This historical essay attempts to explore the history of the South Hills region known as Brookline, formed in 1905. Actually, this area has a rich history dating back much further, to the 1750s and the days when taxes were paid to the King of England

Much of the information presented here was retrieved from old Brookline Journal articles, the University of Pittsburgh Online Digital Archive, including the Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection, and articles retrieved from the search engine at newspapers.com.

Our story has been supplemented over the years by personal recollections of long-time Brookline residents, bits and pieces from individual scrapbooks and plenty of additional research. Much of this research, data and images has been merged into this essay, a comprehensive look back in time.

Explore the highlighted links below, along with additional links located throughout the text, for more detailed information on the history of the Brookline community. For a supplemental resource, visit our Brookline Connection facebook page.

* Last Updated: December 18, 2023 *

Brookline Boulevard, near the intersection with Glenarm Avenue, in 1933. Prior to 1900, Brookline Boulevard was a
dirt roadway, known as Hunter Avenue (from West Liberty to Pioneer) and Knowlson Avenue (from Pioneer to
Whited), that connected the many family owned farms that made up the Brookline countryside.

The Beauty Of A Morning Sunrise In Brookline

It seems like all the colors in the visual spectrum are captured in this Christopher Jamison
picture of "A Sunrise Over Brookline," taken on January 25, 2017.

A Great City Will Grow

On November 23, 1753, George Washington, a twenty-one year old major in the British Colonial Army, surveyed the land surrounding the junction of the Monongahela River and the Belle Riviere. The young major predicted that on this spot there would someday grow a great city. He recommended that militia by dispatched with all haste to construct a fort.

Due to the strategic significance of the land now known as "The Point", the junction was a prized possession to any occupying force, offering control of all river traffic to the western frontier. The French needed dominance over the Ohio River Valley to consolidate their colonial interests in Canada (then known as New France) and Louisiana. The British had other designs for the region. The crown and increasing numbers of colonial settlers were looking to expand their territorial boundaries beyond the Appalachians.

The French insisted that they had claim to the region by right of first discovery. The British countered that the land fell under their control by virtue of a treaty with the Five-Nation Iroquois Confederacy. Both empires felt that their claims were justified, and each expended great manpower and resources to gain dominance over this advantagious location.

The British and The French

Heeding Washington's advice, the British rushed a small garrison to the river junction and constructed a small stockade called Fort Prince George. The French responded by sending strong force, including many of their indian allies, that overwhelmed the vastly outnumbered British. The garrison surrendered on April 17, 1754 and began the long march back to Virginia. A new, much larger French outpost was built on the spot, named Fort Duquesne.

In the meantime, Major Washington had been dispatched with a regiment of Virginians to reinforce the garrison. Washington's troops first encountered the French at a skirmish known as the Jumonville Affair. The french patrol was routed and their commander killed. On July 4, 1754, the French counterattacked in force. Washington and his militiamen were beseiged at Fort Necessity and compelled to surrender.

These local events marked the formal beginning of the French and Indian War. To the chagrin of the British, the empire of France now had complete control over the region and, most importantly, the river junction.

In February of 1755, General Edward Braddock was sent with two colonial regiments and 500 British regulars, including artillery, to evict the French force. On July 8, 1755, the British column was ambushed as it approached Fort Duquesne and suffered another serious setback. Now a colonel, George Washington was present for this monumental defeat. After the death of General Braddock, Washington took charge and led the retreat back to Virginia.

The defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela reverberated throughout the British Colonial Empire. Stung by this loss, and determined to regain control of the region, the British struck back three years later. On November 25, 1758, General John Forbes and an army of 6000 British and Colonial troops forced the French to burn their fort and retreat north. Forbes and his men had claimed the river junction for the British Empire once and for all.

General Forbes ordered the construction of a much larger and stronger fort. It was built over the ruins of Fort Duquesne and named Fort Pitt. Forbes christened the area Pittsborough. The village was chartered in 1759, named in honor of the Prime Minister of England, William Pitt.

The colony at Pittsborough grew rapidly around the fort, which was one of the largest British strongholds in North America. Settlers and traders began to migrate to the surrounding areas, including the rolling hills to the south of Coal Hill. These early pioneers provided goods and services for the many British troops and the growing frontier population.

Indians on the Warpath

By 1763, the final year of the French and Indian War, the British had control of much of northeastern North America. Most of the native Indian tribes were displeased by their treatment from the British occupiers. The main concern of the Indians was the continued settlement of people along the western frontier, which in 1763, included the Ohio River basin.

An Indian leader named Pontiac began organizing many Indian tribes together to rebel against the British. Pontiac's force included groups from the Delaware, Huron, Illinois, Kickapoo, Miami, Potawatomie, Seneca, Shawnee, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes. An Indian War, known as Pontiac's War, began in 1763.

Pontiac wanted to drive the British back to the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains. Many small British outposts were overrun and the Indians were on the verge of total victory. The only remaining outposts west of the Appalachians were at Fort Detroit, Fort Pitt, Fort Ligonier and a handful of other outposts.

The Siege of Pittsborough lasted eighty-six days from May to August 1763.

In May of 1763, the Indians attacked. Their assault began in the north and swept south towards the village of Pittsborough. The natives burned all cabins and massacred all of the white settlers in the outlying areas. Only those fortunate enough to find sanctuary inside the fort survived. From May 27 to August 9, Pontiac's warriors laid seige to Fort Pitt. During this time they made several unsuccessful attempts to storm the fort.

British Colonel Henry Bouquet led a relief expedition, which was ambushed as they approached the village. Bouquet's force successfully counterattacked during the Battle of Bushy Run and defeated the natives. This victory effectively lifted the seige of Pittsborough. Without the assistance of the French, who were near surrender themselves, the Indians were soon forced to abandon their campaign to drive the British from their lands. The frontier was now open to westward colonial expansion and settlement.

Colonel Bouquet's Highlanders defeat Pontiac's warriors at the Battle of Bushy Run.

Settlers once again began to migrate into the area, and Pittsborough again began to build and expand. The restless natives, now settled in Ohio, remained a deterent to further westward expansion. Sporadic hostilities continued off and on for three years.

Fort Pitt became a staging area for several military expeditions against the native tribes. Not until 1766 was a formal treaty signed. Despite the agreement, conflicts persisted along the upper Allegheny River until 1779, and Fort Pitt remained a valuable military bastion.

Control of the fort passed to the colonial militia in 1772. The British garrisons abandoned the area never to return. During the War of Independence, there was very little activity in the western part of Pennsylvania. The majority of the conflict was fought in the eastern coastal theatre.

In 1783, that conflict ended and a new nation was born, the United States of America. Fort Pitt remained a United States Army facility until permanently decommissioned in 1797. The fort was dismantled and the materials used in local construction projects.

Rapid Development of Pittsburgh

After the end of the Revolutionary War, the borough of Pittsburgh began to expand at a more rapid pace. After years of being a garrison town, the town now found a new identity. With frontier expansion booming, Pittsburgh soon became known as the "Gateway to the West."

The discovery of valuable natural resources and reliable river passages made Pittsburgh an important stop for migrant settlers on their journey west. It also became a valuable hub for commerce and shipping.

This fueled the expansion and growth of industry in Pittsburgh. Gristmills, print shops, glassworks, ship building and the iron industry flourished. By the dawn of the 19th century, millions of people heading west traveled through the area. The City of Pittsburgh was officially chartered in 1816.

The Carnegie Steel Works in Homestead. The iron and steel industry flourished throughout the Pittsburgh area.

The abundance of coal in the nearby hills led to the rapid development of the coal industry, which fed the fires of the expanding industrial base, not to mention the home heating needs of the growing local population. Numerous mining ventures moved into the lands east and south of the city.

The rolling, well-watered lands to the south of Coal Hill were also considered prime farmland. Family farms were a common site throughout the South Hills, including West Liberty Borough and the present-day Brookline area.

Early Settlement of the South Hills

After the American Revolution, soldiers of the Pennsylvania Militia were granted land by the State Legislature in lieu of payment in gold and silver for their services during the War of Independence. These veterans filed their claims in Philadelphia and became the first official American settlers in the South Hills. A track of 395 acres, patented in 1786 to David Strawbridge, in pursuance of the Virginia Certificate, was called "Castle Shanahan."

David Strawbridge's 1786 land grant that later became the municipality of Castle Shannon.

Another former militiaman, Joseph McDermutt, filed his claim for 240 acres along Oak Hill. His land was called "The Hermits Cell" and occupied much of the present-day 19th Ward of Brookline.

<Survey Maps and Deeds of Original South Hills Land Grants>

A search of old records reveals the family names of Strawbridge, McKee, Shawhan, Kennedy, Fleming, Hunter, Hayes, McDermutt, McDowell, Hughey, Broddy, and Brison. In the 19th Century, we find such families as Espy, Plummer, Paul, Lang, Schaffner, Kerr, Sylvester, Fetterman and Knowlson. The area became a prosperous farming district.

Prior to the erection of Allegheny County in 1788, the Pittsburgh district was part of Westmoreland and Washington Counties. Civic-minded citizens had to travel long distances over poor roads in order to cast their ballot on election days.

The earliest voting place was at Shawhen's Square (later Colonel Espy's Tanyards) at Pioneer and West Liberty Avenues. After 1788, they voted at Obey's Place on Carson Street, where the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company station now stands.

St. Clair Township, named in honor of General Arthur St. Clair, was a massive township stretching fifteen miles to the south and varying in width from six to ten miles. The northern township border was the Monongahela River, between the mouths of Chartiers Creek and Streets Run Creek. The township was as large as many counties in other parts of the state.

Formation Of Allegheny County

Allegheny County was formed on September 24, 1788. The county was made up of land previously a part of Westmoreland and Washington Counties. It was formed due to pressure from settlers living in the area around Pittsburgh, which became the county seat in 1791. Allegheny County originally extended north to the shores of Lake Erie. It was reduced to its current borders by 1800.

Many of Brookline's earliest landowners were signatories on the initial petition for the creation of the new County. At that time of the county's formation, what would become the Brookline area was sparsely populated fertile land located in the lower district of St. Clair Township.

<1787 Petition with Signatories for the Creation of Allegheny County>
Signatories include Joseph McDermutt, David Kennedy, Joseph McDowell, Robert Shawhen and John McKee,
all prominent landowners of property that make up the boundaries of present-day Brookline.

Upon the erection of Allegheny County the court proceeded to divide the county into three distinct districts. The first included the townships south and west of the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers. The second district was located between the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers, and the third included land north of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.

The first section included three townships: Moon, St Clair and Mifflin. At that time, St. Clair Township was made up of the southeastern corner of present-day South Fayette Township, part of Snowden Township, the whole of Baldwin, Scott, Bethel, Upper and Lower St. Clair Townships. In 1805, Nathaniel Plumer, who resided in land that is now part of present-day Brookline, was named as one of the three township commissioners.

Lower St. Clair Township

In 1806, deemed too large to adequately maintain, St. Clair Township was divided into the separate municipalities of Upper and Lower St. Clair. Within the boundaries of Lower St. Clair Township were the present-day communities of West End, Mount Washington, South Side, Beechview, Brookline, Banksville, Beltzhoover, Mount Oliver, Bon Air, Knoxville, Allentown, Carrick, Overbrook and St. Clair Village.

In the 1830s, the main population centers were along the Monongahela River, where factory production and coal mining were booming in the areas of Temperanceville, South Pittsburgh, Birmingham and East Birmingham. These heavily populated and industrialized areas soon left the township to form their own boroughs. Another significant parcel of territory was ceded in 1844, when Baldwin Township was chartered.

Map from 1850 showing Upper and Lower St. Clair Townships. The original St. Clair Township included
both Upper and Lower St. Clair as well as the whole of Baldwin Township and part of Snowden.
The Road from Washington is present-day West Liberty Avenue from the southern border
of Lower St. Clair to Saw Mill Run Creek. It was then known as Plummer's Run.

To the south of Coal Hill, the rolling terrain of West Liberty and the other nearby communities along Saw Mill Run were what remained of Lower St. Clair Township. Despite the losses, in 1860 the population of the township ranked fifth in the county at 4,617. That number grew to 5,322 by the end of the decade.

In 1860, the South Hills terrain was still a predoninantly agricultural region. In the Brookline area, the largest of these were operated by John and Elizabeth Paul, Richard Knowlson, Ephraim Hughey, David Hunter and Philip Fischer and David McKnight. These families lived off the land and sold their surplus crops at the markets in Pittsburgh.

The coal industry began to move into the South Hills in the mid-1860s, leading to a significant population increase as laborers began migrating to mining villages with their families. In 1870 the value of farms in the county was over $56,448,818, more than several states, and the mineral resources almost incalculable. As the population and wealth increased, emerging communities in Lower St. Clair Township began the process of forming separate municipalities.

♦ Saint Clair Village (1951-2010) ♦
(The final section of Lower St. Clair Township)

William Dilworth

A notable early settler in Lower St. Clair Township was William Dilworth. William was born in 1791 when Pittsburgh was still a straggling village connected by row boat ferries with the nearby settlements of Allegheny (North Side) and Birmingham (South Side). His father was an early entreprenuer in the local coal industry.

Coal mining was the first major enterprise in the South Hills.

At age 21, Dilworth joined General William Harrison's army during the 1812 campaign against the British and Indians. After the war, William settled on Mount Washington. He opened some of the first mines to supply Pittsburgh with coal. He was married in 1817 to Elizabeth Scott, daughter of Colonel Samuel Scott of Ross Township.

Dilworth built what may have been the first school house in Lower St. Clair Township to give free schooling to the children of the miners in his employ. He paid the teacher out of his pocket and purchased books for the pupils. The school building was erected in 1820 near the present-day South Portal of the Liberty Tunnels.

William Dilworth paid $15 per acre for the coal lands he purchased south of Pittsburgh. During the the latter part of his life he sold parcels of the same land for $3000 per acre. In the mid-1830s he was instrumental in building a court house and jail in Pittsburgh, and later built the piers of the old Monongahela Bridge, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of April 10, 1845.

In 1847, Dilworth was elected to the Legislature and served one session. Later, in 1859, he had a church built, possibly the first in the area, near the old school house at the junction of West Liberty Avenue and Warrington Avenue.

West Liberty Borough

West Liberty Borough was incorporated on March 7, 1876. The borough boundaries were drawn from the western part of Lower St. Clair Township, with Saw Mill Run Creek being nearly identical with the eastern and northern boundaries. The village proper was described as a small hamlet on the old Pittsburgh and Washington road.

Elections were held on March 24 for the new borough officers, resulting in the following choices:

Justice of the Peace - John Curran; Judge of Elections - John W. Patterson; Inspectors of Elections - James Curran, Warren W. Patterson; Burgess - John W. Patterson; Council - William Hughes, John Paul, Thomas Curran, George C. Becker, Thomas Hughes and Thomas Knowlson; School Directors - James Gibson, William Haas, Chris Wilhelm, George R. Fisher, Joseph Hughes and William Robinson; Registration Assessor - William Haas; Principal Assessor - John B. Knowlson; Assistant Assessors - R. R. Bell, William Robinson; Auditor - A. J. Oyer; Constable - W. J. McIlvaine.

