September 10, 2019
Speaker: JaQuay Edward Carter, Founding President, Greater Hazelwood Historical Society of PittsburghLocation
History of Hazelwood (Wikipedia)
In 1758 a large tract of woodland was purchased for $10,000 under the Stanwix Treaty made with the Native-Americans. This area would include Hazelwood and Greenfield of the 15th ward.
Hazelwood takes its name from the hazelnut trees which once flourished along the Monongahela river. The first settlers were of Scottish descent and settled what was known as Scotch Bottom. This area ran from Four Mile Run (lower Greenfield) to Six Mile Ferry, four and six miles (10 km) from the Point (where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers merge) respectively. Among the first settlers was John Woods, a politician who built his ‘Hazel Hill’ estate in 1784. That house still stands, the second oldest stone building in Pittsburgh after The Fort Pitt Blockhouse. Eventually, large farms were cut out of the wooded hills, attracting more residents and supplying the area with further wealth.