about 4,300 people 5 miles southwest of Downtown -- celebrates its 125th anniversary this year with a series of events that begin next month and continue throughout the summer.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a Republican who ran for president in 1988 and 2008, said he has fond memories of growing up in Green Tree, including cleaning milk bottles at his father's Greentree Dairy, working as a soda jerk at Doc Moore's Drug Store, and playing ball with friends at Wilson Park.
"I was lucky to have grown up in such a wonderful community," Paul, 74, said. "Send my best regards to all my Green Tree neighbors."
As it was
Modern-day Greentree Road roughly follows the path of a Native Indian trail. In the mid-1750s, a young major in the Virginia militia -- George Washington -- used the trail while searching for a more direct route between Fort Pitt and Fort Henry in Wheeling, W.Va.
Irish immigrants James Kearns and William Chess were Green Tree's first white settlers, in 1774. At that time, Pennsylvania and Virginia were locked in a dispute over to whom the land belonged. It wouldn't be resolved until 1780.
For the next century, the land on which Green Tree sits went by many different names: Peters Township of Washington County (1781-1788); St. Clair Township of Allegheny County (1788-1805); Lower St. Clair (1805-1851); Chartiers (1851-1860); Kirkpatrick (1860-1861); and Union (1861-1885).
Green Tree derived its name from a sycamore that stood along present-day Greentree Road, near Western Avenue, said Albitz. Historical accounts say the tree had served as a mail stop since Colonial times and also was a stagecoach stop and popular meeting place.
Just after its incorporation, Green Tree was home to about 600 people. The Pennsylvania State Gazette said residents included several grocers, including one who moonlighted as postmaster; two blacksmiths; two music teachers; a justice of the peace; a carpenter; and a wagon maker. The population grew quickly with the arrival of rail and bus stops early in the next century.
As it is now
Much has sprouted up in Green Tree since utility workers unceremoniously cut down the historic sycamore for which the suburb was named in 1945 -- just weeks after World War II ended.
The biggest development was the arrival of the Parkway West, which included construction of a Green Tree ramp, completed in 1952. The opening of the Fort Pitt Tunnels in 1959 placed borough residents less than 10 minutes from Downtown by car.
"When they put that in, boom! Development took off," Albitz said.
She said the highway spurred development of the Foster Plaza and Parkway Center business parks, which today are the eighth and 11th largest in the Pittsburgh region with office space totaling 1.07 million square feet and 973,000 square feet, respectively. A bustling commercial corridor runs the length of Greentree Road.
Another structure replaced the historic sycamore as Green Tree's landmark -- a 180-foot-tall water tower. Erected in 1952 for $283,200, the tower holds 2.5 million gallons of water and is coated with more than 800 gallons of paint.
"It's (the borough) just an ideal location for people who want to get around Western Pennsylvania as far as I'm concerned," said Green Tree Mayor C.F. "Chuck" Hammer, 74.
Hammer, who grew up in Shadyside, said he felt a special connection to the place when his family visited friends in the borough while he was a teenager.
"Coming from the city, I just fell in love with the place. The houses were well-kept, the lawns were manicured and all the people you met were very friendly. The borough is a lot different today, with all the development, but the things I fell in love with then are still true today," Hammer said.
Incorporated : July 14, 1885
Land area: 2.1 square miles
Population (2009): 4,363, down 7.5 percent from 2000
Median age: 47.8
Median household income: $61,330
Median home value: $137,200
Businesses : 542
Miles of road: 29.5
Tallest building: 7 Parkway Center, 10 stories
Sources: Sperling's Best Places, Census Bureau, Green Tree
April 16: Kickoff event with balloon release, 2 p.m., Aiken Elementary and St. Margaret of Scotland schools
May 14: Presentation and exhibit by the Historical Society of Green Tree, 7:30 p.m., Green Tree Fire Hall
June 18: Pitt Alumni Band concert, 7:30 p.m., Green Tree Park
July 17: Dinner gala, 6 p.m., Radisson Hotel Green Tree
July 23: Community Band South concert, 7:30 p.m., Green Tree Park
Aug. 15: Green Tree family picnic, Green Tree Park. Time has not been set.
Sept. 18: Community Day events, with exhibits and a wine-and-cheese party, Green Tree Fire Hall. Time has not been set.