An 1876 map of the Pittsburgh area showing the City of Pittsburgh and West Liberty Borough.

While the adjacent areas of Mount Washington and the countryside along the line of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad, such as the village of Fairhaven, were comparatively thickly settled, West Liberty was sparsely populated.

Most of the land was made up of farms, with some residential areas that were principally occupied by men employed in the numerous coal mines owned by William Dilworth.

  
The home of George and Mary Beltzhoover along the 1900 block of West Liberty Avenue (right), which
served as the Fetterman District Post Office from 1876 to 1907, and the original West Liberty
Elementary School, shown here in 1912. It was the borough schoolhouse until 1898.

The population of West Liberty Borough was 865 in 1880. The Fetterman Post Office district that covered the borough boundaries was established in June 1876. Mary Beltzhoover, who resided along West Liberty Avenue, just south of Capital Avenue, was the postmaster.

About this time, the first West Liberty Elementary School was built along West Liberty Avenue at the bottom of Cape May Avenue. This two room facility served the borough's children until 1898 when a modern schoolhouse was built along Pioneer Avenue.

Map from 1876 showing West Liberty Borough.

The surface of West Liberty Borough was much the same as the rest of Allegheny County, hilly and broken. Numerous small streams flow through it and springs are exceedingly abundant, thus affording plenty of water and power for manufacturing purposes. Coal was the staple production of the township, although agricultural pursuits were extensively carried on.

By the dawn of the 20th century, mining was still prevalent along the valley floors, with the remainder of Oak Hill practically all farms. It was then a common sight on summer mornings to see a procession of market wagons on their way to the city with produce, then returning later that afternoon.

In 1890, John Price was elected to the West Liberty Borough Council. This well-known resident was often referred to as "the town's honest old patriot." When Price assumed his council role, the borough was $14,000 in debt and had a total land valuation of $286,000. A man with a vision, John Price worked tirelessly for the betterment of the borough.

Price pointed out the possibilities of the South Hills long before the Mount Washington Trolley Tunnel had been built and was successful in securing rights of way for the traction lines where others had failed. When the tunnel became a reality in 1904, he was proven right and the borough prospered.

Residential and commercial development began quickly and continued unabated. By the time of annexation in 1908, West Liberty Borough was a growing municipality with a treasury balance of $8,000 and a land valuation of $3,687,0000. On the 27,000 acres of borough land there were 2,000 homes and a population of 10,000.

In addition there were fifteen miles of modern sewers and three and one-half miles of paved roads. Both Brookline and Beechwood had modern boulevards ready for further development, and upcoming improvements and expansions in the traction lines guaranteed that this real estate boom would bring further millions in the near future.

January 6, 1908 was a great day for Pittsburgh and the residents of West Liberty Borough, signalling the birth of the Brookline, Beechwood and Bon Air communities.

It is interesting to note that in the above article Beechview is referred to as Beechwood. The reason is that West Liberty Borough was split down the middle by West Liberty Avenue, seperating the area of Brookline to the west and Beechwood to the east. The borough extended eastward only to Broadway Avenue. The Borough of Beechview, an independent municipality, stood between Broadway Avenue and Banksville Road.

The following year, in 1909, Beechview Borough was also annexed, then merged with Beechwood to comprise one city neighborhood. That community took the name Beechview. So, after only one year on the books, the name Beechwood was relegated to the history books, with but one reminder of that name still on record, Beechwood Elementary School

Click here to learn more about Beechwood, Beechview and ... Orvilla?

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Life in West Liberty Borough was not always as lovely as a Norman Rockwell glimpse of Americana. This tiny borough just south of Pittsburgh also had a dark side, one more foreboding than anyone would care to imagine.

In a remote corner of the borough near the borders with Montooth, Beltzhoover, Knoxville and Baldwin, along Saw Mill Run near High Bridge Station and the McKinley Bridge was a place that, beginning around 1890, became a mecca for all sorts of illegal gaming, sporting and drinking activities. It was said to be as dangerous as the Wild West near High Bridge Station.

These activities caused severe consternation amongst the local citizenry and borough officials, who seemed helpless in their efforts to restore peace and order. Years of frustration boiled over on May 31, 1903, when a horrifying riot occurred that resulted in the deaths of two men, several injured individuals and a near hanging.

♦ Monte Carlo in West Liberty Borough (1890-1903) ♦

♦ Deadly Riot in West Liberty Borough - May 31, 1903 ♦

Birth of Brookline

In the earliest days of frontier settlement, an old Indian trail ran roughly along the path of Pioneer Avenue and Castlegate Avenue to a small farm and trading post run by the McNeeley family. The outpost was known to the natives as Chimney Town, and the trail was called the Chimney Town Road. This may well have been the earliest known designation of the area that was to one day become Brookline.

The South Hills area was settled prior to 1800. Many of these early pioneers were veterans of the Pennsylvania Militia who had served in the American Revolution under General Washington. These men were issued land grants as payment in lieu of gold and silver for their services.

These hardy souls tilled the soil and developed a prosperous farming district. Colonel Boggs Grist Mill, near the northern end of Pioneer Avenue, ground their grain. Colonel Espy's Tanyards, near the southern end of Pioneer, furnished the leather for their boots, saddles and harnesses.

The Kapsch family lived at 1114 Milan Avenue. Joseph and Amelia Kapsch both immigrated from Austria and
settled in Brookline in 1906. They were farmers and the family was one of the original twelve members
of Resurrection Parish. The picture shows some of the Kapsch children: Amelia, Marie, Josephine,
Joseph and John, with their donkey in 1909. The family grew to eleven with the addition of
Theodore, Leonard, Agnes, Lillian, Alfred and James. Agnes married Fred Daley and
owned the Park Side Grill on Brookline Boulevard from 1948 to 1965.

Situated in Lower St. Clair Township, the area we now call Brookline became part of the borough of West Liberty, which also included much of present-day Beechview. From the colonial days until the dawn of the 20th century, the area was sparsely developed.

The addition of trolley service to the South Hills in 1901, followed by an electrical traction route the following year and the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel opening in 1904 brought a new era of prosperity to West Liberty Borough. Early lot plans like Fleming Place, Hughey Farm and Paul Place brought investors and developers to the region and soon the rural farming community began to take on a more urban look.

The Birth of Brookline can be traced to one defining moment, on March 12, 1905, when ten West Liberty farms on the western side of the borough, comprising 500 acres, were sold to the West Liberty Improvement Company. Farms belonging to Jane Reamer, David Hunter, William McNealy, Dr. J.H. Wright, John Knowlson, Willison Hughey, Joseph McKnight, Philip Linn, John Daube and Philip Fisher were now slated for residential and commercial development.

The improvement company spent $700,000 on the farms, and invested a further $750,000 in grading and paving roads, installing water and sewer line, and other infrastructure necessities to allow for the immediate construction of homes. Pittsburgh Railways responded to the news by immediately installing a service route into Brookline. The dye was cast and the community of Brookline began to take on a life of its own.

Although originally intended as such, Brookline was never incorporated as a separate and distinct municipality. It was merged with the City of Pittsburgh on January 6, 1908, and made part of the original 44th Ward. By the mid-1900s, it comprised the 21st to the 27th election districts of the 19th Ward.

A 1905 Freehold Real Estate advertisement showing Brookline's proximity to Pittsburgh.

♦ Fleming Place/Hughey Farms Real Estate Advertisements (1902) ♦

♦ Freehold Real Estate Advertisements (1904-1916) ♦

♦ Freehold Real Estate Brochures (1921-1926) ♦

♦ Freehold Real Estate Advertisements (1930) ♦

Beechview/Dormont Real Estate Ads (1901-1917)

NOTE: Brookline now comprises part of the 19th and 32nd Wards of the City of Pittsburgh, and is made up of West Liberty, Brookline, East Brookline (formerly part of Overbrook) and Ebenshire Village (formerly part of Baldwin Township) - although the name "Brookline" is assigned to the entire area.

See Maps Showing Brookline Subdivisions

Pioneer Avenue was a State Road

Pioneer Avenue was established in 1797 as the State Road from Pittsburgh to Washington. It was the only main roadway to reach the city from the south. It was later known as the Upper Road from Boggs Mill and also the Coal Hill and Upper St. Clair Turnpike Road.

Until the 1830s Pioneer Avenue remained an artery of major importance, connecting the old Township road (now Warrington Avenue) with the Morgantown Road (now Banksville Road). Much of present-day West Liberty Avenue (Washington Road) was considered part of this intra-state thoroughfare.

Wenzell Avenue, which originally led from Pioneer Avenue to Greentree Road, was laid out in 1832. Plummer's Run, now called West Liberty Avenue, from the Bell House to Pioneer Avenue, was laid out in 1839. Once established, Plummer's Run became the main north-south state roadway and Pioneer Avenue was reduced to its present course and length.

Since the emerging southern communities had no brick yards or saw mills, all builders' supplies had to be hauled over these poor roads, with the wagons often sinking hub deep in mud.

West Liberty Avenue at the intersection with Stetson Street in March 1915, before the roadway was widened.

When the original streetcar line was installed along West Liberty Avenue in 1902, the road was paved with Belgian block between the rails only. Off the narrow rail line the roadway was dirt. It remained as such until 1915 when it was widened and improved.

Whited Street, Edgebrook Avenue and Merrick/Breining/Glenbury Street were former Township Roads. Brookline Boulevard existed as a narrow dirt path connecting the farms east of West Liberty Avenue with these Township Roads. McNeilly Road was another established Township Road.

With the exception of the aforementioned streets, practically all other roadways in and around present-day Brookline were created by virtue of lot plan developments, principally by the West Liberty Development Company between 1905 and 1908.

Early Commercial Enterprises

Among the early commercial enterprises were Espy's Tanyards, located at the southern end of Pioneer and West Liberty Avenues, in present-day Dormont. Here, leather was supplied for boots, saddles and harnesses.

Boggs Grist Mill and Schaffner's Wagon Building and Repair Shop were situated at the northern end of Pioneer and West Liberty Avenues.

At a later date, the Pittsburgh Coal Company's power plant, operated by the Hartley and Marshall Company, was built at Wenzell Way and West Liberty Avenue. Across the road was Kerr's Blacksmith and Horseshoe Forge.

The Old Bell House Tavern, near West Liberty Avenue and Warrington Avenue, in 1890.

Wilhelm's General Store, later known as J. Claude Groceries was located across from Pauline Avenue on West Liberty Avenue. The only other store was Algeo's, located further south at Washington and Bower Hill Roads.

Food, drink, and lodging were to be had at Beltzhoover's Tavern and the St. Clair Hotel, both located at the foot of Capital Avenue. Hayes Tavern stood at the southern end of Pioneer and West Liberty Avenue, and the Bell House Tavern and Hotel stood near the present-day Liberty Tunnels along Warrington Avenue.

Ways To Travel

Transportation from the South Hills to Pittsburgh in the early days was slow and difficult. A long and arduous wagon ride up Bausman Street and down Arlington Avenue was one alternative. Another was to travel to Mount Washington and use the inclines to traverse the hillsides.

Travelers that could afford a ticket could reach the city by way of the narrow gauge Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad, which followed the general course of the Shannon Drake streetcar line. Passengers would take the Haberman Avenue Cable Car up to Mount Washington, then down the Castle Shannon Incline to Carson Street. From there they traveled by horse car into the city.

The Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Incline was in operation from 1890 to 1964.

Most of the coal mined around Brookline was hauled on the P&CSRR through a Mount Washington tunnel, The portal of the old coal tunnel was at the curve in Sycamore Street, directly above the present-day transit tunnel. Once in Pittsburgh, the coal was lowered to the factories along Carson Street using an incline.

By 1902, a horse-drawn streetcar line was extended along the length of West Liberty Avenue to Mount Lebanon. This single-track line passed the Brookline Junction at West Liberty and Hunter Avenue (Brookline Boulevard). This line was soon electrified and extended to Castle Shannon, making travel easier for South Hills residents, but there was still no direct link to the city, except for the long trip over Mount Washington.

Within a few short years, man made huge strides in transportation. In 1903, the Wright Brothers historic flight and Henry Ford's first automobile were actualities. The Mount Washington Transit Tunnel through Coal Hill opened in 1904.

The South Hills Trolley Junction in 1906. Note the billboard advertising homes in Brookline. On the hillside
above is a train of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad heading outbound towards Overbrook.

The transit tunnel was a phenomenal breakthrough for the South Hills. The Pittsburgh Railways Company soon upgraded trolley service throughout the South Hills, with extensions built to connect the many developing neighborhoods, along with an interurban line to Charleroi.

These improvements shortened the trip to Pittsburgh by miles and hours. It gave impetus to the West Liberty Development Company and other real estate firms, from 1904 to 1908, to lay out streets and lots in the portion of West Liberty Borough which was to become Brookline.

All Dirt Roads

At the turn of the 20th century all roads were dirt and there were no sidewalks. The heavy traffic, which was mostly horses and wagons, cut deep ruts into the roads so that in wet weather the mud was often axle deep. Pedestrians fared no better.

Finally, Reverend Jones of the Knowlson Methodist Church, located at the Brookline Junction with West Liberty Avenue, with the help of a friend, secured funds to purchase boards for a boardwalk. With the help of the community, the boards were laid from the city line to the Old Bell House at Saw Mill Run and West Liberty Avenue. This was the first public improvement in the area.

A view of Rossmore Avenue, as seen from Pioneer Avenue, in 1925.

The West Liberty Development Company began laying out lots in the Brookline area in 1905. This new residential suburb attracted so many people that, in February of 1907, West Liberty Borough voted for annexation into the City of Pittsburgh.

On the first Monday of January, 1908, the borough was annexed into the city as the 44th ward. Brookline and Beechview became the 19th ward in 1910, when the City of Allegheny also became a part of the growing metropolis.

A family in their horse and buggey approach the intersection of Woodbourne and Sussex Avenue in 1924.

The paving of Brookline streets began shortly after annexation. Some of the original roads to be paved were Brookline Boulevard and streets nearby, like Berkshire, Bellaire and Chelton.

These streets were covered with either paving bricks or belgian block. Streets like Rossmore, Gallion, Woodbourne and much of Pioneer Avenue were not paved until the mid-1920s. Parts of Berwin Avenue remained unpaved until the 1950s.

Many Brookline streets were covered in paving bricks, like Berkshire Avenue, shown here in 1923.
Other local streets were covered in larger, granite belgian blocks. Unlike todays asphalt
covered roadways, these durable bricks were installed to stand the test of time.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Are They Called Cobblestones or Belgian Blocks?

There is some debate over the proper term for the stones that were used to pave
many of Brookline's streets, like Rossmore, Flatbush, Capital and Birchland.
Were they called "cobblestones" or "belgian block."

The answer is belgian block.

The official terminology might sound a bit strange:

  
Setts, or Belgian Blocks (left) and Cobblestones (right).

A SETT, usually referred to in the plural and known in some places as a Belgian block, is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used for paving roads. Formerly in more widespread use, it is now encountered more as a decorative stone paving in landscape architecture.

