The Story of a District
A beautiful residential district of approximately ten square miles including at present about 1400 families; lovely houses sheltered by great trees; woodland so wild that trillium and dogtooth violets abound and deer and pheasants are frequently seen; steep, forested hills, clear streams and waterfalls; prosperous farms - all within twelve miles of a great industrial city, steel center of the world - the contrast seems almost unbelievable! But the Fox Chapel district indeed measures up to this description. A man can stroll among wild flowers near his home on a spring morning, and within an hour be settled in his office in a downtown skyscraper. The circumstances that have combined to protect this area and keep it the lovely country it is today are partly geological and topographical, partly historical, and within recent times the result of planning by residents who appreciate this beauty, and wish to preserve it for present and future generations.

George Washington and Fox Chapel
Looking today at the peaceful tree-covered hills of Fox Chapel, one would never suspect that over two hundred years ago, they had witnessed much historical drama and bloodshed. It is probable that in December, 1753, George Washington, accompanied by Christopher Gist, pushed his way across Fox Chapel land as he came south from Fort LeBoeuf where he had delivered a letter to the French Commander, ordering him, in the name of the governor of Virginia, to return to Canada. He made his way through the trees, and followed a creek (either Guyasuta or Pine Creek), down to the Allegheny River, on the banks of which he and Gist constructed a raft to effect a crossing. Unfortunately the raft capsized in midstream, plunging both men into ten feet of icy water, but they managed to climb onto Six Mile Island and survive the night, frigid though they were. Next morning, the river was completely frozen over, enabling them to walk across.

French and Indian Wars
For the next ten years, all the land at the forks of the Ohio was the scene of contention between French and English, with the Indians making difficulties for both groups of white men. Fort St. George under the English became Fort Duquesne under the French and finally Fort Pitt under the English. The bloody battles of Braddock's defeat, Bushy Run, and Colonel Bouquet's relief of the Indian siege of Pittsburgh provided many British and Virginia scalps, which were triumphantly brought home to adorn wigwams situated in what is now Fox Chapel. The revolution, too, produced further military activity, and brought to the fore some of Pittsburgh's illustrious citizens, such as General James O'Hara, who joinedGeorge Rogers Clark on his expedition to Vincennes against the British and Indians.

Guyasuta
Through this entire shifting, warlike panorama moved the figure of the Seneca Chief, Guyasuta. Closely associated with this district, seemingly involved in every clash, sometimes aiding the English and sometimes the French, he first appeared as George Washington's guide during his journey from Logstown to Fort LeBoeuf, in 1753. Later, he led the Indians against General Grant in 1758; he was probably the leader of the Seneca band that destroyed Fort Venango n 1763 and butchered the entire garrison; he and a band of warriors burned the historic frontier village of Hannastown, north of Greensburg; and he was present at the battle of Bushy Run, where the Indians were defeated by Colonel Bouquet. Despite this Indian's depredations on the white man, (probably dictated by a wish to save his people from encroaching civilization), General O'Hara must have felt that the white conquerors owed him something, for he furnished a cabin for Guyasuta on his estate north of the Allegheny, (now Fox Chapel), and provided necessities during the declining years of his life. The Indian died about 1800, and is said to have been buried near what is now the north end of Highland park Bridge. Indian skeletons, one of which might have been his, were removed to Carnegie Museum when the Pennsylvania Railroad received title to the ground in 1920. A glance at his statue on the corner of Main and North Canal Street in Sharpsburg reveals his strong face and serves to bring back vividly the dramatic Indian struggle which took place in this area.

James O'Hara and James Ross
One exception to this pattern was the estate of James O'Hara. Among many other holdings, he acquired from James Cunningham a large tract fronting on the Allegheny and extending back as far as what is now the Harbison property. Emerging as a general from the Revolution, O'Hara became a large landowner and busied himself with many other enterprises. As Pittsburgh's first great captain of industry, he started the first glassworks in the city, (the second west of the Alleghenies), in partnership with Major Isaac Craig. He was the owner of the "Point Brewery". He transported salt to Pittsburgh. He built ships. He was president of the Bank of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Branch. But like many other substantial Pittsburghers of that period, he overextended himself, and would have been wiped out by the panic and depression of 1818, had it not been for the generosity and good advice of James Ross. General O'Hara, thanks to James Ross, was enabled to save the greater part of his vast properties, which were inherited by the O'Hara and Denny families, but in gratitude to Ross, he gave him 1700 acres, much of which is now Fox Chapel. Ross, as well as O'Hara, was a great figure in early Pittsburgh history. He had been a teacher of Latin and Greek in Canonsburg Academy, (now Washington and Jefferson College). He changed his profession to the study of law, practiced in Washington, Pennsylvania, and came to Pittsburgh in 1795. He served as U.S. Senator 1794-1803, as president of the Pittsburgh Select Council 1816-1833, and as leader of the Allegheny County Bar for half a century. His chief interest for Fox Chapel, however, is his development of his vast and beautiful estate. His house, called "The Meadows," was built in 1820 on what is now the corner of Freeport and Fox Chapel Roads. One of the handsomest houses of its time, it had pillared porticoes front and back, thick walls, heavily paneled doors with huge brass keys and keyholes and distinctive black marble mantelpieces in all the downstairs rooms. A contemporary visitor, Lucy Ann Higbee, described a visit to the house in 1837. She mentioned the "splendid mansion," so beautifully situated with lawn sloping down to the river; the "handsome carpets, mirrors, lamps, chairs, etc." Toward sunset, James Ross, Jr. "took her to the park to see three pet deer, and informed her that he intended to encage some peacocks." The life seems reminiscent of that on the Potomac or in the large Southern mansions. "The Meadows" eventually became a roadhouse and was destroyed by fire in 1929-a landmark remembered by many old Pittsburghers.

Early Settlement
Meanwhile, community life in the District was starting in a small way. The first school house was on Squaw Run, where it stood in 1806. It was a log house, and James Wiley was the first teacher. (It is interesting to note how many people named James were of importance to the early history of Fox Chapel: James Cunningham, James Powers, James O'Hara, James Ross, and finally James Wiley!)

A church, too, was organized in 1818. Built on Kittanning Road, on a branch of Pine Creek, it was known as the Pine Creek Presbyterian Church. A second church, established seventy years later, was the one from which the District later took its name. In the year 1831, John Fox settled on the old homestead which until recently was occupied by Amos C. Teats. Shortly after the death of Fox in 1889, a group of people called on his daughter, Mrs. Eliza Fox Teats, and asked her if she would contribute a plot of ground for a church. Mrs. Teats gave the site for the little Fox Chapel Methodist Protestant Church, which was named in honor of her father.

Several old families (such as the Campbells, whose ancestor James Crawford had bought his land and built his log cabin in 1813; the Strohms, the Hodils and the McRoberts) had established prosperous farms. In general, however, there was little growth or development throughout the nineteenth century, and it remained for the twentieth, with the advent of the automobile, to make Pittburghers aware of the advantages of the Fox Chapel District as a suburb.

Acknowledgement:
The authors acknowledge with thanks the following sources of information and advice, without which this history could never have been written: the Pennsylvania Historical Society; the Darlington Library of the University of Pittsburgh; the Pennsylvania Room of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh; Mr. George C. Campbell; General John Ross Delafield; Mr. Francis R. Harbison; Mrs. John E. Jackson; Mrs. Edward J. McDonnell; Mr. Laurence Molyneaux; and Mr. William Schroeder