Crafton Borough, Pennsylvania - City and Town Halls on Waymarking.com

Nestled in and around a valley approximately three miles southwest of downtown Pittsburgh, Crafton covers an area of about one square mile. According to the 1990 census, the population is 7188, with 2400 households. Crafton’s centennial was marked in 1992, 100 years after it was incorporated as a borough in January, 1892.

Known to the local Indians as Killiman, the area was first explored by Peter Chartiers, whose parents were white and Shawnee. Chartiers Creek was named after him. The first white man to actually settle in the area was John Bell in 1768.

In 1777, following an outbreak of smallpox, the Continental Congress authorized General Edward Hand to build a hospital near Chartiers Creek. Hand’s Hospital (see marker on Steuben Street) became the first federal hospital in the United States and was the sole medical institution west of the Allegheny Mountains for sixty-nine years.

After 1857, the area was known as Brodhead, after Colonel Daniel Brodhead who commanded Fort Pitt from 1779-1781. He built the first road into Crafton via Elliot. Steuben Street, also referred to as the Steubenville Pike or Route 60, is a continuance of the old road.

Crafton is named after James S. Craft, a frontier attorney. Shortly after the peace treaty had been signed ending the Revolutionary War, Craft completed his education in the law and was awarded, by the State of Pennsylvania, a grant of a wide tract of wilderness land near "the forks of the Ohio." This is now called Oakland. His land holding covered approximately one square mile of forest extending from what is now Fifth Avenue to the Monongahela River.

With his earnings as an attorney and with funds derived from the sale of the Oakland property, Craft began to purchase tracts of land in the Chartiers Valley. All purchases were made between 1860 and 1870, and the average price was approximately $75 per acre. However, it was his son, Charles Craft, who, following his father’s death, anticipated the expansion of the Pittsburgh region and subsequently divided the land into lots and streets and submitted the plans to the Allegheny County Courthouse under the name of Crafton.

Soon houses, churches, stores, and schools were built. The town was incorporated into a borough in 1892. Charles Craft became the first burgess.

Name: Crafton Municipal Buildinjg Address: 100 Stotz Avenue Crafton, PA USA 15205 Memorials/Commemorations/Dedications: Two time capsules on grounds in front of the building. One memorial to those who served in World War I Web Site for City/Town/Municipality: [Web Link] Date of Construction: Not listed Architect: Not listed

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