Setts are often idiomatically referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a cobblestone by being quarried or shaped to a regular form, whereas the latter is generally of a naturally occurring form. Setts are usually made of granite.

For a more detailed history of setts, visit Wikipedia (Setts).

  
Workers cutting belgian block for use along West Liberty Avenue in 1915 (left) and Rossmore Avenue in 2004.
The belgian block on Rossmore Avenue was put down in 1925.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Street Paving In Pittsburgh

Well into the 19th century, Pittsburgh roads were mostly unpaved. Early efforts at providing a durable surface on roadways included using wood blocks, round cobblestones and crushed rock. These methods were unreliable, and often deteriorated quickly.

Other, more expensive alternatives were the use of vitrified paving bricks, belgian block or sheet asphalt. As the years passed and the benefits of a smooth, reliable surface became evident, these three options became the standard for Pittsburgh streets.

As the city grew, there also arose a demand for better roads. Only a few main streets were paved with municipal funds. The cost of paving all streets, however, was well beyond the limits of the city coffers.

On April 2, 1870, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed the Penn Avenue Act, which assessed a tax on abutting property owners to pay for street paving. After this, the practice of paving roadways became standard in middle to upper-class neighborhoods, but was mostly rejected by the residents of working-class communities.

West Liberty Avenue, looking north from the Brookline Junction in June 1916, covered in belgian block.

When Pittsburgh roads were paved, the cheapest method brick and belgian block. This was due to the paving bricks being forged in foundries close to the city, and the block being easily obtainable from nearby quarries.

Up until the 1930s, the granite belgian block was preferred for use on heavily traveled roadways and also on hilly streets because it provided better traction. Paving bricks were selected for mostly level street surfaces that saw moderate traffic usage. Outside the city limits, asphalt was the primary choice.

Due to the abundance of hills, Pittsburgh was well-known for its belgian block roadways. In 1916, the city ranked third in the nation with over 230 miles of block-covered streets. The top two cities were Philadelphia and New York, both with over 400 miles of roads covered in belgian block.

Berwin Avenue is covered in red paving bricks and Beaufort Avenue in Belgian Block - April 2014.

Here in Brookline, most streets were paved in either paving bricks or belgian block. The ratio or brick to block was close to 50/50. Some streets with a mix of level and hilly stretches were paved with both brick and block. Asphalt, and later concrete, were used sparingly in Brookline until the 1940s.

Today, most streets throughout the city are covered in asphalt or concrete. Vintage brick and block roadways have diminished dramatically in number. As a testament to their durability, these old road surfaces often provide the solid base for the smooth black top.

The same can be said for the streets in Brookline. However, there are still several brick and block streets that have stood the test of time, providing motorists with a historic, and often rumbling, reminder of Pittsburgh's past.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Where Did Brookline's Paving Bricks and Belgian Block Come From?

During some water line repair work on Freedom Avenue, a section of red paving bricks were removed and stacked along the sidewalk. Once the utility line was back in service and the hole filled, the paving bricks would be put back in place. This was one of the main benefits of using the bricks.

The bricks that sat along the side of Freedom Avenue were stamped "C.P. Mayer Co. - Bridgeville." As it turns out, the C.P. Mayer Company provided the majority of the pavers used on Brookline streets.

The brick works was founded in 1903 by Casper Peter Mayer, a Bridgeville industrialist. The C.P. Mayer Company supplied the majority of paving bricks used for roads in the South Hills. The dense and durable pavers were so well made that, after a century, they can be removed from present-day road surfaces, cleaned and put back in place as good as new.

Our Belgian Block came from a bit further away. In the 1890s, the city contracted with Keeling, Ridge and Company for the granite blocks used for curbs and street paving. They obtained their product from a quarry near Connellsville. From 1899 to 1950, Booth and Flinn, Ltd. was one of the primary contractors for streets and other city infrastructure projects. Booth and Flinn obtained their granite from their own quarry located west of Ligonier at Longbridge, along the Ligonier Valley Railroad.

Workers at Booth and Flinn's granite
quarry near Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 17, 1978, noted that because of the location of the Booth and Flinn quarry, granite paving blocks laid in the 1900s are, here in Pittsburgh and Western PA, officially refered to as, not Setts or Belgian Block, but "Ligonier Blocks."

It is a shame that, over the years, so many of the roads paved in Mayer bricks were not well maintained and eventually paved over. If more of these road surfaces had been kept in service, the city would have much less of a burden when it comes to asphalt road resurfacing.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Street Sweepers - The Hokey Man

Looking back through old photos of brick and block streets, one thing always seems to be present, dotted in small clumps here and there. Horses had no pride when it came to taking a dump. Anywhere was convenient for those beasts of burden.

Who cleaned up all that mess on a daily basis? The Hokey Man, that's who.

A Hokey Man, shown in 1916, cleaning some waste off of a block roadway in Pittsburgh.

Where the name "hokey" came from is a mystery, but these street sweepers were quite important municipal employees. With their push cart, shovel and broom, these men toiled daily to keep the roadways clear of trash and other waste. The companies that owned the city's toll bridges employed their own hokies to keep the wooden roadbeds free of debris.

Street Car Service

The first streetcar railway south of the Monongahela River was a horse-drawn car line, which operated from Carson Street to Thirtieth Street. In the winter the floor was covered with straw to keep the passengers feet warm. Horse-drawn rail traffic was established in the South Hills in the early 1800s, but there were only a few routes available.

The first electric cars were used in this part of the city in 1890 and were controlled by the Pittsburgh and Birmingham Traction Company. The cars seated twenty-five people. One such route extended from Warrington Avenue south along West Liberty Avenue to Mount Lebanon.

West Liberty Avenue at the junction with Brookline Boulevard in 1915.

A single=track line was laid along West Liberty Avenue in 1901 as part of the Charleroi Electric Short Line Railway. The streetcar tunnel through Mount Washington opened on December 2, 1904, bringing quick and reliable service to the South Hills.

In the spring of 1905 a double-track line was constructed through Brookline from Kerr's Blacksmith Shop on West Liberty Avenue (the Brookline Junction) to a dead end at Fairhaven Road (Merrick Avenue). In 1910, the service was extended into East Brookline to a trolley loop near Witt Street.

A trolley car heading inbound approaches Pioneer Avenue in 1918.

Five years later, in 1915, the entire West Liberty Avenue line was reconstructed. The modern trolley service led to a dramatic surge in residential and commercial construction, and a corresponding population boom.

An inbound 39-Brookline passes Birchland as it approaches Breining Street after making the loop.

For six decades, streetcar traffic in Brookline remained a reliable transportation alternative. The Pittsburgh rail network could get a passenger anywhere in the city. It was the prefered choice for commuters traveling to work downtown, and students at South Hills High School were issued passes for the trip to and from the South Hills Junction.

Pittsburgh Railways route 39-Brookline remained in operation until September 1966, when the line was discontinued in favor of Port Authority bus service. The route was renamed 41-Brookline. Although they lack the nostalgia of the traditional streetcars, the bus service in Brookline, and throughout the city, is still affordable and reliable. In 2011, the Port Authority redesignated the Brookline bus route back to the traditional 39-Brookline.

Light rail cars pass the Station Square stop at Carson and Smithfield Streets.

For those who still enjoy riding the rails, the Potomac Avenue "T" station in Dormont is a convenient nearby gateway to Pittsburgh's modern light rail system. The "T" routes follow the old Mount Lebanon/Beechview and Shannon/Library street car right-of-ways and connect to the downtown subway, then on to the North Shore.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Are They Called Streetcars or Trolleys?

There is some debate over whether the proper term for the vehicles that ran the rails on Pittsburgh streets were called "Streetcars" or "Trolleys."

The answer is ... both!

The official terminology might sound a bit strange:

A TRAM (also known as a tramcar; a streetcar or street car; and a trolley, trolleycar, or trolley car) is a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets (called street running), and also sometimes on separate rights of way. Trams powered by electricity, which were the most common type historically, were once called electric street railways. Trams also included horsecar railways which were widely used in urban areas before electrification.

For a more detailed history of trams, visit Wikipedia (Trams).

Two inbound 39-Brookline streetcars, heading north on West Liberty Avenue, approach the Capital Avenue Car Stop.

A Ride On The Brookline Trolley In The Early 1900s

This account was published by Mr. Donald Hahn, an old Brookline resident. Mr. Hahn details what it was like taking the 39-Brookline trolley from the South Hills Junction through to the old trolley loop. It is a wonderful look back at what Brookline was like around 1910. It was copied from a Brookline Journal article.

We are now aboard a Brookline trolley car (Toonerville) at the South end of the tunnel (South Hills Junction), for the trip to Brookline. We swing and sway down through the barn yard to its end, and the switch.

Here the conductor got out, threw a switch, and pulled onto the single track cutoff that leads to Warrington Avenue. The conductor threw back his switch, and threw the light giving right of way to the single track at the Old Bell House Tavern.

The Bell House stood just across Saw Mill Run. An old wooden bridge spanned the run. Here the conductor turned off the single light. Double track started here and we turn onto West Liberty Avenue.

Born's West Liberty Hotel was on one corner and Elijah Lee's blacksmith shop was on the opposite corner. Gilfillan and Orr Feed Company was next to the hotel, and a frame house owned by Peter Schaffner was across the street. From there up to Cape May Avenue just a few frame houses stood.

West Liberty Avenue near the junction with Saw Mill Run and Warrington Avenue in 1915, looking south.

At Cape May Avenue was the old frame school. Here was were the Mission and Brookline Boulevard United Presbyterian Church originated. A few more scattered houses, then the Paul Coal Company mine entrance, stable and loading bins at the corner of Stetson Street.

From here on more scattered houses, with Zehfuss Hotel near Capital Avenue, Wilhelm's country store at Ray Avenue and Butcher Baker's meat market at the corner of Pauline.

Where the Evangelical Home stands were the Knowlson and Millitzer Farms, and at the junction the George Kerr and Sons blacksmith shop, with the big house on the hill behind.

Before we start up the hill let's look back on the south-east side of West Liberty Avenue. On the corner was the old mine entrance, the pumping station and air shaft.

The street car wound its way over a private right of way up the hill. In later years the right of way was widened and paved, extending the Boulevard to the Junction. Present-day Bodkin Street was originally Hunter Avenue, then renamed Brookline Boulevard until the paving of the right of way, at which time it became Bodkin.

We will now travel down the Boulevard. The car tracks were in the center, a private right of way unpaved, and set between the tracks were wooden poles. Long cross-arms were mounted atop these poles, to which were strung the trolley wires.

I should state that Pioneer Avenue was originally Lang Avenue, named for William Lang. The Lang farm was located near the bottom of Pioneer Avenue, alongside the railroad tracks. When Brookline was annexed into the city, the steet name duplicated another Lang Avenue and needed to be changed. The residents decided to call the street Pioneer Avenue.

Doctor C.C. Lang had his home and office on the corner where Myer's Gas Station now stands. When Mr. Myer's put in his first station equipment the house was moved to its present site at Pioneer and Berkshire Avenues.

Looking up the lower end of Brookline Boulevard towards Pioneer Avenue and the home of Dr. C.C Lang.
The streetcar exited the right of way onto the boulevard near the small building to the right.

Next was part of an old orchard, then W.H. William's Grocery. At the West Point trolley car stop (Wedgemere Avenue), was Hoot's Bakery. This building housed many business establishments until 1920.

Brookline's first movie house was an open-air theatre between a store and the engine house. Crossing Castlegate was Dooley's Grocery and Meats. Joe Dooley also had his own ice plant.

Further along the Boulevard we pass more vacant lots and the remnants of an another old orchard, until we reach "Heine" Melvin's Drug Store at the corner of Stebbins. From a point opposite Flatbush Avenue, a path cut through the field on an angle, ending beside Ed Cook's house on Berkshire Avenue.

Brookline Boulevard on July 4, 1911, looking northeast towards Stebbins Avenue and on towards Chelton (formerly
Chelsea Avenue) in the distance. Melvin's Brookline Pharmacy is the first building on the right.

From Stebbins Avenue, more open fields to McNeilly's Grocery. This building, now owned by Melman's, housed stores operated by Dean Rhodes and Stevens. Every one of these Boulevard stores had a stable on the alley to the rear.

The next buildings erected were an apartment and duplex near Queensboro, where Dr. O'Hagan, the school doctor, lived, and Sam Gigliotti's building. This building had two store rooms with living quarters above. Sam had his tailor shop in one store. and Nick Ermilino had a shoe repair shop in the other. Another early building was Bob Hartman's News Agency and Simon Zitelli's Barber Shop.

In the triangle stood the frame building owned and occupied by the Freehold Real Estate Company. Between the triangle and Breining Street, Oakridge Street and Merrick Avenue was an old orchard.

Brookline Boulevard in 1913, showing the Freehold Real Estate office in area where the cannon sits today.

Beyond Breining Street to the right we ran into, what was called in the olden days, Anderson's Acres farm and woods. To the left of the tracks was the Hayes farm. The original East Brookline was laid out in part from the Hayes farm.

At Breining, the conductor threw a switch and proceeded on single track to the loop, where he got out and threw another switch for the return trip back up the boulevard.

I might add that for a few years before the loop was built the streetcar line continued through the woods and past the old coal mine shafts in the valley. It passed under a railroad tressel and met up with the Charleroi line, then followed Saw Mill Run to back to town.

<Ride The 39-Brookline And See The Sights Along The Way - 1912>

City Steps

Another tried and tested way to get from here to there in the community of Brookline is on foot. Brookline has always been a walking neighborhood. Children make their way to school every day along the broad sidewalks. Shoppers walk to and from the boulevard pick up groceries, and commuters make their daily trek to the bus or streetcar stop.

The Stebbins Avenue steps rise from Berkshire Avenue to Woodbourne in 1933.

With all of the hills in Brookline there are several roadways that in places are just "Paper Streets." They are on municipal maps, but are in fact long sets of City Steps. These cement staircases vary in length from short climbs to long, mountainous ascents.

Some city steps run alongside steep roadways, like the Belle Isle Steps and the Stebbins Steps. Others are extensions of existing streets, such as the Jacob Street Steps. The Ray Avenue and Wedgemere Place Steps are somewhat unique, standing alone from beginning to end yet still carrying a distinct street designation.

  
Looking down from the Brookline side of the Jacob Street Steps as two men return home from work in 1952 (left),
and the Glenbury Street Steps, located at the bottom of the hill near the railroad tunnel, shown in 1970.

Other city steps in Brookline that are extensions of actual roads are along Stetson Street, Kenilworth Avenue and Ballinger Street. At the bottom of Edgebrook is a set of steps that lead to the South Busway and Timberland Avenue. Another short set of steps connects Bodkin Street with Pioneer Avenue.

Many of these steps have been in place for over seventy years. They were constructed over time as the community grew and expanded. Although they are showing signs of age, the steps are still maintained by the city and remain popular pedestrian transit routes to this day.

The Belle Isle Steps rise from Plainview Avenue, shown here on September 18, 1934.

With communities like Troy Hill, Mount Washington and the South Side Slopes, it may come as a surprise to some that, as of 2012, Brookline boasts the two longest sets of city steps. Ray Avenue ranks #1 with 378 steps and Jacob Street ranks #2 at 364.

