Allegheny County, the 20th county formed of the state's 67, celebrates its 215th birthday Wednesday.
Created Sept. 24, 1788, by the state Legislature, it resulted from disappointment over the selection of Greensburg as the county seat of Westmoreland County in 1785, and the distance from Pittsburgh to that government headquarters.
The first officer for Allegheny County was prothonotary James Bryson, elected the day after. Another early action was the division into seven townships: Elizabeth, Mifflin, Moon, Plum, Pitt, St. Clair and Versailles.
Original action had been taken on township formation when Bedford County was formed in 1771, particularly Pitt Township, which embraced most of later Allegheny County. Further action was taken in 1773, when Westmoreland was created from Bedford.
The act that formed Allegheny County made Pittsburgh the temporary county seat until suitable buildings could be constructed in the public square of the town of Allegheny, across the Allegheny River from the city.
Actually, the commonwealth had started planning that county seat by appointing trustees for the buildings' construction in 1787.
However, the lack of development in Allegheny and the strong protest of Pittsburghers caused the change back across the river. One item that contributed to this change was a report by D. Reddick to the Commonwealth Supreme Executive Committee, which read, in part:
"I went with several gentlemen to fix on a spot for laying out the town opposite Pittsburgh, and at the same time took a general view of the tract, and find it far inferior to my expectations, although I thought I had been no stranger to it. There is some pretty low ground on the rivers Ohio and Allegheny, but there is but a small portion of dry land which appears in any way suitable for timber or soil, but especially for soil; it abounds in high hills and deep hollows, almost inaccessible to a surveyor."
The counties older then Allegheny are Bucks, Chester and Philadelphia (1682); Lancaster (1729); York (1749); Cumberland (1750); Berks and Northampton (1752); Bedford (1771); Northumberland (1772); Westmoreland (1773); Washington (1781); Fayette (1783); Franklin and Montgomery (1784); Dauphin (1785); Luzerne (1786); and Huntingdon and Lackawanna (1787).
This date in history
Vice President George Dallas could be found at the Exchange Hotel in Blairsville on Sept. 21, 1847, a rare occasion for the town.
In 1858, a devastating fire burned out much of Greensburg's downtown.
The Washington & Waynesburg Railroad began operating partway to Waynesburg in 1877.
Brackenridge in Allegheny County was incorporated as a borough in 1901. In 1919, a strike was called in the Pittsburgh area in the campaign at that time to unionize steel workers.
Pittsburgh-Greensburg Airport, in what is known as West Point in suburban Greensburg today, was dedicated in 1929 with a huge crowd of 25,000 on hand.
A greatly improved Lincoln Highway stretch between Laurel Mountain and Jennerstown was dedicated at a major Somerset County ceremony in 1934.
On this date in 1949, plans for construction of Gateway Center in Pittsburgh were announced. Five years later, on this same date in 1954, the then Peoples First National Bank & Trust Co. revealed its plans for a headquarters building at Gateway Center.
Greensburg became "state capital" for a day with government officials on hand in 1989.
Worth noting is that the first local National Football League game was played 70 years ago yesterday (Sept. 20) before 25,000 at Forbes Field. The Pirates (before being renamed Steelers) lost to the New York Giants, 23-2.
Kiskiminetas Springs School
Two men purchased a resort in 1888, and founded Kiskiminetas Springs School (Kiski Prep) across the Kiskiminetas River from Saltsburg.
The site was known earlier as Stewart's Grove, and National Guard encampments were held there in the 1850s and 1860s. By the late 1870s, it was known as Mineral Springs Grove, with a hotel and health spa for an elite clientele.
The springs, along an old Indian trail, have been dry for many years.
Like several other preparatory schools in the early to mid-1900s, the school was prominent athletically. Often, athletes were sent there by colleges and universities for additional schooling or athletic maturity.
The frame Old Main building burned in 1955 and was rebuilt.
Not serious religion
Not all church lore is religiously serious!
When he climbed a fence, the apparition stretched higher and higher and blew him off the fence. It is recorded that he hit the ground running and never stopped until he reached the church.
His story broke up the evening service.
"Others brought augers and bored holes in the floor, which serviced not only the purpose of draining, but also as a diversion during the tedious service to those who would stage a contest to see who could hit the hole the most times in succession."
'Moving to the country'
Until about 1840, anyone in Pittsburgh who went beyond Wood Street was "moving to the country." The city's business activities were confined to the triangle bounded by the rivers and Wood Street, with Market Street the city hub.
One storekeeper in the 1840s is said to have quarreled with his Wood Street landlord, and moved his business around the corner of Fifth Avenue, despite dire prophecies of his friends.
He prospered, and others followed as Fifth became a popular trading area and grew up to Grant's Hill in the next few years with plenty of good building land available.
That hill, incidentally, was cut down through the years by layer, as much as 60 feet in total. The first cut on the hump there was apparently made before 1837, and additional cuts were made in 1844 and 1847. The final one came in 1911.
Crude petroleum cure-all
Crude petroleum, which first came up locally with salt well operation, is said to have been first refined in America by Samuel M. Kier from southern Indiana County.
His first efforts were not for the oil he later refined, but for the sale of the petroleum he bottled as a medical "miracle cure-all."
Kier (1813-1874) then began a small refinery in Pittsburgh to produce carbon oil for lighting, among his many business interests. His failure to patent the apparatus he designed for that refinement might have deprived him of a major fortune.
Early women's beauty
There are few references in history to the attractiveness of pioneer women. However, the pulchritude of Sarah Crawford, daughter of Connellsville pioneer Col. William Crawford, was apparently noteworthy.
She was said to be "the most beautiful girl west of the Alleghenies" about the time of the Revolution. Miss Crawford married William Harrison, son of a neighboring family that had settled there in 1768.
Her father, however, remained unfailingly loyal to the state of Virginia, even when he served as president judge of newly formed Westmoreland County. He lost that office as a result.
Gov. Tener's accomplishments
When Pennsylvania Gov. John K. Tener signed a measure he had fought for long and hard, a state Historic Highways act, an aide exclaimed, "Governor, that is the landmark of your career."
Tener, from Charleroi, a former Major League Baseball pitcher, served as the state's chief executive from 1911 to 1915. His reply: "Don't forget, I once shut out the New York Giants!"
The Giants in those days were a powerful team under John McGraw, well before they moved from New York to San Francisco.
Mini-Vignettes
Sports history
Some random items, mostly on football, from the past:
