monroevillehistorical.org

The Monroeville Area’s Time Line of Historical Events

1758 - Marking a turning point of the French and Indian War, Fort Duquesne falls to the British and is re-named Fort Pitt, assuring British colonial dominance over the western territories.

 1769 - The Pennsylvania colonial authorities encourage immigrants to settle the western frontier.  The Johnston family are among the wave of Scots-Irish immigrants to make the trek westward; the family settles in the region just east of Pittsburgh.

 1780 - A boundary agreement between Virginia and Pennsylvania establishes the area around Pittsburgh as part of Pennsylvania’s Westmoreland County.

 1788 - The western portion of Westmoreland County is designated as Plum Township in the newly-established county of Allegheny.

1789 - Captain Robert Johnston, a veteran of the 42^nd Regiment of the American Revolutionary Army, receives a land grant in Westmoreland Country that he had applied for some 20 years earlier.

 1800 - Abraham Taylor, a Philadelphia businessman, who had invested in a company to operate the new Northern Turnpike toll road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, settles in the area and builds The Rising Sun Inn at the side of the new road near the tollgate.

 1829 - A farmer from Virginia named Joel Monroe purchases a 125-acre farm and moves here with his young family. 

 1830 - The McGinley House, a stone farmhouse and local historical landmark, is built by a stonemason named John McClintock, for the Matthew Simpson family. 

 1834 -- John Johnston and Joel Monroe sell a tract of land to the trustees of the first Crossroads Presbyterian Church for one dollar. This land will form the basis of the Crossroads Cemetery, which remains an active cemetery to this day, with the names of many of the pioneering families (e.g., Aber, Beatty, Clugston, Haymaker, Johnston, McCully, McGinley, Snodgrass, Speelman and Thompson) found on its gravestones.

 1849  Plum Township is divided into two separate (north and south) entities, with the southern portion being named “Patton Township,” --  after Judge Benjamin Patton. At that time Patton Township included parts of present day Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, Wall and Pitcairn, as well as Monroeville.

 1850 - Joel Monroe and his neighbors petition the federal government for a Post Office for their growing village.

 1851 - The post office petition is approved, and Joel Monroe becomes the first Postmaster, with the Post Office located in his home, along what is currently William Penn Highway (US Route 22).

 1863 - During the Civil War, an artillery firing range was set up in southern Monroeville just east of the Mosside Bridge as a proving ground for cannons then being forged at the Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh.

 1880 - The Pennsylvania Railroad moves its yards and shops from Pittsburgh to Patton Township establishing the sprawling Pitcairn Yard that will become a major source of employment for families from Monroeville for many years.

 1888  - The PRR begins construction of the Pitcairn Yard on 215 acres of farmland along the Turtle Creek Valley.

 1889 - George Westinghouse moves his air break manufacturing plant to Wilmerding, providing yet another source of employment for the families in Patton Township.

 1890 - Portions of Patton Township and the surrounding area begin to incorporate into smaller government units. Wilmerding incorporates to become a Borough.

 1891 - Oak Hill Mine Number 4 is opened, one of many coalmines that will be active in Patton Township during the next fifty years.

 1892 - Turtle Creek, which traces its roots back to a trading post established in the 1750s, incorporates to form Turtle Creek Borough.

 1894 - A portion of southern Patton Township incorporates into Pitcairn Borough, named after a Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

 1894 – George Westinghouse opens his electric equipment manufacturing plant in East Pittsburgh.

 1896 - The Old Stone Church, a Monroeville Landmark, is rebuilt on the site of the original (1834) church.

 1908 - People’s Gas Company extends gas service to Monroeville, ending the era of the oil lamp in homes.

 1912 - Telephone service is extended north from Turtle Creek along Monroeville Road into Monroeville.

 1926 - The William Penn Highway opens, incorporating much of the old Northern Pike roadway.

1926 - Burke Glen amusement park opens along the William Penn Highway.

 1943 - Route 22 (the new William Penn Highway) opens as a paved, two-lane through-road.  Later widened to four lanes, it will define the central east-west commercial corridor through Monroeville.

 1946 - The Pittsburgh Outdoor Theater, one of the first drive-in theaters in the area, opens at the corner of Routes 22 and 48. 

 1950 - The Pittsburgh Exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike is established at Monroeville.

 1951 - Patton Township is officially re-designated as the Borough of Monroeville, with the first newly-elected Borough officials taking office early the following year.

 1954 - The Miracle Mile opens.  One of the pioneering strip malls in the country; at the time it opens the Miracle Mile is the first such shopping mall between New York and Chicago.

 1955 - Garden City, one of the first of many plans for affordable suburban housing, opens in Monroeville.

 1955 - The schools of Monroeville and Pitcairn form the Monroeville-Pitcairn joint Schools.  In 1960 the jointure is re-designated as the Gateway Union School District; in 1965 -- the Gateway School District.

 1956 - US Steel moves its laboratories to its new campus-like Monroeville location, setting the way for the many businesses that follow in developing Monroeville as a research center.

 1958 - Monroeville’s first municipal building is dedicated.

 1962 - Monroeville’s first Comprehensive Plan for Growth is issued by the Planning Commission.

1962 - The eastern extension of the Penn-Lincoln Parkway is completed linking Monroeville to downtown Pittsburgh by means of a modern limited-access highway.

1964 - The Monroeville Community Library opens.

1969 - The 150-store Monroeville Mall opens, enhancing Monroeville’s reputation as a shopping mecca.

 1971 - Continuing the trend of major companies locating their research facilities in Monroeville, Westinghouse opens its Nuclear Energy Center.

 1976 - In conjunction with ceremonies marking the American bicentennial, Monroeville’s 100-year Time Capsule is interred at “Flag Plaza,” on the grounds of the Old Stone Church.

 1976 - Monroeville is re-constituted from a Borough (under the Pennsylvania Borough Code) to a Municipality (under a Home Rule Charter).

 1978 - East Suburban Hospital opens its Monroeville Location off Haymaker Road.

 1980 - Johnston’s farm, an active dairy farm and milk delivery business since 1908, goes out of business and the land is sold to become the site for the Stonecliff Apartments.

 1995 - Kuehn’s Dairy, the last surviving dairy farm in Monroeville, closes down and the site is sold for the Manor Care Adult Community.

 2000 - Monroeville’s second municipal building is dedicated.

 2006 - Monroeville’s Community Center and Park is dedicated.