Brookliners who used these long stairways during their daily commutes will always remember how easy it was to get from the top to the bottom, and how exhausting the climb could be going up in the opposite direction. They were definitely a great way to get your exercise, and will always be a memorable part of growing up in Brookline.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Brookline City Steps In 2013

Ray Avenue

  
The Ray Avenue Steps descend from Pioneer Avenue all the way to West Liberty Avenue.
They are the longest municipal staircase in Brookline, with 378 steps in all.

A 1940 map showing the "paper street" Ray Avenue.

  
The Ray Avenue steps stretch from West Liberty Avenue at the bottom upwards to Woodward Avenue,
then through to Plainview, and finally to Pioneer Avenue at the crest of the hill.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Jacob Street

  
Looking down the Brookline side of the Jacob Street steps in East Brookline.

  
Looking up the Overbrook side of the Jacob Street steps. The steps connect the two sections of Jacob.
Taken as one complete set of steps, the Jacob Street steps rank #2 in the city, with 364 steps in all.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Belle Isle Avenue

  
Two views of one section of the long Belle Isle Steps that run from West Liberty Avenue to Plainview.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Edgebrook To Ballinger Street and Timberland Avenue

  
Steps going up from Edgebrook Avenue to Ballinger Street (left) and the South Busway and Timberland Avenue.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Wedgemere Place

  
Looking at the Wedgemere Place Steps and walkway from Gallion Avenue (left) and Berwin Avenue.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Stebbins Avenue and Bodkin Street

  
Looking up the Stebbins Avenue Steps from Berkshire Avenue (left) and the Bodkin Street Steps.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Stetson Street and Kenilworth Avenue

  
A section of the Stetson Street Steps (left) and the Kenilworth Avenue Steps leading to Aidyl Avenue.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Stapleton Avenue and Repeal Way

  
The Stapleton Avenue Steps off West Liberty Avenue (left) and the Repeal Way Steps looking up from Glenarm Avenue.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

In Nearby Overbrook Along Glenbury:
Pinecastle Avenue and Fan Street

  
The Pinecastle Avenue steps at the bottom of Glenbury Street, next to the railroad tunnel.

  
The Fan Street Steps that lead from the intersection of Seldon Street and Seldon Place down to Glenbury.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

At one time, the City of Pittsburgh had over one thousand sets of city steps dotting the urban landscape. In 1945 there were over fifteen miles of steps in service and the city employed an Inspector of Steps.

As of 2012 there were 712 of these staircases still in use. Some of the older steps that are no longer in existence were much longer, and steeper, than any encountered in Brookline.

The grand-daddy of all Pittsburgh City Steps would have to be the 1000-step, mile-long Indian Trail Steps, shown below in 1910. The legendary wooden staircase scaled the northern slope of Mount Washington from Carson Street to Duquesne Heights from 1909 to 1935.

Freehold Real Estate Company

The Freehold Real Estate Company was formed in 1904 after taking over the firm Haas and Lauinger, and was the largest real estate vendor in Western Pennsylvania. H. P. Haas, president of the company, which was headquartered on Fourth Avenue, Pittsburgh, was instrumental in having a plan of lots laid out in West Liberty Borough, in 1905, which he called Brookline. The family of H.P. Haas, a resident of the East End, enjoyed the Brookline atmosphere so much that four brothers, Henry T., William F., C.A. and George R., were some of the first lot buyers, with homes built along Woodbourne Avenue.

The following farms were bought by the West Liberty Development Company for this purpose: Jane Reamer, Willison Hughey, David Hunter, Richard Knowlson, Tom Knowlson, John Knowlson, William McNealy (Chimney Town), Philip Fisher, Dr. J.H. Wright, Joseph McKnight, John H. Daub and Philip Linn. The Paul Land Company developed over 140 acres of farmland owned by Elizabeth Paul. H. P. Haas also handled the development of portions of the Ida Fleming and Joseph Hughey estates as early as 1902 with Haas and Lauinger.

The next problem was that of water supplies. In 1905 the South Pittsburgh Water Company had a large wooden tank supported high in the air near Neeld Switch. Pipe lines were laid from this water tank. When the South Pittsburgh Water Company changed the location of their water plant, the old tank stood for many years after its abandonment and became sort of a land mark to the locals. The foundation markings remain to this day. Street improvements and sewerage were provided to take care of the influx of new residents.

  
The downtown Freehold Real Estate offices at 334 (left), in 1907, and later 311 Fourth Avenue, in 1915. These offices
handled many of the investment and home buying transactions for Brookliners in the early days.

When the necessary infrastructure was in place, the West Liberty Development Company began developing the lots for the expected rush of new residents. The Freehold Real Estate Company erected a small office at the intersection of Brookline Boulevard, Chelton and Queensboro Avenues, on the small triangular island.

From this central location, most real estate transactions regarding Brookline properties took place. Further development in East Brookline (Overbrook) kept the Freehold Real Estate office busy for over two decades. The construction of the Liberty Tunnels in 1924 led to another properous time for the company. New home sales hit record highs.

Real Estate brochure from the early-1920s.

The Great Depression caused a decline in the housing market, forcing the Freehold Real Estate Company to close their Brookline office in 1932. The company had overseen the development of the community for over a quarter of a century. The triangle where the office stood was later converted into a small park and the Brookline Veteran's Memorial.

First Churches

The first church in Brookline was a stump church at the end of Brookline Boulevard. People gathered around the preacher and sat on log stumps to hear his Gospel stories.

In 1868 the Knowlson Methodist Church was constructed. This first church building stood near the present-day junction of West Liberty Avenue and Brookline Boulevard. The property was donated by Richard Knowlson.

In 1905 the church united with the Banksville Methodist Church and Reflectorville Methodist Church. The congregation formed the Brookline Methodist Church, chartered in 1913. Their church was constructed along Brookline Boulevard, at Wedgemere Avenue.

The old Knowlson Methodist Church, built in 1850 above the junction of Brookline Boulevard and West Liberty Avenue,
shown here in 1915. The church was used over the years by the Brookline Methodists, the St. Mark's Lutherans,
and the Brookline Presbyterians, all of whom later relocated to larger churches built along Brookline Boulevard.

A small group of United Presbyterians had a small house of worship, erected in 1902, near the Bell House on West Liberty Avenue. In 1907, they moved to the West Liberty Elementary schoolhouse on Pioneer Avenue, then to the old Knowlson Church for a few years. The Presbyterians constructed a new church at Queensboro and Brookline Boulevard, dedicated on February 13, 1913. The church was enlarged in 1924, and again in 1953.

Resurrection Roman Catholic Church was organized in 1909. Construction of a church and school along Creedmoor Avenue began in 1910. The original building was completed in 1912, then enlarged in stages through 1928.

Masses were held in the basement of the school building from 1910 through 1939, when a separate church was built next door. Over the years, the congregation at Resurrection grew to such proportions that four individual spinoff parishes were formed, including St. Pius X on Pioneer Avenue near McNeilly Road, and Our Lady of Loreto, on Crysler Street near Moore Park. Other spinoff congregations include St. Bernard's in Mount Lebanon and St. Norbert's in Overbrook.

Resurrection Church in 1910, the year that the new church and school building was completed.

St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1906 as a mission in a small chapel on Bodkin Street (formerly Brookline Boulevard) with a membership of only twelve people. It's congregation flourished, and in 1928 a new church was constructed at the corner of Glenarm Avenue and Brookline Boulevard. The church was enlarged in the early 1960s.

The Pittsburgh Baptist Church is located on Pioneer Avenue near McNeilly Road and is home to Pittsburgh's Southern Baptist community. The congregation has been in existence since 1958 and have been holding services in the old Brookline church since April of 1959. The church building itself was originally known as the Grace Lutheran Church, home the Missouri Synod congregation. The inner sanctuary is steeped in Lutheran symbolism. The building dates back to the early 1900s.

The Episcopal Church of the Advent, with its conical bell tower, stands atop the high ground along Pioneer
Avenue at Waddington. The large home is the Fleming estate. Ida Fleming helped to form the church
along Pioneer in 1904. The homes in the foreground of this 1935 photo are along Aidyl Avenue.

The Church of the Advent Episcopal was organized in 1904 and a small church built on Pioneer Avenue, near the intersection with McNeilly Road. Additionally, there was the Paul Presbyterian Church, built in 1923 at Dunster Street and Pioneer Avenue on land donated by Elizabeth Paul.

In the 1960s, a new denomination moved into Brookline. The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses built a house of worship along the lower part of Brookline Boulevared, at the intersection with Witt Street. The Jehovah's left at the start of the 21st Century. Since then the small church has served non-denominational Christians. It was briefly called the Agape Church, GracePointe and Upper Room Worship. Today it is home to Sion Iglesia Christiana.

Educational Institutions Formed

The first log school house was built in 1807, located near the Lutheran Church in Baldwin Township. The oldest school in the Brookline area, according to Professor Joseph F. Moore, was situated on Pioneer Avenue near Ray and Holbrook Avenues. Another was located at the corner of Cape May and West Liberty Avenue (the original West Liberty School).

A third was the East Side School, a frame building on Edgebrook Avenue, and the fourth was a private school at the south end of the present Liberty Tubes, built in 1820 by Mr. William Dilworth, an early coal mining entrepreneur, for the children of the coal miners he employed.

The second West Liberty Elementary School building, built in 1898, is shown here in 1941
after it was converted to Elizabeth-Seton High School.

In 1898, a modern four-room schoolhouse, called West Liberty Elementary School was erected on Pioneer Avenue near the intersection with Capital. Avenue. Known as the "Little Red School House", the building was enlarged in 1906 to eight classrooms.

Soon, overcrowding at West Liberty Elementary compelled the Pittsburgh Public School Board to build Brookline Elementary School, located at Pioneer and Woodbourne Avenues. The original four-room building was dedicated on July 4, 1909. Six additional classrooms were added in 1913, followed by six more in 1920. Another wing, including nine rooms and other amenities, was constructed in 1929.

The Brookline Elementary School basketball team in 1913.

In addition to the public schools, parochial school children could attend Resurrection Elementary School, which was constructed between 1909 and 1911. The school, located on Creedmoor Avenue, opened for students in the fall of 1912. Overcrowding at Resurrection led to the formation of St. Norbert's parish in Overbrook (1914) and St. Bernard's parish in Mount Lebanon (1919).

Alice M. Carmalt Elementary School was built in 1937, along Breining Street, and expanded in the 1950s. Continual population increases led to several expansions of Resurrection, and the formation of two other Brookline parish schools, St. Pius X in 1955 and Our Lady Of Loreto in 1961, both located along Pioneer Avenue.

The Eighth Grade graduating class from the 1913-1914 school year at Resurrection Elementary.

Other educational institutions included DePaul Institute, built in 1910 for the hearing impaired, Toner Institute, a military type training academy for orphans that was chartered in 1941, and Pioneer School, constructed in 1958 and operating as a special education facility to meet the needs of the physically challenged.

The old West Liberty School was sold in 1938 to the Catholic Diocese for use as a girl's high school, called Elizabeth Seton High School. A newly constructed school building, the third version of West Liberty School opened at Crysler and LaMoine Streets in 1939. The school was expanded in 1959. West Liberty School was again closed in 1979, then reopened in 2000, after an additional wing was built.

West Liberty Elementary School in 1959, after an expansion of the school building.

In 1996, in response to the financial difficulties in supporting three aging schools, and a overall drop in enrollment, the Catholic Diocese merged the three local parochial elementary schools, Resurrection, St. Pius and Loreto. Located in the old St. Pius school building, the school was called Brookline Regional Catholic from 1996 to 2014. It was designated as Saint John Bosco Academy in 2014 and closed in June 2019.

High Schools For Brookliners

Beginning in 1900, students graduating from West Liberty Elementary School were permitted to attend Knoxville Union High School at no charge, largely due to Professor Moore's efforts in obtaining the right of West Liberty Borough children to free public education.

Beginning in August 1917, most Brookline students attended South Hills High School, located in Mount Washington, for their secondary education. South Hills High School served local students for sixty years. In 1977, Brookline students were transferred to the newly constructed Brashear High School in Beechview.

South Hills High School, shown here in 1939, served Brookline students from 1917-1977.

For a parochial secondary education, from 1912 through 1934, Resurrection Elementary also offered high school classes to parish graduates. From 1935 to 1991, girls could attend St. Francis Academy in Castle Shannon. Beginning in 1941, another alternative for the ladies was Elizabeth-Seton High School on Pioneer Avenue.

For the boys, South Hills Catholic High School, located on McNeilly Road, opened in 1960. The institution merged with St. Francis and Elizabeth-Seton after the completion of the 1979 school year to form the present-day Seton-Lasalle High School.

Rumble Of The Railroad

Just like the steel mills and factories that lined the Three Rivers in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Pittsburgh was also synonymous with the railroad industry. Local small-guage coal railroads were active in the South Hills as early as 1861. The Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad operated continuously along Saw Mill Run from 1871 to 1912.

In the city, the nation's larger railroads were one of the major industries in the city. The Pennsylvania Railroad, the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad and the B&O Railroad all had huge facilities within the Golden Triangle competing for their share of the lucrative passenger and freight business.

  
Workers working on the West Side Belt Railway line, part of the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad,
near Timberland and Cadet Avenues in 1909 (left), and the rails as they
pass under the Timberland Avenue Bridge in 1918.

Another major railroad that was once a part of Pittsburgh's heritage was the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway. The Wabash was built to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad for the lucrative steel hauling business. It opened in 1904 and went bankrupt in 1908.

Part of the Wabash network was the old West Side Belt Railway line that skirted the border of Brookline, heading along Saw Mill Run valley, then following the Library Road corridor through Castle Shannon and continuing west. Although the Wabash was in receivership, this spur line was upgraded in 1909 and continued to be a profitable freight-hauling venture.

  
Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad train at Elm Street in Castle Shannon in 1940 (left) and
crossing the tressel at Whited and Jacob Streets in Brookline, March 1957.

In 1928 the line was purchased by the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad. P&WVRR locomotives passed along the outskirts of Brookline for the next forty-eight years, until the railroad was purchased by Norfolk and Southern in 1964. It was then sold to the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway in 1988 and has carried that designation ever since.

For over a quarter century, the W&LERR has remained a profitable local carrier. The railroad and has seen a recent upsurge in traffic with the emergence of the Marcellus Shale natural gas operations in southwestern Pennsylvania. Six to eight trains now pass through Brookline on an average day.

  
Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad trains passing over the tressel at Edgebrook Avenue in Brookline, 2014.

For those who have lived in the community of Brookline, the rumbling sound of the locomotives and the distant whistle as they pass by Brookline is something that will always remain in our conscious memories of home, especially those nearest the tracks along Timberland, Cadet, Ballinger and Jacob streets.

The sound of the passing train seems most evident at night, when all is quiet. For miles one can hear the rumbling of the engine, the screach of the rails and the frequent whistle blows echoing through the valleys. Depending upon the direction of travel, the distant rumble can be heard all the way from Greentree and Bethel Park. It gradually grows as it nears Brookline, then slowly fades away.

