A history of Mount Oliver,
since 1892
Postcards, papers and photographs of Mount Oliver from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Mount Oliver was first settled by John Ormsby, an officer in the command of General Forbes, who was granted 249 acres of land along the banks of the Monongahela River. In 1788 Allegheny County was divided into townships, with Ormsby's plot being part of St. Clair Township. In 1800 Ormsby began selling parcels of land, while retaining rent and property taxes from residents. Ormsby named his growing settlement Mount Oliver, after his son, Oliver Ormsby. Later that year St. Clair Township would be divided with residents attempting to incorporate as a borough, however, the state ruled against the effort stating that the property owner quota was not sufficient to award incorporation, and Mount Oliver would become part of Lower St. Clair Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Mount Oliver’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view19660414 13 PAT PCC Streetcar, Br…, 1966: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Mount Oliver
See all 1 →
Mount Oliver, decade by decade
Commons19660414 13 PAT PCC Streetcar, Brownsville Rd., Mt. Oliver,…1966
Commons19680224 05 PAT 1671 Brownsville Rd. @ Amanda St1968
Commons19680224 29 PAT 1671 Brownsville Rd. @ Arlington Ave1968
Commons19680224 30 PAT 1660 Arlington Ave. @ Middle St1968
Commons19680330 43 PAT 1780 Arlington Ave. @ Fremont St1968
Commons19680330 59 PAT 1637 Brownsville Road @ Arlington St19681990s
Nothing in Mount Oliver is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Mount Oliver has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Knoxville Junior High School in Pittsburgh, 0.6 miles away.
Mount Oliver and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 19660414 13 PAT PCC Streetcar, Brownsville Rd., Mt. Oliver, Pennsylvania (1966) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.