Upper St. Clair

Upper St. Clair township is located about 11 miles south of the City of Pittsburgh, in Allegheny County.  The first known settler was a Scotsman named John Fife, who arrived in 1762.  The area was, at that time, actually part of the Commonwealth of Virginia!  1784 saw the area become part of Pennsylvania, along with other disputed areas that had been claimed.   When Allegheny County was formed in 1788, Upper St. Clair was part of the larger St. Clair Township, which at the time also included parts of Scott Township, Mt. Lebanon, South Park, Bridgeville, Castle Shannon, Crafton, Greentree, Dormont, Ingram, Carnegie and even parts of the City of Pittsburgh. It was eventually split into Upper and Lower St. Clair, the latter fully within the Pittsburgh City Limits.

The area was originally farmland, owned by around 40 farmers with a couple hundred acres of farmland and a log home in the center so your nearest neighbor was almost a mile away.  In 1794, Upper St. Clair was part of the origin of the Whiskey Insurrection.

By 1844, mail delivery became a weekly occorrence.  The mail carrier rode in on horseback every Saturday.  As the area grew, Washington Road was paved in 1898.  The first telephone service arrived in 1904.  Trolleys from Pittsburgh began running to Upper St. Clair in the early 1900s, sparking a real estate boom.  The 1950s saw the greatest growth for the area, and it was designated a First Class Township in 1954.  In 1976 the area became a Home Rule Community.

Today Upper St. Clair is known for it’s quiet tree-shaded neighborhoods and easy access to major shopping districts as well as a short commute to the City of Pittsburgh.