Heading down to the bottom of Edgebrook, Whited, Glenbury or McNeilly roads to watch the train go by is something most local residents have experienced and will remember fondly as a part of growing up here in Brookline. Many still have the smashed pennies, nickels and dimes that so often became souvenirs of the visit.

♦ Walk the W&LERR Route Through Brookline ♦
West Liberty Avenue to Jacob Street

♦ History of the West Side Belt Railroad ♦

  
The W&LERR tracks at the West Liberty Avenue Bridge (left) and at the Jacob Street Busway Stop.

Coal for Heating in High Demand

In February, 1909, the Paul Coal Company was established at the corner of Summerhill (Stetson Street) and West Liberty Avenue. Residents could obtain coal on a very short notice. Robert McKinley, J.C. Crawford and J.C. Davis chartered the company after purchasing the large tract of coal lying beneath the Paul Place plan of lots, and the adjoining property owned by Mrs. Elizabeth Paul.

The main mine entrance was located near Stetson Street. The Paul Place plan of lots would include the homes on Plainview, Woodward and Pioneer, north and south of Capital Avenue. The Paul Farm, located across Pioneer Avenue atop the hill, eventually became the Moore Park and Our Lady of Loreto Church grounds.

  
The Paul Coal Company mine located along West Liberty Avenue and a Fairbanks scale.

A fairbanks scale was placed within easy access of West Liberty Avenue, where the public was able to use it for a nominal price. An electric machine of the Jefferson type was installed for the digging of coal. Power was supplied by the Pittsburgh Railways Company. The electric machine was the first of its kind in use within the city limits and the easy access to coal for heating homes in the South Hills area was a great improvement to local homeowners.

A horse-drawn wagon, loaded with coal, stands at the intersection of Freedom Avenue and Merrick Avenue in 1924.

There had been mining in West Liberty Borough since the mid-1800s. The Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad began as a Coal Railroad that operated along the Little Saw Mill Run corridor in Banksville and the Saw Mill Run corridor through to Castle Shannon. There were branch lines that ran into the Brookline valleys, with maps showing them along Edgebrook Avenue and into the Paul property, near present-day Moore Park.

In the early 1900s, the main mining operations, like the Pittsburgh Coal Company, had exhausted their claims. Other local companies, like the South Hills Coal Company along McNeilly Road, and the Castle Shannon Coal Company on Library Road continued operating well into the late 1930s. These local companies became the primary source of coal for residential heating until their claims were exhausted.

Richard Dunn and Donald Fornear in 1943 shoveling coal along Woodbourne Avenue.

Through the mid-1940s, most Brookline homes were heated with coal furnaces. First by horse-drawn wagon, then by motorized transport, home coal deliveries were made several times a year along the neighborhood streets and alleys. Most of the time, the coal was dumped on the sidewalk or along the back edge of the property.

Residents would have to haul the coal to the house, often one bucket at a time, and drop it into a coal shute, which led to the coal cellar off the main basement. Most homes converted to natural gas furnaces in the 1940s and 1950s. There were still a few homes receiving coal deliveries as late as 1970.

For neighborhood children, Coal Delivery Day was a big deal, and a chance to play for a while with the black gold.
Here, young Joe Sabash, his sister and a friend gather near a recently delivered load in 1944. Parents, on
the other hand, weren't so happy about having to clean their filthy hands and clothes afterwards.

Oak Mine Under Brookline

Brookline sits atop what was known as the Oak Mine. There were actually a series of Oak Mines stretching from Brookline along the Saw Mill Run corridor to Castle Shannon. Underneath the heart of Brookline are the subterranean passages of Oak Mine #1.

Owned by the Pittsburgh Coal Company, the mine ran the length of Brookline, from east to west. The coal was part of the Pittsburgh Coal Seam. Stretching from Pittsburgh southwest into Ohio and West Virginia, it was the largest coal deposit in the Eastern United States.

Scenes like this were commonplace along the valleys of Brookline in the early 1900s.

Underneath Brookline, coal was mined using the traditional room and pillar system, whereby rooms are cut into the coal bed leaving a series of pillars, or columns of coal, to help support the mine roof and control the flow of air. Generally, rooms are twenty to thirty feet wide and the pillars are up to 100 feet wide.

As mining advances, a grid-like pattern of rooms and pillars is formed. When the shaft reaches the end of a panel, retreat mining begins. Workers mine as much coal as possible from the remaining pillars until the roof begins to collapse. When retreat mining is completed, the area is abandoned and sealed off.

Undated photo showing an Engine House, Maintenance Shed and Coal Tipple
at the Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon Railroad's Oak Mine.

In West Liberty Borough, mining operations along Saw Mill Run Creek started in the mid-1800s. By the early-1870s, the mining had progressed into the eastern boundaries of present-day Brookline, then referred to as the Oak Hill section of West Liberty.

The Oak Mine in West Liberty was the first in a series of mine along the Saw Mill Run corridor, located in the villages of Reflectorville, Fairhaven and Castle Shannon.

The mine shafts began in the valleys along Saw Mill Run and extended deep into the hills. The coal was extracted using dynamite, picks and shovels, then transported to the mills along the Monongahela River via the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad.

A donkey pulls a loaded car out of one of the pit mouths in the early-1900s.

There were four separate small-gauge P&CSRR spur lines that ran along Brookline's valley floors to the main pit openings. These were located in the valley behind Moore Park, along Edgebrook Avenue, along Whited Street and in the ravine behind Brookline Park.

Inside the mines, mules were used to pull the coal cars along the dark passages. Near the pit mouths were large fields where the animals were brought to rest and graze in the sunlight.

The Pittsburgh Coal Company power station and mine shaft at the Brookline Junction in 1909.

The eastern part of Brookline's Oak Mine, along Saw Mill Run, was mined out by the early-1900s. By then, work had begun tunneling under the western section of Brookline, from West Liberty Avenue east to Merrick Avenue.

Near the turn of the century, the Pittsburgh Coal Company built a power station, mine ventilation shaft, holding tank and storage barn next to the Brookline Junction, at the intersection of Brookline Boulevard and West Liberty Avenue. The power station was in operation approximately fifteen years.

During a widening of West Liberty Avenue in 1915, the power station and out buildings were removed and relocated to Elwyn Street. A large silo-like ventilation shaft remained at the Brookline Junction until the early-1940s.

  
A mine shaft along Elwyn Street/McNeilly Road in 1931 (left) and an abandoned shaft along Edgebrook in 1937.

The Oak Mine in the Brookline area was completely mined out by 1941. The numerous shafts along West Liberty Avenue, the Saw Mill Run Corridor and the Elwyn (McNeilly Road) Street valley were boarded up. The mining companies dismantled their buildings, sealed the shafts and moved on to the abundant coal fields further south.

Over time, most vestiges of the once bustling local mining industry disappeared. Occasionally, an abandoned mine shaft is uncovered during construction. More often the reminders of Brookline's mining past come in the form of mine subsidence. Underground collapses can cause damage to ground-level infrastructure and homes as the earth settles into the void.

  
A 1910 photo of miners working in one of Pittsburgh's many coal mines.

Abandoned mine shafts, which once dotted the hillsides around the community, were still being found as late as the 1980s. Landslides and shifting earth along the hills have been known to expose these openings.

As recently as October 2007, a mine shaft was unearthed during the reconfiguration of Library Road in Overbrook, near the intersection with McNeilly Road. We caution anyone that stumbles upon one of these hazards to stay out!

This abandoned mine shaft was unearthed along Library Road during construction in 2007.

<Photos of the Uncovering/Sealing of the Elwyn Mine Shaft in 2007>

The Brookline community has been 95% undermined. If you own a home it's a good bet that there is a room, or an aging pillar, underneath your land. For all Brookline property owners, we offer three important words, Mine Subsidence Insurance. It is offered by the State of Pennsylvania and it is affordably priced.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Mine Rescue Training At Brookline's Oak Mine

The September 9, 1913 edition of the Pittsburgh Gazette Times featured an article about a ten-day conference on mine rescue maneuvers held in Pittsburgh by the Bureau of Mines. The field training was held at Oak Station, the busy mining center located near the bottom of Whited Street in East Brookline. The article is reprinted below.

MINE RESCUE MEN SHOW THEIR SKILL

Delegates To 10-Day Conference Hasten
To Oak Station For Real Work

TO TEST FIRST AID SYSTEM

Canaries Are Part Of Equipment For Detecting
Dangerous Gases Under Ground

Mine rescue workers and first-aid men, representing the federal and state governments and private mine corporations, in conference yesterday morning at the Bureau of Mines Station, Arsenal Park, were told by Engineer James W. Paul, that a disaster had taken place at the Oak Mine, owned by the Pittsburgh Coal Company and located at Oak Station.

Trained to receive such news complacently and with reserve, the workers adjourned the session and met informally to formulate plans of action in the care of the supposed dead and injured. Later they made a hurried trip in a special car to the mine, where they found the specially-equipped rescue car of the Bureau of Mines standing on a railroad siding, and a small crew of smiling first-aid men.

It was the opening day of a 10-day mine rescue maneuver to be conducted at that mine, which was abandoned temporarily one and one-half years ago. Mining engineers and rescue workers from all the coal regions in the country east of the Mississippi River will come to the camp to participate in the elaborate demonstration of mine rescue methods.

James W. Paul, head of the rescue department, with headquarters in this city, will direct the maneuvers. He will be assisted by a corps of engineers and mine foremen from various mining districts throughout the east.

First Aid To Be Tested

Five crews, consisting of five men each, and each under the supervision of a mining engineer, will operate in the Oak Mine in day and night shifts. The work will be continuous throughout the ten days. The crews will work in two-hour shifts, and at the end of the maneuvering it is estimated the mine will be put back into condition for operation.

This work will be the beginning of a series of campaigns to be held in various parts of the country. Similar experiments will be performed in a camp at Trinidad, Colorado, the latter part of this month.

It is the aim of the authorities to establish rescue work in the mines on a definite basis of cooperation between the mine operators, the state mine inspectors, and the rescue workers. The efficiency of first-aid methods will be tested, and the apparatus in vogue will be given severe trials.

Helmeted miners exiting Brookline's Oak Mine after training.

It is understood that the Oak Mine contains a large quantity of black damp and gas, and the officials consider it an excellent place to perform an extensive experiment.

For rescue operations the mine operators will be required to furnish one or more trained crews, and a full set of breathing apparatus. Sufficient supplies to maintain the apparatus for a continuous period of forty-five hours will be necessary.

Canary Birds To Be Used

The government car at the Oak Mine is fully equipped with helmets, safety lamps, oxygen tanks, stretchers, pulmonators, bandages and medicines. Every man in the crew is trained to meet any emergency that might arise at a disaster.

A host of canary birds, used in testing the amount of poisonous gas in the confines of mine shafts, is an important part of the equipment. The birds are taken down into the mine in cages. When they become exhausted, the bearer of the cage knows that he may venture further into the mine safely, but he must not remain there no longer than eight or nine minutes. At that time the worker must leave the mine. The bird is placed in an air-tight oxygen box and resusitated.

It is estimated that the present rescue organizations have decreased death rolls in mining regions more than 200 men each year since their organization. It is said that a life is saved every day through the efforts of the first aid teams in the mines.

The officials of the maneuver and their subordinates will not leave the camp until the experiment is closed. A.A. Krogdahl, first aid miner, of Ironwood, Michigan, who will participate in the experiment, was awarded medals by the Red Cross and the Carnegie Hero Fund commission, before he entered the service of the Bureau of Mines, for saving the lives of fellow miners. He has since rescued men from mines, but his official position has barred him from further awards.

The men at the Oak Mine are: James W. Paul, G.H. Deike, assistant engineer, of Pittsburgh; Edwin Higgins, of Ironwood, MI, Charles Enzian, of Wilkes-Barre, PA, R.Y. Williams, of Urbana, IL, J.M. Booher, Edward Evans, of Pittsburgh, W.J. German, of Kingston, PA, G.T. Powell, of Evansville, IN, Edward Steidle of Pittsburgh, Jesse Henson, of Huntington, WV, W.W. Sullivan, of Ironwood, MI, A.A. Krogdahl, of Ironwood, MI, W.A. Raudenbush, C.O. Roberts, of Pittsburgh, A.I. Young and A.J Strane.

The September 10, 1913 edition of the Pittsburgh Gazette Times printed the following update on the maneuvers.

RESCUE MEN ENTER MINE IN REAL DISASTER STYLE

Maneuver Of Federal, State and Corporation
Teams Proceeds At Oak Station

Five teams consisting of federal, state and private mine corporation rescuers, first aid men and mine officials, entered the Oak Mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Company at Oak Station yesterday as the first work of a ten-day mine rescue maneuver that is being carried out in connection with the conference of mine rescue workers from various parts of the country at the Bureau of Mines in Arsenal Park. The work is under the direction of James W. Paul.

The teams entered this abandoned, dangerous and gaseous mine by three different entrances just as they would had a real disaster occurred. They were fully equipped with the apparatus for artificial breathing and everything required in their work.

They found much water in the mine and heavy "falls" from the roof, but they managed to penetrate some distance. When the men emerged from their dangerous task they were individually examined by Dr. James M. Bocher, of the Bureau of Mines. He found all of them in good condition, prescribed the diet for each, after so much artificial respiration and ordered them six hours rest, after which they entered the mine again.

There will be a meeting at the Bureau of Mines of the American Mine Safety Association, consisting of the mine rescuers and engineers and officials of private companies September 22, 23 and 24. H.M. Wilson, engineer of the local Bureau of Mines, will preside.

The September 12, 1913 edition of the Pittsburgh Gazette Times printed another short blurb on the mine rescue training.

MINE PRACTICE CONTINUES

Rescue Workers Proceed With Annual
Maneuvering At Oak Station

Mine rescue maneuvers, being conducted in the abandoned Oak Mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Company at Oak Station, by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, continued in one of the remote rooms of the mine yesterday. A fire was started in the mine in order to give the men forty-eight hours experience in fighting a mine blaze.

Among the new arrivals in connection with the maneuvering were: G.S. Rice, chief mining engineer of the Bureau of Mines, who returned yesterday from the Pacific coast; J.W. Koster, mine foreman from Illinois' fields; J.C. Roberts, district engineer of the Rocky Mountain region; R.Y. Williams, of the central states, and J.J. Rutledge, of Oklahoma.

Oak Station

Oak Station was one of the primary mining locations along the Saw Mill Run Corridor, which was dotted with operational mine shafts all the way to Bethel Park. In addition to the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad spur line that looped through the Whited Street valley, there was a also small rail hub and loading facility.

The Oak Station mining offices and tipple near the bottom of Oak (Whited) Street,
and several loaded coal cars awaiting transport (circa 1910).

This part of the mine was opened in 1902. Most of the nearby coal was mined out by 1910. From the Oak Station pit mouth, long shafts led to the west and south, connecting to other sections of the mine, forming a vast underground labyrinth stretching out beneath the entire Brookline community, and points beyond. The Oak Mine maps that are shown below give a good glimpse of this subterranean world.

What is Blackdamp?

