Squirrel Hill

Infobox Pittsburgh neighborhood
name = Squirrel Hill North

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caption = Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill (2005)
locator_

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width = 250px
population1990 = 11471
population2000 = 10408
area_sqmi = 1.222Infobox Pittsburgh neighborhood
name = Squirrel Hill South


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caption =
locator_

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width = 250px
population1990 = 14968
population2000 = 14507
area_sqmi = 2.671

Squirrel Hill is a large residential neighborhood in the east end of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated as a single neighborhood. As of the census of 2000, there were 24,915 people, 10,499 households, and 5,198 families residing there.cite paper
title = Census: Pittsburgh
publisher = Pittsburgh Department of City Planning
date = January 2006
url = http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/assets/census/2000_census_pgh_jan06.pdf
accessdate = 2007-07-19
format=PDF]

Squirrel Hill has zip code 15217 and is bordered on the west by Oakland and Schenley ParkSchenley Park and Carnegie Mellon University are technically located just within the official border of Squirrel Hill North, although they are almost always popularly considered to be located in Oakland with the Squirrel Hill neighborhood beginning on the east side of Schenley Park.] , on the north by Shadyside and Point Breeze, on the east by Frick Park, and on the south by Greenfield and the Monongahela River.

History

The growth and development of Squirrel Hill was initially focused on the riverfront along the Monongahela River. The first recorded house was built by a soldier at nearby Fort Pitt, Colonel James Burd, at a place called Summerset on the Monongahela River in 1760. Its first "business district" was the intersection of Brown's Hill Road and Beechwood Boulevard. In 1778, John Turner built his estate of Federal Hill nearby (along what is now Beechwood Boulevard). Squirrel Hill's next house was built by Ambrose Newton in the 1760s. This house is still standing and is located in Schenley Park along Overlook Drive (near the ice skating rink).

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

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

Following the Civil War several of Pittsburgh's richest families built multiple houses in the Woodland Road area between Fifth and Wilkins Avenues. Prior to 1868, the Squirrel Hill area was a part of Peebles Township. This changed in 1868 when the city of Pittsburgh annexed the land. In 1869, a woman's college, the predecessor to Chatham University, was established nearby. Today, Chatham University owns several of these large houses. In 1869, the clubhouse of the Pittsburgh Golf Club was built at the new Schenley Park Golf Course.

Over the course of the 19th century, the focus of Squirrel Hill shifted from its riverfront at the Monongahela River to the area closest to Oakland and Shadyside. Former farm land such as the area known as the Murdoch Farms slowly developed as new development appeared in the area. The growth of Squirrel Hill accelerated when an electric trolley was installed in 1893. The trolley line ran via Forbes Avenue and Murray Avenue to its final destination in Homestead. The trolley line facilitated the building of hundreds of houses for the middle management of local factories, especially on Shady and Denniston Avenues near Aylesboro. Despite its trolley line, Murray Avenue remained a dirt road until 1920.

Squirrel Hill grew even more with the opening of the Boulevard of the Allies in 1927, providing a direct link to downtown Pittsburgh.

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

When Henry Clay Frick died in 1919, he bequethed convert|150|acre|km2 of undeveloped land to the City of Pittsburgh for use as a public park. He provided a $2 million trust fund to assist with the maintenance of the park. Frick Park on the eastern border of the Squirrel Hill neighborhood opened in 1927. Between 1919 and 1942, money from the trust fund was used to enlarge the park, increasing its size to almost convert|600|acre|km2.

In February 2004, Frick Park grew with the addition of the [http://www.ninemilerun.org Nine Mile Run] stream restoration area which flows to the Monongahela River. The United States Army Corps of Engineers is managing the restoration funded with $5 million in federal money and $2.7 million raised by the city. [ [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04060/278932.stm Project to enliven Nine Mile Run, add convert|550|acre|km2 to Frick Park] By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 29, 2004]

Many of the new residents were Eastern European Jews from Oakland and the Hill District. Not as wealthy as their predecessors, they moved into rows of brick houses on the cross streets of Murray Avenue south of Forbes, such as Darlington Road, Bartlett Street, and Beacon Street. Squirrel Hill became the center of Jewish culture in the city, with kosher butcher shops, delicatessens, Jewish restaurants, bookstores, and designer boutiques.

By the 1930s, most of the available land in Squirrel Hill had been filled.

Squirrel Hill business area is also known as "upstreet" to many many generations of young kids growing up in the area over the past 40 years.

Religion

Squirrel Hill has had a large Jewish population since the 1920s, when Jewish people began to move to the neighborhood in large numbers from Oakland and the Hill District. According to a 2002 study by the United Jewish Federation, 33% of the Jewish population of greater Pittsburgh lives in Squirrel Hill and another 14% lives in the surrounding neighborhoods. [http://www.ujfpittsburgh.org/getfile.asp?id=3871 The 2002 Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study] ] The report states that "The stability of Squirrel Hill, a geographic hub of the Jewish community located within the city limits, is unique in North America." Squirrel Hill contains three Jewish day schools, affiliated with the Chabad, Modern Orthodox and Conservative movements respectively. [ [http://www.yeshivaschool.com/ Yeshiva Schools and Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh] ] [ [http://hillelpgh.org/ Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh] ] [ [http://www.comday.org/ Community Day] ] There are over twenty synagogues. The Jewish community also offers three restaurants (Milky Way, Pinati, and Aaron & Ari's Grill), [ [http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/kosher.aspx Pop City - Kosher Dining Goes Global] By: Abby Mendelson July 12, 2006] a Jewish Community Center, [ [http://jccpgh.org/ JCC of Greater Pittsburgh] ] and an annual festival. Approximately half of Squirrel Hill residents are Jewish.

The neighborhood is also home to the Church of the Redeemer, an inclusive and progressive Episcopal church. [ [http://www.redeemerpittsburgh.org/ Church of the Redeemer ] ]

Education

Squirrel Hill is located in the Pittsburgh School District. The public high school for the neighborhood is Taylor Allderdice High School. Squirrel Hill is also home to St. Edmund's Academy, a private Episcopalian elementary school, Chatham University (bordering Shadyside), and parts of Carnegie Mellon University.

Points of interest

*Chatham University Arboretum
*Schenley Park
*Frick Park
* [http://www.pittsburghvintagegrandprix.com Vintage Grand Prix]

Fiction

* "The Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories" by Ellen Litman is based primarily in Squirrel Hill.

Local Government

Squirrel Hill North is represented on [http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council/ Pittsburgh City Council] by Bill Peduto.
Squirrel Hill South is represented on City Council by Douglas Shields.

ee also

* List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods
* History of Pittsburgh
* Jewish history in Pittsburgh
* Squirrel Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - A smaller neighborhood with the same name in Philadelphia.

External links

* [http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district8/html/squirrel_hill.html City of Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill page]
* [http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/maps/flash.html Interactive Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Map]
* [http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Pittsburgh/Squirrel_Hill Squirrel Hill at Wikitravel]
* [http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/35sqhillviz.aspx Visitor's Guide to Squirrel Hill]
* [http://www.redeemerpittsburgh.org/ The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer]
*Community Facilities
** [http://www.squirrelhillhistory.org/ Squirrel Hill Historical Society]
** [http://www.clpgh.org/locations/squirrelhill Squirrel Hill Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh]
** [http://www.jccpgh.org/ Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh]
** [http://www.shuc.org/coalition.html Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition]
*Schools
** [http://allderdicehs.pghboe.net/ Taylor Allderdice High School]
** [http://minadeoes.pghboe.net/ John Minadeo Elementary School]
** [http://colfaxes.pghboe.net/ Colfax Accelerated Learning Academy]
** [http://www.hillelpgh.org/ Hillel Academy]
** [http://www.yeshivaschool.com/ Yeshiva School]
** [http://www.comday.org/ Community Day School]
** [http://www.stedmunds.net/ St. Edmund's Academy]
*Synagogues
** [http://www.bethshalompgh.org/ Beth Shalom]
** [http://www.dorhadash.net/ Dor Hadash]
** [http://poalezedeck.typepad.com/ Poale Zedek]
** [http://rodefshalom.org/index.cfm? Rodef Shalom]
** [http://www.shaaretorah.net/ Shaare Torah]
** [http://www.templesinaipgh.org/ Temple Sinai]
** [http://www.tolpgh.org/ Tree of Life]
** [http://www.youngisraelpgh.org/ Young Israel]

* [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/maps/ Historic Pittsburgh Map Collections]
** [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/maps/1872ind.html 1872 - Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny and Adjoining Boroughs: Plate 12]
** [http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/maps/showmap.pl?client=maps&
]
** [http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/maps/showmap.pl?client=maps&
]
** [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/maps/04v01ind.html 1904 - Volume 1 - East End of Pittsburgh (South): Wards 13, 14, 22, and 23]
** [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/maps/23v02ind.html 1923 - Volume 2 - East End (South): Wards 7 and 14–15]
** [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/maps/39v02ind.html 1939 - Volume 2 - East End (South): Wards 7, 14 and 15]

Notes and references

Further reading

*cite book | author=Toker, Franklin | title=Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait | location=Pittsburgh | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press | origyear=1986 | year=1994 | id=ISBN 0-8229-5434-6
*cite book | author=Squirrel Hill Historical Society | title= Images of America - Squirrel Hill | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | year=2005 | id=ISBN 0-7385-3717-9
* [http://www.jccpgh.org/History.asp History of the JCC Pittsburgh]