Gilfillan Farm

Last updated
Gilfillan Farm
Gilfillan Farm, Upper St Clair, PA.jpg
Farm in 2008 from Boyce Road to south
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Upper St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Nearest city Pittsburgh
Coordinates 40°20′31″N80°03′50″W / 40.342°N 80.064°W / 40.342; -80.064 Coordinates: 40°20′31″N80°03′50″W / 40.342°N 80.064°W / 40.342; -80.064
Area15 acres (6.1 ha) [1]
Builtca. 1850 [1]
Architectural style Greek Revival, Victorian
NRHP reference No. 79002155
Significant dates
Added to NRHP1979
Designated PHLF2001 [2]

Gilfillan Farm is located at the junction of Washington (U.S. Route 19) and Orr roads in Upper St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a working farm whose current form dates to the mid-19th century.

Contents

The farm's main house shows the transition from the Greek Revival style to the Victorian modes that became dominant later in the century. It remained a farm in the hands of the same family until 2001, even as the area around it has become a suburb of nearby Pittsburgh. In 1979 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is currently owned by the township's historical society.

Property

The farmstead consists of 12 buildings on a 15-acre (6.1 ha) parcel of land sloping gently to the west. Washington Road is to the east, Orr Road to the south, and a 60-acre (24 ha) township park is on the north. The South Hills Village shopping mall is a short distance north on the opposite side of Washington. There are sidewalks on the streets and the property itself is fenced off.

The main house is a two-story, three-bay structure of brick painted red. It is topped with a slate-shingled gabled roof. There is a large wing on the rear that has had an addition put on. A nearby stone springhouse is the oldest building on the farm. [1]

Windows have decorative wooden lintels and white pine moldings. A porch supported by wooden columns stretches across the west (front) of the first story. The main entrance has a red glass transom and similar sidelights with a frosted grape pattern. [1]

Inside many original finishings remain. The doors have white pine molded surrounds like their exterior counterparts, and one of the parlors has a fireplace mantel also of pine. Slate and marble are used for the other two fireplaces on the first story. [1]

A breezeway connects the main house to a brick wash house to its rear. It is also three bays but only one story high. To its rear is a smokehouse. [1]

Also nearby is a 40-by-60-foot (12 by 18 m) frame barn on a stone foundation. Its roof is pierced by two ventilators. Next to it is the stable, with stalls for seven horses. A wagon shed, shop, pig pen, chicken coop and granary round out the outbuildings. [1]

History

The farm was established by Alexander Gilfillan in the 1760s. His family was one of the first to settle in the future township, growing corn, hay, sheep and cattle. His grandson, John II, built the current farm complex from 1857 to 1868. The last building, the barn, was built in a community barn raising. [1]

In 1976 the family sold the surrounding acreage to the township, which have since been developed as a park with a 1.25-mile (2.01 km) walking trail. [3] The Gilfillan descendants continued to live on and work the farm until the last one died in 2001. Margaret Gilfillan left the property to the Historical Society of Upper St. Clair http://www.hsusc.org/ along with a $1.8 million trust fund to maintain it. Currently it is open to the public by appointment or on Upper St. Clair Community Day, in May of every year and the grounds are selectively available for private parties.

See also

Related Research Articles

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania United States county in Pennsylvania

Allegheny County is located in the southwest of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2019 the population was 1,216,045, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh. Allegheny County is included in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and in the Pittsburgh Designated Market Area.

Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania Home Rule Municipality in Pennsylvania, United States

Mt. Lebanon is a township with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 33,137 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Pittsburgh.

Upper St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania First Class Township with home rule in Pennsylvania, United States

Upper St. Clair is a township with home rule status in southern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, situated about 8 miles (13 km) south of Downtown Pittsburgh. It is known for being an affluent suburb with a nationally recognized school district. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 19,229.

Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh) Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Lawrenceville is one of the largest neighborhood areas in Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located northeast of downtown, and like many of the city's riverfront neighborhoods, it has an industrial past. The city considers Lawrenceville three neighborhoods, Upper Lawrenceville, Central Lawrenceville, and Lower Lawrenceville, but these distinctions have little practical effect. Accordingly, Lawrenceville is almost universally treated as being a single large neighborhood.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Pennsylvania

This is a list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania. As of 2015, there are over 3,000 listed sites in Pennsylvania. Sixty-six of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania have listings on the National Register; Cameron County is the only county without any sites listed.

