User:Sega381/Squirrel Hill Staging Area

Coordinates: 40°26′59″N 79°55′41″W / 40.449669°N 79.928119°W / 40.449669; -79.928119
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"Squirrel Hill" redirects here. For the archaeological site east of Pittsburgh, see Squirrel Hill Site.
Squirrel Hill North
Neighborhood of Pittsburgh
Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill (2005)
Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill (2005)
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyAllegheny County
CityPittsburgh
Area
[1]
 • Total1.222 sq mi (3.16 km2)
Population
 (2010)[2]
 • Total11,363
 • Density9,300/sq mi (3,600/km2)
Squirrel Hill South
Neighborhood of Pittsburgh
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyAllegheny County
CityPittsburgh
Area
[1]
 • Total2.671 sq mi (6.92 km2)
Population
 (2010)[2]
 • Total15,110
 • Density5,700/sq mi (2,200/km2)
Murray Hill Avenue Historic District
Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill (1937)
Sega381/Squirrel Hill Staging Area is located in Pittsburgh
Sega381/Squirrel Hill Staging Area
Location1010-1201 Murray Hill Avenue (Squirrel Hill), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates40°26′59″N 79°55′41″W / 40.449669°N 79.928119°W / 40.449669; -79.928119
CPHD designatedApril 3, 2000[3]
PHLF designated2004[4]

Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the east end of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated as a single neighborhood.

Geography[edit]

Squirrel Hill is located at 40°26′17″N 79°55′23″W / 40.438072°N 79.922972°W / 40.438072; -79.922972. Squirrel Hill has zip codes 15217 and 15232, and is bordered on the west by Oakland and Schenley Park,[5] on the north by Shadyside and Point Breeze, on the east by Frick Park, and on the south by Greenfield and the Monongahela River. Most of Squirrel Hill lies in Pittsburgh's 14th Ward.[6]

Demographics[edit]

As of the 2010 Census [7], Squirrel Hill North has a population of 11363, having grown 9% since 2000. Squirrel Hill North's population is 75% White, 17% Asian, 4% Hispanic, and 3% black. Of the 3892 housing units in Squirrel Hill North, 93% of those are occupied.

Squirrel Hill South has a population of 15110, up 4% since 2000, of whom 82% are White, 11% are Asian, 3% are Hispanic, and 3% are Black. There are 7514 housing units which have a 95% occupancy rate.

In 2010 about 40% of Squirrel Hill's residents were Jewish.[8] According to a 2002 study by the United Jewish Federation, 33% of the Jewish population of greater Pittsburgh lives in Squirrel Hill and another 14% lives in the surrounding neighborhoods.[9] The report states that "The stability of Squirrel Hill, a geographic hub of the Jewish community located within the city limits, is unique in North America."

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

The name "Squirrell Hill" may have been given to the area by the Native Americans that lived in its vincinity.[10]

The growth and development of Squirrel Hill was initially focused on the riverfront along the Monongahela River. The first recorded house was built by a soldier at nearby Fort Pitt, Colonel James Burd, at a place called Summerset on the Monongahela River in 1760. Squirrel Hill's next house was built by Ambrose Newton in the 1760s. This house is still standing and is located in Schenley Park along Overlook Drive (near the ice skating rink). Its first "business district" was the intersection of Brown's Hill Road and Beechwood Boulevard.

In 1778, John Turner built his estate of Federal Hill nearby (along what is now Beechwood Boulevard). He later established the Turner cemetery in 1838 inside his state, which he donated it to the local community when he died in 1840.[10] This cemetery holds the remains of many of the original settlers of Squirrel Hill. The Mary S. Brown Memorial Methodist church was also built on adjoining lands donated by Turner. The church was rebuilt several times, and the latest building, which dates from 1908, is the oldest standing church in Squirrel Hill[11]

The third house in Squirrel Hill was built by Robert Neill around 1787 in what is now Schenley Park. This house still exists and is occasionally open to the public. The Neills owned 262 acres (1.06 km2) of land in the northern section of Schenley Park. In 1795, the Neills moved from this house to a location in what is now Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh. After they died, the house was handed down to two different people before it was sold to General James O'Hara. O'Hara's granddaughter, Mary Schenley, gave the property to the city of Pittsburgh in 1889. For a time, in the house was rented out by the city to vacationers. However, by 1969, the house was in such poor condition that it was dismantled and rebuilt by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. It still exists and is only open for tours during the Vintage Grand Prix in July.

