Pitt Township was one of the original

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

created with the formation of

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 ...

, in 1788. It repeatedly diminished in size until dissolving into 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 ...

in 1868.

History

When Allegheny County was created in 1788, its territory extended to the north and west state lines. It was divided into seven townships, of which Pitt Township was by far the largest in area as it included all of the vast part of the county north of 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 ...

and west of the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

. The rest of Pitt Township lay between the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, from their confluence at

(then an unincorporated village within the township) to Turtle Creek on the Monongahela and Plum Creek on the Allegheny. Pitt Township lost Pittsburgh to the creation of Pittsburgh Township in 1792. In 1795 and 1796, the county reorganized the immense portion of Pitt Township north of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers into new townships. Thereafter, Pitt Township was confined to the wedge between the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. Its territory was further dismembered by the creation of

Wilkins Township Wilkins Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,357 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. It is served by Pennsylvania's 12th ...

(1821),

Northern Liberties Northern Liberties is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is north of Center City along the Delaware River. Prior to its incorporation into Philadelphia in 1854, it was among the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. i ...

borough (1829), Peebles Township (1833), the sixth through ninth wards of Pittsburgh (1845–1846), and Oakland Township (1866). The final remnant of Pitt Township, bordering north of Oakland, was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1868. There had been an earlier Pitt Township in southwestern Pennsylvania prior to the creation of Allegheny County. Formed in 1771 as part of Bedford County, it was originally bounded on the north by the Ohio and Allegheny rivers and on the south by a line drawn due west from the mouth of Redstone Creek.

Notes

References

External links

1850 map of Allegheny County
showing Pitt Township and the breakaway townships of Wilkins and Peebles

Former townships in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1788 Populated places disestablished in 1868 1788 establishments in Pennsylvania 1868 disestablishments in Pennsylvania {{pittsburgh-stub __NOTOC__