South Hills (Pennsylvania)

The South Hills is the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh south of the South Side Slopes. The Pittsburgh neighborhoods include Knoxville, Mt. Oliver, Mt. Washington, Beltzhoover, Allentown, Banksville, Beechview, Brookline, Carrick, and Overbrook. Two suburban municipalities that are included in the South Hills outside of Pittsburgh are Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon, as well as the boroughs of Castle Shannon, Dormont, and Green Tree. The South Hills also includes the townships of Baldwin, Collier, Peters, Scott, South Park, and Upper St. Clair, plus the boroughs of Baldwin, Brentwood, Bridgeville, Mt. Oliver, Heidelberg, Whitehall, Pleasant Hills, Jefferson Hills, and West Mifflin. Much of the South Hills was originally a land grant to John Ormsby.

St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Former Township in Pennsylvania, United States

St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, was one of the original townships created with the incorporation of Allegheny County in 1788. The township was named after Arthur St. Clair, an American Revolutionary War general and president of the Continental Congress in 1787.

Chatham Village (Pittsburgh) United States historic place

Chatham Village is a community within the larger Mount Washington neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and an internationally acclaimed model of community design. It is roughly bounded by Virginia Ave., Bigham St., Woodruff St., Saw Mill Run Blvd., and Olympia Rd. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005 as a remarkably well-preserved example of Garden City Movement design. The village is owned and operated as a cooperative by its residents.

Pennsylvania State Senate District 37 includes parts of Allegheny County and Washington County. More specifically, it includes the following areas:

Altona (West Virginia) United States historic place

Altona, near Charles Town, West Virginia, is a historic farm with an extensive set of subsidiary buildings. The original Federal style plantation house was built in 1793 by Revolutionary War officer Abraham Davenport on land purchased from Charles Washington. The house was expanded by Abraham's son, Colonel Braxton Davenport. During the Civil War the farm was a favored encampment. Generals Philip Sheridan and Ulysses S. Grant both used the house as a headquarters and meeting place.

Sloat House United States historic place

The Sloat House is located at the corner of NY 17 and Sterling Avenue in Sloatsburg, New York, United States. It is a stone house, dating to the mid-18th century, with a frame front addition built in the 1810s.

Mount Pleasant (Indian Falls, New York) United States historic place

Mount Pleasant is a farm complex located in the Town of Pembroke, New York, United States, east of the hamlet of Indian Falls. It was established in the mid-19th century.

Keim Homestead United States historic place

The Keim Homestead is a historic farm on Boyer Road in Pike Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1753 for Jacob Keim and his wife Magdalena Hoch on land given to the couple by her father. Jacob was the son of Johannes Keim, who immigrated from Germany in 1689 and scouted the Pennsylvania countryside for land that was similar in richness to the soil from the Black Forest of Germany. He thought he found it and returned to Germany, married his wife, Katarina. They came to America in 1707. Keim originally built a log structure for his family's housing and later a stone home along Keim Road in Pike Township. The main section of the Jacob and Magdelena Keim house on Boyer Road was built in two phases and it is, "replete with early German construction features ... including[an] extremely original second floor Chevron door." The exterior building material (cladding) is limestone. The finishings and trimmings are mostly original to the house; relatively unusual in a home of this period.

McClelland Homestead United States historic place

The McClelland Homestead is a historic farm in western Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located along McClelland Road northeast of Bessemer, the farm complex includes buildings constructed in the middle of the 19th century. It has been designated a historic site because of its well-preserved architecture.

Ezra Clark House United States historic place

The Ezra Clark House is located on Mill Road in the Town of North East, New York, United States. It is a brick house built in the late 18th century.

Butterfield Cobblestone House United States historic place

The Butterfield Cobblestone House is on Bennett Corners Road in the Town of Clarendon, New York, United States, south of the village of Holley. It is a cobblestone structure from the mid-19th century built in the Greek Revival architectural style by a wealthy local farmer to house his large family. Three generations of his descendants would run the farm over the next 80 years. Later owners would make some renovations to the interior.

Hamnett Historic District United States historic place

Hamnett Historic District is a historic district in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Bordered roughly by Rebecca Avenue, the rear property lines on the east side of Center Street, Sewer Way, and Lytle Way, it encompasses 77 buildings and 114 acres.

Fulton Log House United States historic place

The Fulton Log House in Upper St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, was built circa 1830. The log house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1975.

Hopewell Farm United States historic place

The Hopewell Farm, also known as Lower Farm and Hopedell Farm, is a historic home and farm located at 1751 Valley Road in Valley Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The 500-acre farm complex has six contributing buildings, one contributing site, and six contributing structures. The buildings and property were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kunkle, Betsy, "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Gilfillan Farm" (PDF).[ permanent dead link ], Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, retrieved August 23, 2009.
  2. Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  3. "Gilfillan Park". Upper St. Clair Township. 2009. Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2009.