O'Hara Township History Book, 2008
Produced
here
by permission of O'Hara Township History Committee
"Portrait of an American
Community:
O’Hara Township, PA"
Product
of O'Hara
Township History Committee - 2008
(The
full-color
dustjacket front cover illustration is by primitive
artist John Kane who between 1928 and 1930
did a painting series of
this area in the township. The original painting can be
found in the
Museum of Modern Art.)
(Content primarily written, typeset, laid-out and edited
by Tom Powers
of Power
Media and Design.
Other contributing O'Hara Township History Committee
members included
Ruth Weir, Carol Szwedko. Al Zimmerman, John Arch and Jack
Reynolds.)
1945-46 O'Hara School Band at
Kerr
School
(click on photo for
enlarged
version)
The Township of O’Hara has just
published its own comprehensive history. Thirty-three years in the
making, this 292-page, 8.5x11-inch book is packed with information
including over 500 photographs, maps and illustrations showing the
unique qualities of the area (which also includes Aspinwall,
Blawnox,
Fox Chapel, and Sharpsburg). Take this effort as an historical
investigation of a “core sample” of the United States of America.
Inside are a series of stories that comprise the development of an
American community. Many of these stories might be, in their own
way,
very familiar to those in other communities, in other states. From
tales of the first Americans, to those of the first settlers, to
the
latest real estate transactions, O’Hara Township’s chronicles
mirror
America’s growth. In addition to portraits of many personalities,
there
are stories about Veteran’s Hospital; Blawnox Company; Allegheny
County
Workhouse; the Poorhouse; the Pittsburgh area’s first municipal
airfield and first industrial park; plus a local restaurant’s
secret
barbecue sauce.
“This
beautifully
illustrated and thoroughly engrossing history of an
American community is local history as it should be written. A
pleasure
to read and a joy for the eye.” — Linda Lear, biographer of Rachel
Carson,
"Witness for Nature"
“The
township
has produced a book rich with information on their history.
It’s rare to see a community history so thoroughly researched
including
bibliographies at the end of each chapter and a complete index.
Every
page is full of interesting facts.” — Art Louderback, "Western Pennsylvania History
Magazine,"
Fall 2008
“Who
knew
Charles Dickens and Amelia Earhart each passed through O’Hara
Township? ... They are two of the famous figures that give
O’Hara
Township its rich, if little-known history... Although named for
one of
Pittsburgh’s early entrepreneurs, James O’Hara, the township
also can
boast affiliations with famous scions, including H. J. Heinz,
who grew
cabbage in O’Hara, and Joseph M. Katz, who endowed the
University of
Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business with some of the fortune he
made
at his O’Hara paper manufacturing plant.” — Deborah Weisberg, "Shady Ave Magazine,"
Fall 2008
Purchase the book locally at the
O'Hara Township municipal building, 325 Fox Chapel Road,
Pittsburgh, PA 15238. Phone: 412-784-1784
or
Purchase the book at the Heinz
History Center Museum Shop, 1212 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA
15222. Phone: 412-454-6000
Additional
book views may be seen at: http://mysite.verizon.net/tpowers6/id3.html
Tom Powers, Power Media
and
Design
328 Second Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15215
Phone: 412-781-7076, Fax: 412-781-8118
E-Mail: [email protected]
DSL: [email protected]
Website: http://mysite.verizon.net/tpowers6/
If you care to contribute any of your
historical family information
to this website to share with others, please contact me at the
E-Mail
address
on my Home Page (link below).
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