The Oak Mine was chosen as a test location for the mine rescue teams because of the abundance of blackdamp, an odorless and highly toxic gas. The mixture of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and water vapor forms when exposed coal begins absorbing oxygen. It is difficult to detect and can incapacitate an individual in a matter of moments. Wikipedia: Blackdamp.

Since the nearby rooms and shafts had been abandoned for over a year, pockets of the deadly gas had built up in various locations, thus making this section of the room and pillar mine an ideal environment for detection and rescue training.

.

A Miner's Best Friend

The only way to combat blackdamp and the other toxic and flammable gases that formed during the mining process was with proper ventilation. Even then, it was possible for pockets of blackdamp to form in certain areas. Because it had no odor, miners could not tell when they were encountering the gas.

Canaries where used as a warning device to detect when oxygen levels reached a low level. The birds would pass out when deprived of oxygen. A human's threshold was much higher, thus the eight to nine minute time-interval between the canary collapsing and the miners having to exit the mine.

After their perilous life and death experience, the birds were duly resusitated in an oxygen rich environment, then sent back to the pit mouth for another trip into the dark underverse. Unfortunately, many of the birds perished in the line of duty.

It's difficult to estimate the number of miners that were saved by these fearless canaries. But, it is safe to say that until more efficient detection methods were introduced, these little birds truly were a miner's best friend.

The use of canaries in the United States coal mining industry, was phased out in the late-20th century.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Locations Of Brookline's Oak Mine Entrances
Click on image to enlarge

  
One of the earliest parts of the Oak Mine was this PCSRR spur line and entrance along Timberland Avenue. First
shown on 1876 and mined out by 1890. By 1896 the West Side Belt Railway had laid their tracks along
the Brookline side of Saw Mill Run, utilizing a portion of the old spur line route.

  
Oak Mine entrances along Edgebrook Avenue, shown on an 1876 map and still active in the 1900s. The tracks
ran underground to another mine shaft entrance along Whited Street. Near present-day Hartranft Street
was a large opening in the woods known as the Donkey Field, where the mules were brought to graze.

  
An Oak Mine entrance along Whited Street with a spur line running to the PCSRR tracks, shown on a 1905 map.
This line was Brookline's main coal hub for some time, known as Oak Station.

  
A spur line running to mine entrances in the valley behind present-day Brookline Park, shown on an 1882 map.

  
The Pittsburgh Coal Company power station and ventilation shaft that fed the Oak Mine, shown on this 1905 map.
The power plant was removed in 1915, but the ventilation shaft was moved to a nearby location and remained
until the early 1940s. On the map, Hunter Avenue was redesignated as Brookline Boulevard in 1908.
Later, in 1935, the road became Bodkin Street when the boulevard was rerouted.

  
The Paul Coal Company mine shaft entrance along Stetson Street, shown on a 1916 map. This mine was used
to provide residential heating coal for Brookline and Beechview residents in the early 1900s.

  
A Pittsburgh Coal Company entrance to the Oak Mine southeast of Creedmoor Avenue, shown on a 1916 map.
The shaft opening is across the street from the present-day car wash and auto dealership.

  
Pittsburgh Coal Company entrances to the Oak Mine near present-day Creedmoor Avenue, shown in a 1934 map.

  
The South Hills Coal Company mine entrance and Coal Tipple located near the railroad tunnel along McNeilly Road,
shown on a 1934 map. Coal extracted from this mine shaft was used for residential heating.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Maps Of Brookline's Oak Mine
Click on image for a larger map

  
A 1905 Map (left) showing the proposed path of the streetcar line next to the Pittsburgh Coal Company mine shaft,
and a 1929 map showing the main shafts of the Oak Mine extending eastwards from the Brookline Junction.

Below are a series of maps showing the layout of the room and pillar mines underneath Brookline. Together, the maps form a 3-by-3 grid that show the status of the Oak Mine in the late-1940s. The maps are coded with letters (A, B, AB, AC, etc) and include dated entries that detail the years that those areas were in operation.

There is an accompanying Pittsburgh Coal Company log detailing the code letters and years that correspond to the map entries, showing when specific areas were mined. The log and maps show that mining in Brookline ended in 1941. The dated codes continue through 1980, as mining operations lasted another forty years in the abundant deposits to the south.

These maps show how extensive the mining operations were underneath the community of Brookline, as well as Beechview, Dormont and Overbrook. It really does look as though Brookline is 95% undermined, supported by an aging network of rooms and pillars.

Interactive Overlay Map Showing Part Of Brookline's Oak Mine

The last recorded mining of the Pittsburgh Coal Seam in Brookline's traditional 19th Ward took place in the area underneath Rossmore, Gallion and Berwin Avenues in early-1936. The South Hills Coal Company, which mined the area in the 32nd Ward underneath Ebenshire Village, closed their Saw Mill Run Mine shaft, located along McNeilly Road between Creedmoor Avenue and the railroad tunnel, in 1941.

The map below is from the early 1900s and gives a bit more detail to the mining operations in the eastern section of the Oak Mine. Many of the street names still carry old West Liberty Borough designations. Some of these are Oak (Whited), Warwick (Wareman), Clifton (Clippert), Chelsea (Chelton), Putnam (Edgebrook), Glenarm (Trenton), Flatbush (Winchester), Wedgemere (West Point), Rossmore (Cromwell) and Gallion (Monitor).

The drawing below shows the property lines of James Gordon when the mining rights to his land were acquired by the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad. The document is dated April 22, 1904. The pit mouth shown is located near Marloff Place. It extends into the Oak Mine and proceeds directly under present-day Brookline Memorial Park (Anderson property).

Shown below is a newspaper clipping from 1902 disclosing the purchase of the mining rights to 113.059 acres of land bordering Gordon's to the south. It documents the rights of the company to mine all of the coal in the underlying area and the terms and cost for any surface damage relating to the mining operation.

  
The South Hills Coal Company on McNeilly Road in 1930 (left), and the Castle Shannon Coal Company along
Library Road in 1931. These companies operated Oak Mine #2 and Oak Mine #3 from 1902 to 1941.

On the site of the former South Hills Coal Company is the equipment lot of Facchiano Construction Company. In 2015
they dug into the hillside to expand the lot and exposed a clearly visible line of coal from the Pittsburgh Coal Seam.

The Town Of Reflectorville
(1890-1920)

The exact year that the small town of Reflectorville came into being is not known. The hamlet was located on Oak Hill between the lower end of Whited Street and Edgebrook Avenue, along Saw Mill Run Creek. Using real estate advertisements and old maps as a reference, we can assume that it was approximately 1890.

This part of present-day Brookline was then situated in the northern tip of Baldwin Township, along the border of West Liberty Borough and Carrick Borough. Part of the Reflectorville area spread north of the border into the nearby boroughs, along the Saw Mill Run corridor. To the south was the neighboring township mining settlement of Fairhaven.

Thomas Bailey And David Moon

Much of the land that comprised Reflectorville was owned and developed by Thomas Flanner Bailey and David G. Moon, the president and treasurer of Pittsburgh's highly successful Bailey Reflector Company. Their business is the origin of the town's unique name.

The Bailey Reflector Company was located in Pittsburgh, on Second Avenue, and manufactured ornamental oil, glass and kerosene silvered lighting fixtures and chandoliers that were popular in churches and commercial establishments throughout the United States. Bailey Reflectors also found a market for their products as far away as Japan.

In the 1880s, with the mining industry venturing into the region south of Pittsburgh, the two businessmen acquired a substantial land tract along the Saw Mill Run corridor with the purpose of creating a residential development in the rural South Hills suburbs.

Construction of Reflectorville began in 1890 and continued for the next thirty years. As Pittsburgh expanded through a series of annexations, the small town was eventually absorbed into the city limits.

By that time, the men who had orchestrated the birth of Reflectorville had long since passed on. David Moon died in 1906, at age seventy-three. Thomas Bailey, aged seventy-seven, followed in 1915. The Bailey Reflector Company was sold by the Bailey family in June 1916.

Housing For Mining And Railroad Families

In the 1890s, coal mining was the primary enterprise along the Saw Mill Run corridor. There were several active Oak Mine shafts in operation. On either side of Reflectorville were the mine entrances along Hughey Road (Edgebrook) and Oak Street (Whited). The Oak Street Station was one of the largest in the valley and included a small rail yard.

The vast majority of those who settled in Reflectorville were the families of the men who worked in the mines, along with a number of railroad employees.

On September 12, 1892, an ad was placed in the Pittsburgh Press for lots in Reflectorville. Just two and one half miles from downtown, these lots were ideally located along the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad, which offered passenger service to and from the city.

The advertisements proclaimed that lots in Reflectorville had excellent drainage and unsurpassed views of the Saw Mill Run valley. They also provided a clue pointing to the year to when construction of the village began, stating that since 1890 the number of homes built had risen from eight to seventy-two.

Reflectorville In 1896

Reflectorville first appeared on plot maps in 1896. The hamlet consisted of the housing tracts known as the Bailey and Moon #1, Bailey and Moon #2, Magaw/Goff and Zimmerman Plans. Bailey and Moon also had a third small tract of homes across the border in West Liberty and the Zimmerman Park Plan also stood slightly north of the border in Carrick.

An 1896 map showing the town of Reflectorville, built on Oak Hill along the Saw Mill Run corridor.

The layout of the Reflectorville streets in many ways mirrors the present-day road network. The exception was the streets along valley floor. These stood between the tracks of the West Side Belt Railroad and those of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad, running respectively on the western and eastern hillsides along the broad corridor.

Where Saw Mill Run Boulevard runs today was a gridlike network of streets, including First and Second and Third Avenue, which followed the course of present-day Ballinger Street. Intersecting these roadways was the Township Road, or the Warrington Avenue Extension, which ran north towards West Liberty Avenue and Pittsburgh. To the south was the Library Road Extension that led to Fairhaven.

Oak Elementary School, shown here in 1930, was built in 1908. It was originally called the Reflectorville
Public School and replaced a small schoolhouse that was built in the early-1890s.

Along Third Avenue was a small school house, called the Reflectorville Public School, for the children of the miners. At the corner of Elm Street (Zimmerman) and Walnut Street (Hallowell) stood a Methodist Church. This was the forerunner of the Brookline United Methodists, who in 1907 moved to a stone chapel located at Brookline Boulevard and Wedgemere Avenue.

One can assume from the number of buildings shown that the area was served by a variety of merchants and markets that catered to the needs of the growing Reflectorville population.

Part Of Overbrook Borough

The town of Reflectorville continued to develop during the early years of the 20th Century. Nearby mining operations went on for another decade and the population more than doubled. By the time the shafts had been mined out, this tiny corner of Baldwin Township had evolved into a thriving community.

In 1908, West Liberty Borough was annexed into the City of Pittsburgh. Reflectorville was now bordered to the north and west by the emerging neighborhood of Brookline.

In 1912, there was a proposal put forth by officials from the town of Fairhaven to break away from Baldwin Township and form a new borough that would include Reflectorville, Fairhaven and Castle Shannon. The measure was put to a vote and failed due to objections from the residents of Castle Shannon, who prefered to form their own independent municipality.

While the issue of creating a new borough remained in the news for the next several years, home construction in Reflectorville continued. When the Pittsburgh Railways Company established their high-speed traction line along the P&CSRR right-of-way, the quick and reliable public transporation brought a surge of development.

Finally, in 1920, Reflectorville became the First Ward in the newly formed Borough of Overbrook, which extended from the city line at Edgebrook Avenue along the Saw Mill Run and Library Road corridors to the border of Castle Shannon.

Added To Brookline Census Tract

The most comprehensive developmental change to occur within the borders of the former town came in 1929, when Saw Mill Run Boulevard (PA State Route 51) was built. Many of the homes lying along the valley floor were razed to clear a path for the broad four-lane highway.

The following year, in 1930, the Borough of Overbrook voted for annexation into the City of Pittsburgh. The adjacent Borough of Carrick had been annexed three years earlier, in 1927. After this southward expansion, Pittsburgh City Council instituted some territorial adjustments to the borders of these new municipal wards.

The majority of Overbrook's First Ward (former Reflectorville), was added to the census tract of the Brookline community. This included all of the land east of Saw Mill Run Boulevard. The property to the west of Saw Mill Run Boulevard was assigned to the Carrick neighborhood.

A Lasting Reminder Of Reflectorville

It has been nearly a century since the small village of Reflectorville became a part of the distant past. The town's brief thirty year legacy will, however, be remembered in the naming of one of the bridges along Saw Mill Run.

The Reflectorville Viaduct was originally constructed over Edgebrook Avenue in 1872 by the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad. Reflectorville Station was a stop along the line. The bridge and car stop became part of the Pittsburgh Railways transit line in 1909.

  
The Reflectorville Viaduct, across Saw Mill Run from Edgebrook Avenue, shown here in 1929.

The bridge was replaced in 1929 and remained in service until decommissioned in 1993, with Reflectorville Station as a popular stop along the way. The bridge was rebuilt once more in 2004 for the modern light-rail transit line and is still referred to as the Reflectorville Bridge. The car stop was eliminated.

Ironically, the bridge that memorializes the name Reflectorville, was always located just outside of the town's traditional borders, in the Borough of Carrick.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Some Old Photos Showing The Reflectorville Area

A 1928 photo showing homes along the lower end of Edgebrook Avenue. Beyond the bridge is Beech Street, which leads
into Reflectorville. For a fair distance after the bridge, Edgebrook formed the northern boundary of the town.
The homes to the immediate right were in Carrick Borough, but still considered part of Reflectorville.

  
Reflectorville homes along Ensign Avenue (left) and Second Avenue, shown in 1928.

The same Second Avenue homes, shown in 1929. Some to the right that stood in the path of the highway were razed.

  
Looking under the Oak Viaduct (left photo) and over the Charles Street (Colerain) bridge, in 1928, at the intersection of
Second Avenue and Oak Street in Reflectorville. This is the present-day junction of Whited Street and Saw Mill Run
Boulevard. The right photo shows a home along Oak Street located where the Jack Maggs Agency stands today.

The Saw Mill Run Creek bridge and the Oak Street home shown above, now a Brookline residence, in 1934.

  
Two photos from the late-1930s looking past the Oak Viaduct into the former town of Reflectorville.
In 1930, all land shown to the left of Saw Mill Run Boulevard became part of Brookline.

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

1905 Reflectorville Plot Map

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Google Aerial Images Of Reflectorville in 2014

Liberty Tunnels Benefit South Hills

Once development in the South Hills began in earnest, planners noted the need for a tunnel through Mount Washington to the city that would further the growth of these communities. Many options were considered. The first attempt at building a tunnel was made in 1915. Work on the Neeld Tunnel, located below Warrington Avenue in the vicinity of the South Hills Trolley Barn near the Trolley Junction, began in July and was discontinued in the fall of 1915.

Work began on the Neeld Tunnel in July of 1915. Located just below Warrington Avenue, it was the first
attempt at building a vehicular tunnel connecting the South Hills area and downtown Pittsburgh.

Contentious debate over the location of the tunnels delayed the resumption of the project until 1919. By then the Neeld Tunnel proposal was permanently abandoned in favor of the present-day location at the northern end of West Liberty Avenue near Saw Mill Run Creek. Work began on the Twin Tubes in 1919. Delayed once more due to an economic recession the following year, construction began in earnest in 1921.