Around 1820, William "Killymoon" Steward built one of the first tavern/inns in the area. His tavern, located near the intersection of Beechwood and Brown's Hill Road, survived for over 100 years. Slowly, Squirrel Hill became a prosperous and affluent suburb. By the 1860s, the area along Fifth Avenue near Woodland Road had several mansions, including Willow Cottage. The cottage was built by the industrialist and civic leader Thomas M. Howe, a bank president and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855. Though neglected for many years and almost torn down, Willow Cottage has recently undergone a $2.2 million restoration and renovation into a Chatham University gatehouse and guesthouse.

Civil War[edit]

Squirrel Hill and not Fort Sumter is considered the location of the first skirmish in the Civil War by some sources. On December 24, 1860, protests broke out in the streets of Squirrel Hill after news that the U.S. Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, ordered 124 cannons to be shipped from Allegheny Arsenal to two forts under construction in Louisiana and Texas.[12] Pittsburghers rightfully predicted that these weapons would be used against them if the South seceded, which occurred at Fort Sumter.[13]

During the Civil War, Squirrel Hill was the site of a small redoubt, Fort Squirrel Hill on Bigelow Street between Parade and Shields Streets, also known as Fort Chess or Fort Black.

Incorporation into Pittsburgh[edit]

Prior to 1868, the Squirrel Hill area was a part of Peebles Township. This changed in 1868 when the city of Pittsburgh annexed the land.

Following the Civil War several of Pittsburgh's richest families built multiple houses in the Woodland Road area between Fifth and Wilkins Avenues. In 1869, a woman's college, the predecessor to Chatham University, was established nearby. Today, Chatham University owns several of these large houses.

In 1869, the clubhouse of the Pittsburgh Golf Club was built at the new Schenley Park Golf Course. In 1876, the Homewood Cemetery was established in 176 acres of land in Squirrel Hill.[10]

Over the course of the 19th century, the focus of Squirrel Hill shifted from its riverfront at the Monongahela River to the area closest to Oakland and Shadyside. Ebdy's orchard was located near Shady Avenue and Murdoch's farm, known for it's flowers, fruit trees, and vegetable trees was located on the hill above Oakland. By the late 1800s, the building of trolley lines caused a migration of wealthy executives outwards toward country estates and workers inward toward trolley lines. Farms were sold and divided for new housing developments.[14]

The growth of Squirrel Hill accelerated when an electric trolley was installed in 1893.[10] The trolley line ran via Forbes Avenue and Murray Avenue to its final destination in Homestead. The trolley line facilitated the building of hundreds of houses for the middle management of local factories, especially on Shady and Denniston Avenues near Aylesboro. Despite its trolley line, Murray Avenue remained a dirt road until 1920. Murray Avenue carried three Pittsburgh Railways trolley lines (#69 Squirrel Hill, #60 East Liberty-Homestead and #68 Homestead-Duquesne-Kennywood-McKeesport) until 1958 when the trolleys were replaced by buses. Routes 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 64, 67, and 69 pass through the area today.

Squirrel Hill grew even more with the opening of the Boulevard of the Allies in 1927, providing a direct link to downtown Pittsburgh. By the 1930s, most of the available land in Squirrel Hill had been filled.

In 1953, the the Parkway and Squirrel Hill Tunnel was opened. It gave the area easier and quicker access from surrounding neighborhoods.[10]

Cultural life[edit]

Squirrel Hill's business area along Forbes and Murray avenues is known as "up street" (a contraction of "up the street") to several generations of children who have grown up the area over the past 40 years.

There is a branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill, in the corner of Forbes and Murray. Across the street are located the main offices of Vivisimo, a discovery and navigation software company now part of IBM.

The Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition (SHUC) is an organization whose purpose is to preserve and maintain Pittsburgh's 14th Ward.[15] Though it was originally created as a task force of the United Jewish Federation, it eventually outgrew its Jewish origins and was eventually incorporated in 1972. The SHUC prints a free quaterly publication, the Squirrel Hill Magazine.

Squirrel Hill is also home to the Church of the Redeemer, an inclusive and progressive Episcopal church.[16]

Personalities[edit]

Author Willa Cather briefly made Squirrel Hill her home from 1901 to 1906. Residing on Murray Hill Avenue, Cather was the telegraph (wire desk) editor and drama critic for the newspaper, Pittsburgh Leader. She taught at Central High School in nearby Uptown and later became the head of the English Department at Allegheny High School. Cather used Pittsburgh as the setting for several short stories that she wrote during her time there.

