Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Ross Township
—  Township  —
Location within Allegheny County
Ross Township Location within the state of Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°31′35″N 80°1′19″W / 40.52639°N 80.02194°W / 40.52639; -80.02194Coordinates: 40°31′35″N 80°1′19″W / 40.52639°N 80.02194°W / 40.52639; -80.02194
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Allegheny
Area
• Total	14.4 sq mi (37.4 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	31,105
• Density	2,200/sq mi (830/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	15237, 15229, 15214, 15209
Area code(s)	412
FIPS code
GNIS feature ID
Website	ross.pa.us
[1]

Ross Township is a township of the first class in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 31,105 at the 2010 census. In September 2007, Ross Township adopted the Strong Mayor/Weak Council form of government allowed by Pennsylvania statutes for townships of its class.

The township is part of the North Hills School District and participates in the multi-municipality Northland Public Library.

History

On June 26th 1809, John McKnight, along with 30 other residents of Pine Township petitioned the courts of Allegheny for the formation of a new township. In the November term, permission was granted and Ross Township was born. It was so called Ross after a prominent Pittsburgh attorney James Ross. He represented Western Pennsylvania at the convention to ratify the Pennsylvania Constitution in 1790. Ross was a United States Senator and the personal land lawyer to George Washington. Many of the early settlers lived in fear of the Native American since many Indians did not agree with Chief Cornplanter’s treaty with George Washington in 1784. For Ross Township was the Seneca tribe’s hunting grounds and the “white” men were trespassers. Not until 1794 did Casper Reel decide to finally settle in our area, after being formally chased out by a group of Indians. His twin sons, David and Casper Junior became the first white men born north of Pittsburgh. ^[1]

One of Ross Township’s earliest claims to fame was the roads that passed through the area. The Native Americans traveled the Venango Path, later called the Franklin Road, and was one of the most important routes used by Commodore Oliver Perry in the “Battle of Lake Erie” in the War of 1812. After his victory, the road was once again changed to the Perrysville Plank Road. During this time the road had large wooden planks on one side to assist in traveling during inclement weather. It wasn’t until State Senator Herman P. Brandt petitioned to have the road paved from the city line to Perrysville in the 1920s. The road changed names once again to what is now know as Perry Highway.

Along the road was built the Hiland Presbyterian Church around 1799. The church, which still stands today, served as the hub of the community with most of the early families worshiping there and as its use as the town meeting hall. Adjoined to church property was the Perrysville School. This was the setting of one of both Pittsburgh’s and Ross Township’s most infamous prison escapes. On January 30th 1902, Katherine Soffel, wife of the warden of the Allegheny Jail, helped the Biddle Brothers, whom she was in love with, escape. It was during this escape through a blinding snow storm that they found themselves on Perrysville Plank Road looking for shelter, transportation and something to eat. Having nowhere else to stay, they broke into the one room Perrysville school house and warmed up next to the pot-bellied stove still warm from the days classes. Wanting something to eat, the Biddle’s traveled up the road to the White House Hotel were they requested six ham sandwiches and a pint of whiskey. Realizing they were short on cash, Ed Biddle pulled out a woman’s pocketbook and paid for them. He did not have enough room in his coat so he pulled out his gun in full sight of the bartender, Christ Weller. After many failed attempts to steal horses and a buggy, they found an open barn along Three Degree Road where their attempt proved successful. Word of their escape broke out in the morning of January 31st in which they were tracked and later caught up with in Butler County. ^[2] Along with these infamous strangers, some of the residence of Ross had fame in the lives as well. Herman P. Brandt was a State Senator, Casper Reel & Jacob Weitzel were famed Revolutionary War Soldiers, Simon Girty was a renegade traitor to the settlers and has been written about many times all over the world. ^[3]

On August 1st, 1962, Northway Mall in Ross Township opened with 62 stores. The unique mall was the site of the very first enclosed mall in the state of Pennsylvania. ^[4]

Ross' borders changed over the course of time when Allegheny City was formed to the south and Shaler Township was formed to the east. Both took place before the turn of the 20th century. In 1905 the borough of West View seceded from Ross and was formed in the southwest corner of Ross Township. Since then, the borders have remained relatively unchanged.

Notable Events

In the summer of 1967, Jim Delligatti invented the Big Mac sandwich in the kitchen of his McDonald's located on McKnight Road. ^[5]

Communities

• Keown Station
• Berkeley Hills
• Kinvara
• Perrysville

Geography

Ross Township is located at 40°31′35″N 80°1′18″W / 40.52639°N 80.02167°W / 40.52639; -80.02167 (40.526418, -80.021823)^[6].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 14.4 square miles (37.4 km²). A small amount of land is covered with water.

Neighboring communities

Ross Township is bordered by McCandless to the north, Hampton Township to the northeast (touching at one point), Shaler Township to the east, Reserve Township and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Summer Hill, Perry North and Brighton Heights to the south, the borough of Bellevue to the southwest, Kilbuck Township and Ohio Township to the west, and the borough of Franklin Park to the northwest. Ross Township wholly surrounds the borough of West View.

Demographics

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 32,551 people, 13,892 households, and 8,807 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,255.3 people per square mile (871.0/km²). There were 14,422 housing units at an average density of 999.2/sq mi (385.9/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 95.93% White, 1.42% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.80% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.

There were 13,892 households out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the township the population was spread out with 19.4% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.0 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $46,542, and the median income for a family was $57,917. Males had a median income of $41,736 versus $31,304 for females. The per capita income for the township was $25,883. About 2.2% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

• Ross Township official website
• Ross Township Historical Society Facebook Page
• Ross historical society president authors book about township
• New book shares history of Ross Township
• The Opening of Northway Mall

Ross historical society president authors book about township - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_739911.html#ixzz1qx6G1YoU]

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