Source:Nine-hills/content
Allegheny exceeds Rome in distinction for it is built on and about no less than nine hills. No one of these is of slight elevation, while most are commanding in appearance, with steep approaches and offering strategic positions overlooking the Allegheny and the Ohio rivers.
From the earliest days the hills have played an important part in the history of Allegheny. Andrew Long, said to be the first white man to settle on the north side of the Allegheny river opposite the future city of Pittsburgh, drifted down the river from Attique, now known as Kittanning, and landed at the foot of Monument hill in September, 1740. There he was joined by his two sons and they erected a cabin, a rude structure one and one-half stories in height. Two years later the Long family was joined by two other families, who each built a log house on the hill now known as Observatory hill. The following year there was an Indian uprising. The settlers fled and their homes were destroyed.
The real history of Allegheny began half a century later, when, the revolution being over and the Indians for the most part quelled, settlers began to venture out upon the hills and new homes were established in the clearings made on the heights above the present city.
History of Nunnery Hill.
Nunnery hill lies nearest to the city in the line of hills which guard Allegheny on the north and northeast. For this reason, possibly, it was one of the earliest settled. In the early part of the last century a nunnery was erected on the portion of the hill just above the town, which stood, a long, low, gray frame building, in the midst of a dense grove of trees. Almost inaccessible on every side it was isolated from all other habitations, its windows looking across the Ohio to the hills along the Monongahela river and commanding a view of the site of the monastery in Mt. Oliver. It stood alone on a shoulder of the hill which took its name, around which Perrysville avenue now winds, Perrysville avenue extension clinging on the south side and following the line of the old Franklin road through the ravine back of the hill and running through a beautiful valley whose steep walls are the sides of the group of Allegheny hills. Above the grounds of the old gray nunnery, superceded [sic] by a comparatively modern structure, the residence of the Andrews family, is St. Mary's graveyard, with the crypt on the summit of the hill.
Neglect and decay have done their work there. The little church building, the scene of services and masses during the middle half of the nineteenth century, has been in complete disuse for almost 20 years.
Church Now in Ruins.
The glass in the windows is broken, boards are nailed across the once open doors, the cross on the roof is tottering and bats and other winged things fly in and out for a lodging place. Many of the gravestones lie prostrate, yawning holes marking where bodies have been removed. The antiquity of the place is noted on one stone in the rear of the crypt which bears the date of 1812. The inscriptions are almost all in German, indicating the nationality of the people who principally settled upon Nunnery hill in the early days. Acts of desecration belong to the history of the crypt, the bodies of priests having been removed and other robberies committed, according to the tales of the present care-taker. Cows now graze among the fallen tombstones.
From the old crypt cityward may be seen the cupola of the Andrews house, the modern building still retaining some of the old chimneys of the nunnery. The property was purchased by James Andrews from Thompson Bell, who had come into possession of it. The present house was erected of brick with an outer shell of wood, thus providing generous air chambers completely about the building, insuring it against the cold. At the entrance to the grounds on Perrysville avenue, Mr. Andrews had erected a quaint little Scotch lodge, through which the driveway ascends to the house, which is still occupied by members of the Andrews family.
Panorama of the Cities.
James Andrews was a prominent contractor about the war-time. He was associated with Col. James Edds [sic] in the building of the St. Louis bridge over the Mississippi, Andrews erecting the piers and abutments. Later he was engaged in the construction of the famous jettys [sic] at New Orleans.
From the plateau on the top of Nunnery hill most of the other Allegheny hills may be seen. At the left is Observatory hill, named because of the presence of the old observatory there, with University park jutting into view. Across the ravine through which the Franklin road runs is Spring hill, somewhat similar in appearance to Nunnery hill in that it has St. Johns Luthern [sic] cemetery and a stone quarry, both being on the side toward the ravine. Next to Spring hill, and in the middle foreground, its summit a round knoll, is City View. Off to the right and skirting the Allegheny river is Troy hill. A glimpse of West View is obtained to the left before Observatory hill closes the view in that direction.
Spring hill receives its name from the innumerable springs which percolate through its limestone foundations with their sub-surface of red clay. The ascent of Spring hill from Spring Garden avenue is very steep.
Qaint [sic] Scenes Along the Road.
High rocky cliffs rise above the road, which is narrow and has an almost foreign appearance, the little frame houses standing close to the roadside and some of them having second stories and balconies which project out over the street.
No significance is attached to the name of Troy hill. In the middle of the last century the boys and girls of Allegheny trudged up the long slope to the singing school, famous in those days, and many were the frolics which were held in the homes on Troy hill. Copenhagen was a popular game in those days. The only present landmark of importance is Voegtly's graveyard, the burying place of many of the German families which made their home on the hill. The Voegtly family was one of the most prominent years ago. Comparatively modern buildings are the convent of Our Lady of Charity and St. Joseph's orphan asylum.
From City View, the hill lying between Spring hill and Observatory hill in the panorama seen from St. Mary's crypt on Nunnery hill, a view of Pittsburgh may be had. The view, however, is not nearly so good as from Nunnery hill, from which the Penn avenue business section, Lawrenceville, the Allegheny cemetery and even the twin spires of St. Paul's cathedral may be distinguished on clear days.
Romance of West View.
West View, one of the highest elevations in the range of the hills about Allegheny, was formerly the location of Fred Schwitter's dairy farm. Fred Schwitter was a Swiss who was in the employ of James Andrews at $20 a month. His thrift and shrewdness helped him to amass both property and cattle and after some years he returned to Switzerland, where he lived like a lord, eventually returning, however, to Allegheny and his farm, which had been steadily increasing in value.
The Reel family has been located for very many years in the West View district and contests with the Robinson family, the descendants of Col. William Robinson, the distinction of having in their line the first white child born in the town of Allegheny. This child, the Reels claim, was the grandfather of the present Miss Almatia Reel, who now lives in the old home in West View. She is a daughter of Casper Reel, who had a son named Casper now living in the same district.
Turning cityward again Riverview park comes into sight, one of its eminences now dominated by the new Allegheny observatory. Riverview park is located on the site of the old Watson farm and was secured to the city of Allegheny through the gift of a number of public spirited citizens led by former Mayor William M. Kennedy. It consists of 217 acres of beautiful hills and ravines.
Contrasts on Monument Hill.
In the heart of the city stands Monument hill, now crowned with the shaft erected to the memory of the soldiers of the civil war by the Ladies' Allegheny County Memorial association at a cost of nearly $36,000. Just back of it is Seminary hill, at first called Hog Back because of its formation. In 1818, 10 acres of its area were appropriated to the state as a site for the Western penitentiary, which later disposed of a portion of the land and located on the banks of the Ohio river in the Woods Run district. Part of the land on Seminary hill was also given for the erection of the theological seminary of the Presbyterian church, after which the hill was called. On the hillside in an enclosure, while the penitentiary stood there, was the graveyard for the prisoners, while at the foot in the present park plot extending along Sherman avenue, from Ohio street to Stockton avenue, was the city burial ground.