The largest gristmill in the area was owned by John Swisshelm, whose daughter-in-law, Jane Swisshelm, was a famous writer and abolitionist. The Swisshelm School was named after her.

Dancer Gene Kelly taught at his mother's dancing school on Munhall Road for several years during the 1930s, prior to his career on Broadway and in Hollywood.

The neighborhood was the home of children's television host Fred Rogers.[17] It was also the home of Nobel Prize winner Herbert A. Simon, an American political scientist, economist, sociologist, and psychologist, and professor at Carnegie Mellon University.[18]

In 2010, the Coalition selected Citizens of the Year including Meg Cheever, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and David May-Stein, principal of Colfax School as Citizens of the Year for their outstanding service. [19]

In 2011, the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition honored members of the community during the first annual Squirrel Hill Treasure Award event, including Sophie Masloff, Deborah Acklin, and Robert Levin. [20]

Events[edit]

Squirrel Hill has many annual events. Among these are the following:

  • Tree Care Day
  • Squirrel Hill Historical Society Events
    • These are typically walking tours, community service events, and speakers.
  • Jewish Community Center Events
    • The Jewish Community Center holds health & fitness events, children's events, adult events, and senior events.
  • Frick Art & Historical Center Events
    • Frick Art events range from exhibitions to speaker series to concerts and to children's events.
  • Annual Steet City Big Pour
    • The Big Pour is three hours of craft beer tasting and sampling the best in local restaurants, while enjoying live art & music.
  • Annual Turner Cemetery History Walk
  • Squirrel Hill Litter Patrol Annual Spring Cleanup
    • Takes place once a year. Volunteers get together and cleanup Squirrel Hill
  • Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition
    • Harvest Festival
    • Treasures Dinner
    • Squirrel Hill Citizens of the Year
  • National Night Out in Squirrel Hill
    • Squirrel Hill houses host a block party
  • CitiParks Earth Day Celebration
  • La Escuelita Arcoiris Day of the Dead
    • Dia de los muertos celebration by La Escuelita Arcoiris
  • Squirrel Hill Beechwood Block Party

Social services[edit]

The Children's Institute of Pittsburgh, founded in the early 1990s as the Home for Crippled Children, was originally a place for treatment of children with polio. Since the 1960s, it started broadening its scope to help children with different types of disabilities.[21]

The Jewish Community Center was founded as the Irene Kaufmann Settlement in 1949.[21] Its services include a gym and indoor pools, early childhood programs, and different recreational and education activities for the whole community.

The Jewish Family and Children's Service provides different types of social services to the community. They include adoption services, career development help, immigration and refugee services, care for the elderly and physchological services.[21]

Points of interest[edit]

Shops[edit]

  • Saturday Market: From noon to 5pm, the market located on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Murray Avenue features baked goods and local produce.
  • Capriccio: High-end women’s fashions from many places, among them being Portugal, Italy and Israel.
  • Little’s Shoes: Shoes from the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil and Mexico, China and Vietnam, Israel, and Australia.
  • Margaret’s Fine Imports: teas, coffees and chocolates from at least 40 different countries including Ethiopia and Columbia, Poland, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, plus India, China, Japan and Tanzania.

Restaurants[edit]

  • Gullifty's
  • Bangkok Balcony
  • Sun Penang
  • 61C Cafe

Parks[edit]

Squirrel Hill contains several nature-related points of interest. They include the Chatham University Arboretum, originally belonging to Andrew Carnegie; Schenley Park and Frick Park.

In 1889, Schenley Park was established on land donated from Mary Croghan Schenly, whose grandfather had been the owner of considerable amounts of land in the area. The original size of the park was 120 acres (0.49 km2), though it eventually expanded to 456 acres (1.85 km2) over the years.[10]

When Henry Clay Frick died in 1919, he bequeathed 150 acres (0.61 km2) of undeveloped land to the City of Pittsburgh for use as a public park. He provided a $2 million trust fund to assist with the maintenance of the park. Frick Park on the eastern border of the Squirrel Hill neighborhood opened in 1927. Between 1919 and 1942, money from the trust fund was used to enlarge the park, increasing its size to almost 600 acres (2.4 km2). In February 2004, Frick Park grew with the addition of the Nine Mile Run stream restoration area which flows to the Monongahela River. The United States Army Corps of Engineers managed the restoration funded with $5 million in federal money and $2.7 million raised by the city.[22] The restoration was completed in 2006.

