Ben Avon Heights is a borough in

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, state's second-most populous county, after Philadelp ...

, United States, located on a hill above the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

from the city of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. The population was 400 at the 2020 census. Ben Avon Heights is part of the

Pittsburgh metropolitan area Greater Pittsburgh is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Pittsburgh in Western Pennsylvania, United States. The region includes Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pittsburgh's urban core county and economic hub, and s ...

History

Prior to 1906, the land that became Ben Avon Heights was farmland belonging to Samuel Taylor and John Wilson. In 1910, Walter Pringle Fraser of

Ben Avon Ben Avon (, 'mountain of the River Avon, Strathspey, Avon') is a mountain in the Cairngorms of Scotland. It is a sprawling mountain with a broad summit plateau dotted with granite Tor (rock formation), tors. One of these marks the summit, calle ...

bought on the former Taylor farm, using forty of the acres to build the Ben Avon Country Club and golf course. The remaining were opened for a residential development, which he named Ben Avon Heights. Like neighboring Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights appealed to Pittsburghers looking for rural summer homes away from the city. The borough was incorporated in 1913. When the Ben Avon Country Club closed in 1917, it was divided into lots for additional housing. The Shannopin Country Club, the only commercial property in Ben Avon Heights, opened in 1920 with its clubhouse in Ben Avon Heights and golf course in neighboring Kilbuck Township. In the early 1930s, John I. Thompson purchased a portion of the original John Wilson Farm in Kilbuck Township and transformed the farmland into another residential area known as the Thompson Plan. The borough annexed the Thompson Plan in 1936, setting the boundaries of Ben Avon Heights to those of the present day. The borough now contains 148 homes, a community park, and the club house of the Shannopin Country Club.

Geography

Ben Avon Heights is located at . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the borough has a total area of , all land. Its average elevation is above sea level.

Surrounding neighborhoods

Ben Avon Heights has two borders, including Kilbuck Township to the north, east and west, and

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

to the south.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 392 people, 138 households, and 117 families residing in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 144 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 98.72%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.26%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.26% Asian, and 0.77% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.77% of the population. There were 138 households, out of which 40.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 2.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.5% were non-families. 13.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.12. In the borough the population was spread out, with 29.8% under the age of 18, 2.6% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 107.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.2 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $105,006, and the median income for a family was $111,218. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $50,417 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $44,191. About 1.7% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Councilmembers

* 022Republicans-3 (Brown-President, Mihalko, Radcliffe), Democrats-1 (Stiller-Vice President), Unknown-5 (Dawley, Lope, Neunder), Mayor (Dismukes)

References

External links

Borough of Ben Avon Heights official site
{{authority control Populated places established in 1913 Boroughs in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 1913 establishments in Pennsylvania