Allegheny City History - 19th Century Archives, Neighborhoods & Pittsburgh Annexation

Documenting the short but remarkable history of Allegheny City.

Allegheny Town was established in 1784 by order of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. By 1840, the tiny wilderness community had grown in size and population to be incorporated as Allegheny City. Throughout the 19th century, Allegheny City became home to immigrants from many European countries who found work in the city's expanding commercial and industrial firms, as well as prominent Americans such as Andrew Carnegie, Samuel P. Langley, Mary Cassatt, George Ferris, and Mary Roberts Rinehart.

The citizens of Allegheny City's many neighborhoods took great pride in their city's heritage, schools, parks, and congregations. On January 1, 1907, Allegheny City was the third-largest city in Pennsylvania. By the end of that year, however, the city was an autonomous municipality and no longer existed as a result of an annexation by Pittsburgh, its sister city across the river.