Jewish community[edit]

Squirrel Hill has had a large Jewish population since the 1920s, when Eastern European Jews began to move to the neighborhood in large numbers from Oakland and the Hill District. Many of them took up residence in rows of brick houses on the cross streets of Murray Avenue south of Forbes, such as Darlington Road, Bartlett Street, and Beacon Street. The neighborhood became the center of Jewish culture in the city, with kosher butcher shops, delicatessens, Jewish restaurants, bookstores, and designer boutiques. Several hundred Russian Jewish immigrants moved to the neighborhood in the 1990s.[8]

Most of Squirrel Hill is surrounded by a consecrated wall (an "eruv" using telephone poles and wires as the "wall") which permits orthodox Jews to carry things like books and push strollers on the Sabbath.[23] The eruv's boundaries are quite irregular and contain portions of other neighborhoods as well, with one writer noting that "an Orthodox Jew could carry something within the eruv's boundaries all the way from the north end of the Hot Metal Bridge to the intersection of Wilkins and South Dallas in Point Breeze."[24] Squirrel Hill contains three Jewish day schools, affiliated with the Chabad, Modern Orthodox and Conservative movements respectively.[25][26][27] There are over twenty synagogues.

The Jewish community also offers two kosher restaurants (Milky Way and Dunkin Donuts at the corner of Forbes and Shady),[28] a Jewish Community Center, a kosher bakery at Giant Eagle (on Beacon), and an annual festival. A kosher bakery that used to be located in Squirrel Hill, called Sweet Tammy's[29], has since relocated to East Liberty and become a wholesale operation.

Education[edit]

Public Schools[edit]

The Free Public School Act of 1834 ordered school districts not only to establish free schools but also to establish them in townships outside city limits.[30]This affected Squirrel Hill, since at the time it was part of the Peebles Township.

John Turner, who never learned to read or write but became a wealthy landowner, left land and money to the community to build a school when he died in 1844 at the age of 83. The school, eventually called Squirrel Hill School, was located on Bigelow Street at Hazelwood Avenue in Greenfield. Its successor closed in 1915 and was replaced by Roosevelt School, named for then-president Theodore Roosevelt, located where the Greenfield Giant Eagle now stands. It closed in 1957. It was replaced by Minadeo Elementary School (PreK-5), named for John Minadeo, a school safety patrol boy who gave his life to save a group of young students in the path of a runaway car at Gladstone School. [31]

After Peebles Township was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1868, Squirrel Hill became the Colfax School District, named for Schuyler Colfax, vice-president under Ulysses S. Grant. The Colfax School District had five numbered schools. Colfax No. 1 was located at Phillips Avenue and Beechwood Boulevard. Today, this is the Pittsburgh Colfax K-8 Accelerated Learning Academy. Colfax No. 2 was on Beechwood Boulevard near the intersection of Saline Street and Hazelwood Avenue near Brown’s Hill Road. It closed in 1907 but was reopened in 1916 as the Roosevelt School Annex when Roosevelt became overcrowded. The annex closed in 1939. Colfax No. 3, on Forward Avenue, became Forward Avenue School, named after Walter Forward, Secretary of the Treasury under President John Tyler. The school was torn down in 1923, but its retaining wall still exists under the Parkway East bridge over Saline Street. Colfax No. 4, at Whipple and Commercial, became Swisshelm School, named for Jane Swisshelm, a noted writer and abolitionist. Colfax No. 5, at Solway and Wightman, became Wightman School, named for Thomas Wightman, owner of the Thomas Wightman Glass Company. It is now Wightman Community Center, owned by Carriage House Children’s Center. Wightman underwent extensive restoration and remodeling to make it one of only two older buildings in Western Pennsylvania to have LEED Gold certification. [32]

Two other public elementary schools existed in Squirrel Hill. Brown School was built near the Monongahela River in 1888 on land donated by the Brown family. It closed in 1932. Davis School, named for a principal of the Frick Training School for Teachers, was located on Phillips Avenue. It opened in 1931 and closed in 1980.

Squirrel Hill’s public high school, Taylor Allderdice, built in 1926, was named for the president of the National Tube Company, who was a member of the Board of Education at the time.