The intersection of West Liberty Avenue and Warrington Avenue in 1918 before the Liberty Tunnels.

The Liberty Tunnels, constructed at the intersection of West Liberty Avenue and Warrington (later Saw Mill Run Boulevard), provided easy access between Pittsburgh and the fast-growing South Hills communities. Slightly more than a mile long and build at a cost of $6 million, they were the first artificially ventilated tunnels ever built in this country or abroad for the accomodation of automobile traffic. The tunnels officially opened in January 1924.

Construction work on the Southern Portals of the Liberty Tunnels by Booth & Flinn in 1921.

The completion of the Liberty Tunnels had a very marked effect on realty values in the South Hills district. There was a large appreciation in the value and volume of sales of unimproved property. A lot on Pioneer Avenue that sold for $300 in the early 1900s was going for over $2000 in the mid-1920s. A number of high class realty developments were made and an enormous volume of building, principally of residential character, took place shortly after the completion of the new tunnels.

A postcard image of the Liberty Tunnels in 1928.

Although the construction of the tubes came at a time when real estate values all over the country were increasing, there's no doubt that a large portion of the increase in value and development in the South Hills was directly due to this great improvement. This was especially true in Beechview and Brookline, as well as Dormont and Mount Lebanon. These neighborhoods outran all other sections of the city in the number of building projects in 1925.

This real estate boom in the South Hills resulted in the improvement of Brookline as we know it today. (NOTE: Among the farming property parceled into lots were those of: Fleming, Goettle, Hughey, Knowlson, Paul, Stillwagon, and in East Brookline, Anderson). Brookline Boulevard was widened and improved in 1935. Practically all other streets were paved.

Recreational Provisions

Every year the Brookline Board of Trade carried on a big Fourth of July celebration featuring baseball games, races, a band concert and refreshments. In 1925, through the kindness of Walter Fleming, the Fleming grounds were used for this purpose.

Before Brookline had a real movie theatre, films were shown on a big screen made of several big sheets sewn together and stretched between telephone poles directly across from the Stebbrook Pharmacy (now Fox Pizza), then known as Alm's Pharmacy. This was only done for the Fourth of July celebration.

Occasionally, on warm summer nights, an improvised theatre was set up in the field taking in the area from the laundry store to the house near Flatbush (formerly occupied by Dr. McCombs - a dentist) and going from Brookline Boulevard to Bellaire Avenue was vacant. The movie projector was placed somewhere in the center of the big field, and the movie operator was Robert Byrnes Sr.

Finally, in the days before the movie theatre was opened on Brookline Boulevard, selected movies were shown at Resurrection church auditorium.

Brookline's 1914 sandlot team won the City championship. Their home field was located on a plot of land
located between Rossmore, Gallion and Wedgemere Avenues. There was also a children's playground
there. The Brookline Elementary school garden was located next to the baseball field.

The first playground that Brookline ever had was located between Berkshire and Woodbourne Avenues, below Castlegate Avenue. Later three more playgrounds were established. They were located (1) between Gallion, Rossmore and Wedgemere Avenues, (2) Between Fordham and Norwich Avenues, and (3) at the corner of Aidyl and Pioneer Avenues. Residents were permitted to use these plots for playgrounds through the kindness of the owners.

There was also a field between Whited Street and Milan Avenue (laying between Gallupe and the other side of Milan) that used to be a recreation park in the summer for the kids. There was a big sand box, swings and slides, as well as volley ball, with teachers in attendance to monitor the activities.

A model of Brookline Elementary School in 1919 showing a proposed playground.

At Brookline School, the adjacent ground was leased for five years and then purchased in 1923. This land was to be used as a playground. Unfortunately, much of this property was used in the 1929 school expansion and the scattered plots of land in the community were sold off for development and the kids were left without any public place to play. A baseball field was built along Pioneer Avenue at the bottom of the hill below West Liberty School on land provided by the Paul family.

Another alternative was in the Big Woods bordering LaMarido Street and Eathan Avenue, there was a large open area called the Donkey Field. Neighboring groups of kids created a truce-like schedule-of-sorts for field usage. Also, for many years there were tennis courts located at the corner of Beaufort Avenue and Metz Way. For those that enjoyed golf, there was a driving range located across from Stetson Street along Pioneer Avenue.

A ballfield stands across from Stetson Street along Pioneer Avenue in April 1933.

This lack of public playground options for kids led Professor Joseph F. Moore, in order to further the recreational activities of the youth in the Brookline district, and as chairman of the Playground Committee of the Brookline Board of Trade, to become interested in acquiring and developing a plot along Pioneer Avenue as a playground site.

This dream became a reality when the Council of the city of Pittsburgh passed an ordinance which acquired and developed this land as a playground which is now known as the Moore Recreation Center, which opened in August 1940.

A aerial image showing Moore Park construction in May 1939.

As Brookline grew and developed, the need for further recreational facilities arose. The Brookline Community Center Association was chartered in 1945, and their primary goal was to acquire and develop land in East Brookline to be used as a Community Center.

In May 1947 the 20-acre Anderson Farm in East Brookline was put on the market. The land was purchased by the Community Center Association for a little under $20,000. Located between Breining Street and Brookline Boulevard, the newly acquired land was in a central location and perfectly suited for development into a park.

A 1939 aerial view showing the Anderson Farm in East Brookline.

Work was begun immediately on excavation of the hilly terrain, and in 1952 the Brookline Little League began their inaugural season on the new Community Center baseball field. The old farmhouse was renovated and the surrounding acreage became the site of frequent carnivals and other recreational activities.

In 1966, the land was sold to the city for $1 with the promise that it would be developed into a city park. Forty years and several million dollars later, Brookline Memorial Park is one of Pittsburgh's finest community recreation facilities. Moore Park has also undergone some major renovations in the past two decades.

The Fourth of July Parade

The inaugural Brookline Independence Day Celebration, took place on July 4, 1907. The day-long festival, sponsored by the Brookline Board of Trade was held along Brookline Boulevard. The first parade and festival was held in 1914, with a large procession traveling from the boulevard triangle at Queensboro Avenue to the community's new park at Gallion, Rossmore and Wedgemere Avenues.

According to the Pittsburgh Post, day-long festivities in 1914 began at 9am with the parade, followed at 10am by a baseball game between the Brookline sandlot team and the Y.M.H.A's.

The Brookline Independence Day Parade procession turns onto Wedgemere Avenue in 1916.

Following the game, several open athletic activities were planned, including 50-yard dashes for boys and girls, 25-yard dashes for children under age eight, stout men and lady's races, a married lady's race, exploding bag races, skipping rope races for girls, potato, sack, shoe and lemon races for kids, a baseball throwing contest for women and pegging the ball and circling the bases for boys and men. Prizes were awarded after each event. After these contests, at 4pm, was another baseball game featuring the same two Brookline teams as before.

Refreshments were provided all day long at stands located near the ballfield. Children were provided with complimentary food tickets. Hardies band was provided by the City of Pittsburgh to entertain the crowd at the ballfield during the afternoon.

As the day turned to night, the festivities moved from the ballfield to the boulevard, where Hardies band played more music from 7pm until 8:30pm in the open field across from Melvin's Drug Store at Stebbins Avenue. After the concert, a large sheet was strung between two pools and motion picture entertainment was shown. The Grand Jubilee ended with a magnificent fireworks display.

Parade-goers gather near Glenarm Avenue on July 4, 1920.

One of Brookline's elder statesmen shared their memories of the Fourth of July parade. The account was printed in an old edition of the Brookline Journal. Most of that article is reprinted here.

"Things sure have changed as the years went by. Take, for instance, the Fourth of July celebration. In the good old days things sure did hum on this patriotic day."

"In the morning, about 8:30, the kids would head for Berkshire Avenue and Castlegate. There they would line up for the big parade. They each received a crepe paper hat and a nice American flag on a stick."

"In those days there was no canned music. There was a uniformed band, and they played off and on all day."

"The first place they held the celebration was in the big area that lay between Rossmore and Gallion Avenues and Wedgemere Avenue. There was a nice ballfield there, too. The community would gather and watch the ballgames, especially on the Fourth of July. Some of the player's names who played for the Brookline team were Joe Power, Ick Dooley, and Jimmy Carl."

Flags were waving at the Independance Day Parade, July 4, 1929.

"Over the years, the Fourth of July celebration was held at several different places. It was first held at the area between Rossmore, Gallion and Wedgemere; then it was held up on Fordham Avenue, between Queensboro and Stebbins Avenue. This location was used only once. It was a failure through no fault of its own. The year it was held there, the Fourth of July was so cold people didn't turn out. They didn't care much for ice cream cones either. Hot dogs would have been more welcome."

"Next, the celebration was held in the ballfield next to Brookline Elementary School. The band sat under the big tree next to the school building, and played all day long. The only problem there was not enough seats for the people who watched the ballgames."

"One nice thing they did when it was held at Brookline School; there were Brentwood Motor Coach buses that rode along the Boulevard all day long and picked up people who wanted to come to the celebration. There were no parking problems. Everybody rode the buses. The kids would ride up and down the Boulevard just for the fun of it."

Fred Proie remembers the good times at Brookline School during the 1930s:

"At that time, Mr. Moore was the President of the Brookline Bank, located near the Brookline Movie Theatre. Moore Park and pool were named after him and what a grand old gentleman he was. Mr. Moore was responsible, as we were growing up, for the Fourth of July celebrations. All of the residents in Brookline were given tickets, free of charge. With these tickets, families could purchase treats and games at Brookline School field, where movies were shown on a large outdoor screen in the evening, after fireworks."

The Independence Day Parade on Brookline Boulevard - July 4, 1954.

Finally, when Moore Park opened in 1939, the festivities moved there. The 1959 exhibition baseball game featured stars from the Brookline Little League Association and was played to a 5-5 tie. The park was bustling with other activities and games, while the evening fireworks always drew big crowds.

After six decades as a yearly happening in the community of Brookline, the Independence Day Celebration was discontinued in the late-1960s. In lieu of the Fourth of July Parade, Brookline still boasts a Memorial Day Parade, the Little League Parade and the Halloween Parade.

The Community Picnic

Dating back to the early 1900s, the West Liberty School Board, Brookline Board of Trade, Brookline Business Men's Association, and later the Chamber of Commerce, sponsored the annual School and Community Picnic. Complimentary tickets were passed out at the local schools and more were generally purchased at the amusement park. It was a grand day to get out, have some fun on the rides, and mingle with friends and neighbors from the community.

An aging veteran of many picnic days remembered:

"The community picnic has remained a feature in Brookline to this day, but it has lost a little of the luster of the old days, when picnic day was generally the only day of the year that families would make the trip to the amusement park.

"In the old days, most people didn't have their own cars, or if they did the husbands used them to go to work. Families would meet on picnic day at one of the designated stops and board the streetcars for the long trip to the park.

"One of the big stops was Creedmoor. There would be hundreds of folks gathered there, all dressed up in summer clothes and carrying big baskets of picnic lunches.

"The first picnic Brookline ever had was at Kennywood Park. The only trouble with that was that it was so late for the kids getting home on the specials. By the evening, almost all the kids were tired but no one was crying, because a young fellow named Joe Butch got up in the front of the street car and sang song after song. After that first attempt, the picnics were all held at West View Park."

West View Park was the site of the annual community picnic until 1979, when the festivities moved to Kennywood Park.

The picnics continued at West View Park until that park closed in 1977. Many Brookliners will remember The Dips or the Racing Whippet. There was the Alpine Sky Ride that ran the length of the park, and it was a good way to relax and get a good look around. Kiddieland was a big hit with the little ones, and older folks loved the big band sounds in Danceland. There was also a bar at the entrance to the park, and often times that parents would get tired and end up at the bar while the kids ran on adrenaline from one ride to another.

After West View Park closed in 1977, the picnic moved back to Kennywood Park and remained there for thirty-eight years. There are no more free tickets, but reasonably priced discount tickets were available at most Boulevard stores prior to picnic day. The picnic was held yearly every June from 1910 to 2015, when discontinued due to high costs.

Kennywood Park is well-known for it's exciting thrill rides, and fries from the Potato Patch are a must.

It's hard to beat Kennywood for roller coaster excitement. There's the Thunderbolt, Jack Rabbit, Racer and Phantom's Revenge. The Exterminator will move the weak stomach and the Lil' Phantom is great for the kids. Every couple years the park management installs a new thrill ride. Kennywood is steeped in tradition and the Old Kennywood section features may historic favorites, like The Whip and the Pittsburg Plunge. Just because the Chamber of Commerce no longer sponsors a yearly picnic, Kennywood Park is still just a short drive away and reasonably priced.

Doctor Lincoln Oldshue

Brookline has had its share of prominent residents over the years. One of those was Dr. Lincoln Oldshue, a highly-esteemed practitioner of Eclectric Medicine, who owned a fifty acre tract of land roughly bordering present-day LaMarido Street, Metz Way, Eathan and Edgebook Avenues. This land was known at one time to kids in the area as The Big Woods.

The doctor established a highly-successful medical practice in downtown Pittsburgh, located at Grant Street and Webster Avenues. To add to his mystique, Dr. Lincoln Oldshue shared a common name with his first cousin, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America.*

Abraham Lincoln, cousin of Brookline's Dr. Lincoln Oldshue.

Dr. Lincoln Oldshue was born in Indiana in 1820. An exeptional student, he studied medicine and received his diploma from the medical college in Rochester, NY. In 1841, he moved to Pittsburgh, where he set up a general practice using the most progressive medical techniques of the time.

He was known for watching closely and adopting the latest improvements and discoveries made by science. Soon he was one of the most esteemed physicians in the city of Pittsburgh. Although not inclined towards politics, Dr. Oldshue took a deep interest in public affairs.

* Source: Pittsburgh Press - August 19, 1903; Pittsburgh Daily Post - August 11, 1917.

Settled in Lower St. Clair Township

Dr. Oldshue was married in the mid-1840s and had two sons, Thomas Lincoln Oldshue and Louis Lincoln Oldshue. His wife passed away and he soon met and courted Mrs. Martha Ann West, daughter of Thomas West of Mifflin Township. The two were married in 1855 in Westmoreland County, then shortly after purchased a fifty acre plot of mostly-wooded land in rural Lower St. Clair Township, just south of Pittsburgh in present-day Brookline.

Lincoln and Martha Oldshue had eight children: John Alfred, John West, Mary A., Anna L., Martha A., Ida H. and Francis J., who lived in the Oldshue estate home, located near the present-day interection of Wolford and Metz Way, with the doctor’s older sons Thomas Lincoln and Louis Lincoln. The Oldshues were converts to Roman Catholicism and worshiped at St. Brigid’s Church on Enoch Street.

An 1890 map showing the location of Dr. Oldshue's downtown office.

In the 1860s, Dr. Oldshue set up his practice in 132 Grant Street, at the corner of Webster Avenue next to the Grace Reform Church. By the 1870s he had been joined by his sons Thomas, Louis, and John West, all medical school graduates. The doctors became experts in the practice of diagnosing acute or chronic diseases by the examination of urine.

