Scottdale Borough Celebrates Sesquicentennial Anniversary

Located 32 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, rests the borough of Scottdale.

In the early 1870s, both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built branch lines
through the community. With the arrival of the railroads, the economy of the community shifted from farming to
manufacturing and mining.

Two local farmers, brothers Peter and Jacob Loucks, realized the impact the railroads could have on the area and
laid out a small townsite consisting of 24 lots, which went on sale in 1872.

Incorporated as a borough in 1874, the town was named after Thomas A. Scott, who had been president of the
Pennsylvania Railroad at the time. Scott also served as assistant secretary of war during the Civil War.

With Scottdale sitting atop major coal deposits, the community flourished due to the surrounding coal
mines, as well as ovens for converting coal into coke (fuel). The H. C. Frick Coke Company, controlled by Henry
Clay Frick, was headquartered here, and the company was to become one of the largest coke-producing firms
in the world, and Frick was an undisputed “king of coke.” He sold this product to Andrew Carnegie and became a
millionaire by age 30.1

Scottdale has two sites on the National Register of Historic Places: Scottdale Armory (1929) at 501 North Broadway Street, and the Scottdale Historic District, which encompasses the oldest parts of the borough.2

The Scottdale Fall Festival is a 3-day annual celebration featuring a wide variety of handmade crafts, local and
ethnic foods to suit all palates, a parade, a full schedule of live entertainment, children’s area, and so much more.

The festival is held at the gazebo, located in the heart of Scottdale, on the corner of Pittsburgh and Spring
Streets, to be exact. It is always held the third weekend in September, to help welcome fall to the area, and is one
of three major festivals the Scottdale community enjoys each year. Admission is always free, and there is free
live entertainment each day of the festival. (see “Events” listing on pg. 12 for times.)

Congratulations to Scottdale Borough on your anniversary milestone!

1 Historicpittsburgh.org
2 Wikipediae, Scottsdale, PA