In 1911, the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education was created and given jurisdiction over all the public schools in the city. [33] Today, Squirrel Hill is located in the Pittsburgh School District.

Private Schools[edit]

Squirrel Hill is also home to St. Edmund's Academy, a private nonsectarian (formerly Episcopalian) elementary school.

It also has a number of Jewish schools, such as Hillel Academy, Yeshiva School and Community Day School, which until 1990 had been St. Philomena’s Catholic School.

The Day School at the Children's Institute of Pittsburgh serves children with a wide range of disabilities. The Environmental Charter School at Frick Park, located in the old Regent Square School building, uses Frick Park as a classroom.

H.B. Davis Elementary School closed in 1980.[34]

Higher Education[edit]

Squirrel Hill has two universities in the area, including Chatham University (bordering Shadyside) and parts of Carnegie Mellon University.

Local government[edit]

Squirrel Hill North is represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Bill Peduto (City Council District 8). Squirrel Hill South is represented on City Council by Corey O'Connor (City Council District 5).

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Census: Pittsburgh" (PDF). Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. January 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  2. ^ a b "Census: Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  3. ^ "Murray Hill Avenue Designated Historic District" (PDF). City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  4. ^ Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  5. ^ Schenley Park and Carnegie Mellon University are technically located just within the official border of Squirrel Hill North, although they are almost always popularly considered to be located in Oakland with the Squirrel Hill neighborhood beginning on the east side of Schenley Park.
  6. ^ Pittsburgh Wards/Voting Districts
  7. ^ http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/snap/
  8. ^ a b Ansberry, Clare (2 July 2010). "Diverse Views on Israel Emerge in Jewish Enclave". Wall Street Journal.
  9. ^ The 2002 Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study
  10. ^ a b c d e f The Development of Squirrel Hill By Michael Ehrmann, Squirrel Hill Magazine Winter 2009
  11. ^ Brief History of the Turner Cemetery, Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  12. ^ Guns for the Union, by Jim Wudarczyk. Lawrenceville Historical Society website, retrieved 2012-11-08.
  13. ^ Squirrel Hillʼs Part in the Civil War By Helen Wilson, Squirrel Hill Magazine Winter 2011
  14. ^ Connections to the Past: Farming—Right Here in Squirrel Hill By Helen Wilson, Squirrel Hill Magazine Fall 2011
  15. ^ Squirrel Hill Magazine, Fall 2008
  16. ^ Church of the Redeemer
  17. ^ [1]
  18. ^ [http://savingcommunities.org/docs/simon.herbert/lvtendorsement.html Nobel Economist Herbert A. Simon Endorses Land Value Tax], letter from Herbert Simon to the City Council of Pittsburgh. Saving Communities website. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  19. ^ Citizens of the Year: Squirrel Hill's Prime Assets, Winter 2010 By Ray Baum, President, Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, Fall 2011
  20. ^ You’re Invited to a Party By Ray Baum, President, Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, Fall 2011
  21. ^ a b c Serving One and All: A History of Social Services in Squirrel Hill By Emily Leon, Winter 2011
  22. ^ Project to enliven Nine Mile Run, add 550 acres (2.2 km2) to Frick Park By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 29, 2004
  23. ^ "Eruv Map Sketch". JewishPittsburgh.org. Retrieved 2010-09-09.[dead link]
  24. ^ Potter, Chris (14 September 2006). "Is there a wall around Squirrel Hill?". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  25. ^ Yeshiva Schools and Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh
  26. ^ Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh
  27. ^ Community Day
  28. ^ Pop City - Kosher Dining Goes Global By: Abby Mendelson July 12, 2006
  29. ^ JCC of Greater Pittsburgh
  30. ^ The Fight For Free Schools In Pennsylvania Pennssylvania Historical & Museums Commission website. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  31. ^ The Education of Squirrel Hill By Helen Wilson, Squirrel Hill Magazine Spring 2011
  32. ^ The Education of Squirrel Hill By Helen Wilson, Squirrel Hill Magazine Spring 2011
  33. ^ The Education of Squirrel Hill By Helen Wilson, Squirrel Hill Magazine Spring 2011
  34. ^ Full record for Pittsburgh Public Schools (HSWP): MSP117.B007.F03.I03

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh).
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Pittsburgh/Squirrel_Hill.

Category:Neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Academic enclaves Category:Economy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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