Know What History Happened Around Here?

Have you ever taken the time to read the blue historical markers along roads in the greater North Hills area?

If the answer is "no," then maybe it's time for a Sunday drive that can double as a history lesson.

Since 1946, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has placed historical markers to capture the memory of people, places and events that have affected Pennsylvanians.

Across the state, according to the commission's website, "more than 2,000 cast aluminum markers tell the stories of Native Americans and settlers, government and politics, athletes, entertainers, artists, struggles for freedom and equality, factories and businesses, and a multitude of other topics." While some structures no longer exist and people have long left the earth, they live on in the markers that remember their significance to the western Pennsylvania area.

Some of the many local historical markers, their locations and significance are below (Click here to see even more details about the listings or find others of interest in northern Allegheny and southern Butler counties.):

CRANBERRY

• Venango Path— Franklin Road at Mars Crider Road( Rt. 228). A major Indian path between the Forks of the Ohio and the Seneca town of Venango (Franklin, PA) passed through here. On Dec. 27, 1753, George Washington came this way with frontier scout Christopher Gist as they returned from Fort LeBoeuf on a mission for Virginia's Gov. Robert Dinwiddie. 

FRANKLIN PARK

• Kuskusky Path— 2500 Brandt School Rd., at Trinity Lutheran Church. Hunters, traders, warriors, militia, war captives and diplomats all used the early Native American path, which passed this location, for most of the 1700s as part of a regional network of trails.

• Harmony Mennonites— U.S. 19 north of Zelienople. Church organized 1816 by Abraham Ziegler, purchaser of the Harmonist property. 

ROSS TOWNSHIP

• First Aluminum Observatory Dome— West View Avenue near McKnight Road. On a hill just west of here, the first known astronomical observatory with an aluminum dome, the Valley View Observatory, was erected in 1930. It was designed and built by Pittsburgh amateur astronomers, led by Leo J. Scanlon, beside his Van Buren St. home. 

• Zelienople—North Main Street/Perry Highway (US Route 19), just north of Zelienople. The town, founded by Baron Dettmar Basse in 1802, was named for his daughter Zelie. On the hill overlooking the town, he built Bassenheim, a palatial wooden "castle" that burned in 1842. 

Nominations for historical markers may be submitted by any person or organization. The PHMC maintains its historical markers on a cyclical basis through a contract. To report a marker as missing, broken or in poor condition, email the Historical Marker Program at kgalle@pa.gov.