The cost of physical exams and scientific testing at their office ranged from $3 to $10. Their practice was so well-known throughout the region that their office location at Grant and Webber became known as Oldshue Corner. Dr. Lincoln Oldshue was also the editor of the popular publication "Pittsburgh Medical News."

Dr. James Alfred Oldshue

Perhaps the most well-known of the Oldshue family of doctors was Lincoln’s son James Alfred Oldshue. Born in 1858, James Alfred graduated from St. Vincents College at age 18 and received a Master of Arts two years later. After further schooling he returned to Pittsburgh and joined the staff at the Mercy Hospital.

In 1883, Dr. J. A. Oldshue became the first police surgeon in the city of Pittsburgh. He instituted and trained the initial first-responders, making sure all policemen were trained in the administering of basic medical attention and that all squads carried a kit equipped with a number of life-saving instruments.

Known for his innovative techniques in the field of emergency medicine, James distinguished himself with his tireless and diligent life-saving work giving aid to the victims of the Willy Disaster and the Johnstown Flood.

The young Dr. Oldshue was also friend to the orphans, and paid daily visits to St. Paul's Orphan Asylum. When the scarlet fever epidemic raged among the children of Pittsburgh's Italian colony, he worked day and night, saving many lives. Sadly, Dr. James Alfred Oldshue died from complications of severe over-exhaustion on February 8, 1890.

The Oldshue Estate

The land owned by Dr. Oldshue sat atop the rich coal deposits of the Oak Mine. He soon sold mining rights and also leased a several of his wooded acres to the mining company for use as a supply, storage and logistics camp. A few outbuildings were constructed and stables for the mine mules. Roughly in the center of the Big Woods was an open field known as the "Donkey Field." Every day the donkeys that worked in the mines would be brought up for some fresh air and sunlight.

On March 13, 1886, Dr. Lincoln Oldshue, first cousin of former President Abraham Lincoln, prominent Pittsburgh physician and wealthy Brookline landowner, died at age sixty-six. Pneumonia was the immediate cause of death.

Dr. Oldshue’s will, dated July 3, 1877, decreed that his estate be left to Charles B. Kenny, in trust, the income to be paid to his widow Martha A. Oldshue for her maintenance and the education of the minor children. Upon Mrs. Oldshue’s death the property would be equally divided between children John W. Oldshue, Anna L. Owens, Martha A. Stillwagon, Ida H. Oldshue, James A. Oldshue and Frances J. Oldshue, and son Louis Lincoln Oldshue.

Mrs. Martha Ann Oldshue, widow of Dr. Lincoln Oldshue, died of old age on August 18, 1903 at the age of seventy-nine. At the time of her death she was survived by three daughters – Anna, wife of W. C. Stillwagon, a well-known Pittsburgh attorney; Mrs. C. E. Owens, Mrs. Frederick Robertshaw and one son, Dr. John West Oldshue, all of Pittsburgh.

The W. C. Stillwagon Plan

In February 1905, the Grant Street holdings of Dr. Oldshue’s estate were sold for $52,000. Then in March 1909, six years after Martha Oldshue’s death, the Brookline estate of Dr. Lincoln Oldshue, now measuring nearly 46 acres, was finally sold to W. C. and Anna Stillwagon. The Post-Gazette, on July 8, 1909, printed a short article noting that the Stillwagons had the land surveyed for development.

Blue prints of the Oldshue Farm adjoining Paul Place showed plans for over 200 large-sized lots, all fronting wide streets that conformed to the existing Brookline road network. These ambitious plans never materialized. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the homes in the W. C. Stillwagon Plan were built, including the homes along the Beaufort extension, Hartranft, Elmbank and Perrilynn Streets.

Property Boundaries of the Oldshue Estate (in Surveyors Terms)

Beginning at a pin 7 feet east of the east side of a butternut tree at the side of a lane leading to the Washington Road and on the line of John Paul’s land; thence south 84 degrees east 137.85 perches to a stone at the corner of the lands of John Paul and Wagner; thence south 8 3/4 degrees, east 8 8/10 perches to an ironwood tree; thence south 35 3/4 degrees west 40 1/2 perches across the Township Road to a pin; thence south 36 3/4 east 28 1/2 perches along Marloff’s line to a pin; thence south 64 degrees 85 min. west 21 perches along Marloff’s line to a post; thence north 48 degrees west along the line of Charles Allwes and Langford 55 perches to a pin; thence south 23 drgrees 25 min west along the Langford and Green’s line 31.07 perches to a pin on Joseph Hughey’s line; thence north 71 degrees 10 min. west along said Joselph Hughey’s line 30.60 perches to a pin; thence north 16 degrees 10 min. west along said Joseph Hughey’s line 67.82 perches to a pin at place of beginning. Containing 45 858-1000 acres, on which is erected a two story frame house, stable and outbuildings.

* Thanks to Doug and Mike Brendel for helping with this research. *

The Big Woods

When speaking of recreational opportunities, one must take into consideration the ability of children to improvise and adapt to their immediate surroundings. Using their imagination and ingenuity, the kids that lived in the various areas of Brookline often created their own forms of recreation, playing street games like hopscotch, release and tag. With expansive wooded areas in abundance along Brookline's rolling hills and valleys, exploring the brush was an experience that created another exciting list of things to do.

One such area was the large wooded patch of land that stood between LaMarido Street, Berwin Avenue and Edgebrook Avenue. Throughout the 1800s these woods, the property of prominent Pittsburgh physician Doctor Lincoln Oldshue, were dotted with mines, and there were many reminders of that distant past scattered about. The dawn of the 20th century brought residential housing development, which created a border around the wooded greenspace. Henceforth, the land became known to the children that lived in homes along the nearby streets as the Big Woods.

The following recollections of the Big Woods are from a group of kids collectively known as the Shortcut BBB gang. They all lived on Berwin, Beaufort or Birtley Avenues in the late-1930s and early-1940s, and were entering their adolescent years. Some of the Shortcut members were the Selvig, Sayenga, Rosfeld and Addis children. The group name was derived from their favorite stomping grounds, and prefered short cut, the cement pathway from Birtley to Gallion Avenues.

The Big Woods were a mystery that most youngsters that age felt compelled to explore. Once familiar with the various pathways and destinations the woods became their unique playground, a gathering place full of fun, adventure and sometimes peril. The well-trodden pathways were also convenient short cuts heading in all directions.

There were several ways into the woods. One was the dirt alley behind Lamarido Street, down Metz Way from the Little Store, which was the easiest way in. Another was down Metz Way a bit further, closer to Wolford, which was often a prefered entrance as it was secluded and out of the view of neighbors. There was another gateway along Eathan Street and a main path that began at the intersection of Gallion and Wolford, which crossed Berwin at the bottom of the hill. Others were located at the bottom of Starkamp Street and along Edgebrook Avenue.

Which path was chosen often depended upon which "tribe" of kids one belonged to. There were the tough guys from LaMarido that hung around near their back alley entrance, and another group of heady teenagers that gathered near Eathan Street. The Shortcut BBB gang prefered the entrance near Wolford, which was the safest way in and out, being closest to their homes. Within the woods for some distance from the main entrances were vague tribal boundaries, with each group claiming their own territory.

Once inside the woods, all paths led to a central location, a large open space called the Donkey Field. The clearing was named as such because, back in the mining days, this is where the donkeys that worked underground were brought to graze in the sunshine and rest.

To one side of the Donkey Field were two large oak trees. One of the trees had a platform built about thirty feet off the ground. Railroad spikes were driven into the trunk for climbing up. A test of boyhood was to become big enough and strong enough to climb the spikes up to the platform. The oak trees were a also a great place to climb away from tribal danger. The platform was a fine place to watch for anyone following you.

A tenuous truce existed between the tribes with regards to the Donkey Field. It was shared by everyone and often used for playing ball. Members of the BBB gang, and even the tough guys from LaMarido, rarely ventured beyond the Donkey Field, as that would constitute a violation of sorts and possibly provoke an encounter with the Eathan-Wolford gang. The paths leading towards Edgebrook, however, were generally safe for exploration, but not recommended for the younger kids.

Off to the side of the paths leading to the Donkey Field were plenty of blackberry vines and other kinds of underbrush, mostly elderberry and dense ragweed thickets. In the springtime the woods were covered with May Apple plants that grew about a foot high. This dense undergrowth made a great place to play and also a fine place to hide when being pursued.

Sometimes if one strayed too far they risked getting captured. This meant spending some uncomfortable time being heckled, and possibly being hauled off to the tribal base as a prize. The entire experience, at least for the Little Kids, wasn't all that bad. The wasted time and embarassment were hard on one's ego. Oftentimes, these relatively harmless instances with the Little Kids led to altercations between the protective Bigger Kids.

An aerial view of the Big Woods from May of 1939. The Donkey Field is clearly visible in the center.

Along the path leading to Edgebrook Avenue were thick vines rising into the trees that were called Monkey Vines. These vines would be cut off about four feet from the ground, then used to swing perilously out over the steep hillside. The vines were quite sturdy and aptly suited for this Tarzan-like activity.

There were two main clear water streams that ran along the outer edges of the woods, and two ponds where the creeks had been dammed. One pond was near the end of Wolford and the other was along Edgebrook Avenue, called the Duck Pond. These were nice places to get wet but not deep enough for swimming. Searching for crawdads and playing in the streams was a fun way to pass the day.

Other interesting features inside the Big Woods included a one-room cabin by the creek near the end of Birtley Avenue, and the Crater, a depression eight feet deep and nearly fifty feet square on top of a small hill. No one knew what caused the crater. It was assumed that it was a mine shaft that was covered over or maybe the fondation of an old home.

There was also Junk Hill, a steep hillside along Edgebrook Avenue where all sorts of garbage was dumped. Further down Edgebrook was the old coal mine entrance. A stream of yellow sulfur water constantly ran from the entrance, and kids would often venture inside on a dare. The old mine was spooky, but not as feared as the phantom that haunted the woods at night. The ghostly apparition was called the Blue Hood. If it was encountered, one was advised to run like crazy to the nearest exit.

Then there was Snake Hill, a large heap of stones that was home to many varieties of garter snakes and other critters. Finally, there was the Watermelon Farm located up the hill from Edgebrook. Snatching a watermelon on a dare was only for the brave at heart as the farmer often guarded his prize melons with a shotgun full of rock salt.

Most of the time, the Big Woods were just a perfect place to play games like Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, Rogers Rangers, Northwest Passage or Last of the Mohicans. With unlimited potential for an imaginative youngster, the woods often became a personal adventureland that provided the backdrop for a myriad of lasting childhood memories.

In the 1950s, residential development moved into the heart of the woods. A large section of the Big Woods is now occupied by homes along extensions of Beaufort Avenue and LaMarido Street. New streets include Perrilyn, Elmbank and Hartranft. Sections of the woods, along Edgebrook Avenue, remain as they were long ago.

For an interesting site with memories of the Berwin-Beaufort-Birtley,
or BBB Shortcut Gang, from the 1940s, visit The Short Cut,
a page built by BBB friends from that section of Brookline.

Brookline Institutions Chartered

* The Brookline Board of Trade, forerunner to the Brookline Business Men's Association, was organized in 1907. The board promoted the annual Independence Day (July 4th) celebration and were active in the initial development of the Brookline community.
* DePaul Institute for the hearing impaired was chartered in 1908.
* Toner Institute for homeless or displaced boys was chartered in 1914.
* Business and financial interests were served by the Brookline Savings and Trust Company, founded in 1926, and the Brookline Building and Loan Association. The Savings and Trust was sold in the late-1960s. Since then it has been a branch bank of Western Pennsylvania National Bank, Integra Bank, National City Bank and Pittsburgh National Bank.
* The Joint Civic Committee was chartered in 1930. This group was responsible for the many infrastructure changes and modernization projects that occured in the 1930s.
* The Brookline Branch of the Carnegie Library opened in 1930.
* Outstanding among the local civic and patriotic organizations is Brookline American Legion Post #540, which was chartered in December 1934.
* The Kiwanis Club, the Lions Club and Women's Civic Club, all three of which are no longer present in Brookline, were very active for many decades in community affairs.
* The Brookline Business Men's Association was chartered in 1944. This group promotes neighborhood activities, including the annual school and community picnic, the Halloween celebration and other yearly events. The B.B.M.A. became the present-day Brookline Chamber of Commerce.
* The Brookline Memorial Community Center Association was chartered in 1945. The group was responsible for purchasing the Anderson Farm for use as Brookline Park in 1947. They handled the maintenance and upkeep of the park until 1966. They were the forerunner to the Brookline Area Community Council.
* The Brookline Little League Association was organized in 1951.
* The Brookline Area Community Council was chartered in 1966. The Community Council has been active in civic affairs since their inception. The Council became involved in all areas of community development. Among their many achievments were the ongoing development of Brookline Memorial Park, the Parkview Terrace Apartments and the Mazza Pavilion. From 1982 to 1986, the B.A.C.C. hosted a yearly Junefest Celebration in Brookline Park. The Community Council continues to be an active voice in community affairs.
* The Brookline Knights Football Association was organized in 1974.
* The Brookline Breeze 5K Fitness Run/Walk began in 1982.
* The Brookline Youth Soccer Association was organized in 1982.
* The South Pittsburgh Development Corporation (SPDC) was founded in the early 1990s. The group was initially active in the preservation of greenway space and neighborhood development. In 2001, S.P.D.C. merged with another community action group called the Neighborhood Planning Initiative, which was involved in the effort to modernize Brookline Boulevard. Together, they formed an organization that works with city and government officials to coordinate the planning and implementation of various community development projects.
* The Brookline DEK Hockey Association was organized in 2005. It's roots go back to 1990 and the Overbrook Hockey League.

Members of the Brookline Area Community Council in 1982 looking over
an informational pamphlet on the Community of Brookline.

The Brookline Journal

In November 1931, Gene Potter and Lloyd Greene had an idea to start a free weekly Brookline neighborhood newspaper, one that would bring the events of Brookline home to the community residents and support itself solely on advertisement revenue.

That month the two men made their way around to the Boulevard merchants and within a few days had enough contracts signed to print the inaugural edition of "The Brookline Shopper." The first merchant to sign on as an advertiser was Melman's Super Market.

The Brookline Shopper became an overnight success, a popular publication with over three thousand subscribers on the mailing list in the first year alone. It was supported by the Brookline business community and a brisk classified ads section. The original owners of the paper were Green, Jack Kennelty and Sam Selickson.

In 1942, due to the shortage of paper and increased costs caused by America's entry into World War II and the onset of rationing, the newspaper began to charge a one cent fee per copy. By 1946 that fee had risen to two cents. Mail order subscription also began in 1942, with several thousand subscribers signing on during that first year.

The Brookline Shopper was in print from 1931 to 1946. In 1947, the paper changed it's name to The Brookline Journal. From 1947 to 1949 The Brookline Journal was printed at Franklin Press on McNeilly Road. From 1950 onwards the paper was printed at Emerson Press in East Liberty. Ernie Galko was the Linotype Operator, Hank Hunziker was the Pressman and Dick Dobbs was the Floorman.

Read a 1951 Year In Review and
browse through a collection of 1951 Brookline Journals.