Hickory Heights, Pennsylvania

Hickory Heights is an unincorporated community of South Fayette Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Hickory Heights
Neighborhood
Hickory Heights
Location of Hickory Heights in Pennsylvania
Hickory Heights
Hickory Heights (the United States)
Coordinates: 40°20′27″N 80°08′27″W
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyAllegheny
Area
 • Total5 sq mi (10 km2)
 • Land5 sq mi (10 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation
1,120 ft (340 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
15017
Area code(s)412
School DistrictSouth Fayette
Street view of Hickory Heights (Hickory Heights, PA)

Geography

Hickory Heights is a neighborhood in the South Hills of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. It is located in the South Fayette school district and is serviced by the Bridgeville post office. It is located just south of the intersection of Route 50 and Interstate 79 at 40°20′27″N 80°8′27″W.

The Hickory Heights neighborhood has an approximate total area of 5 square miles (13 km2), all of it land.

Its average elevation is roughly 1,120 ft (341 m) above sea level.[1]

Community overview

Although Hickory Heights is linked to the communities of Bridgeville and South Fayette (WHAT??? It IS part of South Fayette, not a separate entity), the neighborhood is geographically separate because of its elevated location spread around the Hickory Heights golf course. The autonomous neighborhood has a community swimming pool (Hickory Heights swimming pool), central golf course (Hickory Heights golf course), horse stables (Rolling Hills Ranch), a sportsman's club (The Alpine Club) and a farmers market (Original Farmer's Night Market). The rolling hills and scenic views provide some of the nicest suburban scenery in Pennsylvania.

History

Around 1770 General George Washington (later to become first President of the United States) acquired a 2,813-acre (11.38 km2) parcel of land in Western Pennsylvania known as Millers Run.[2] Some falsely claim that this property includes Hickory Heights, but it was actually several miles away in what is now Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County. This property was given to Washington by his neighbor John Posey in exchange for the forgiveness of debt. George Washington was essentially an absentee landlord who treated the property in the wild western frontier of Pennsylvania as an investment. In September 1784 he traveled to Miller's Run to survey his holdings, and discovered a population of Scotch-Irish squatters residing on his land. Over the next few years Washington methodically went about initiating legal proceedings to evict them. He eventually won a judgment against the group. In 1796 Washington attempted to sell the property, but the sale collapsed when the purchasing agent defaulted on the mortgage. Washington then held onto the property until his death. Because of the extended legal proceedings, it is very clear that this property consumed quite a bit of Washington's time. It is clearly documented that he visited the property at least once, but he was not active in the regular maintenance of the area.

Until the 1980s, most of Hickory Heights was quiet farm land. The development of the Hickory Heights Golf Course and associated housing developments around the course formed the original nucleus of the current neighborhood.

Education

Hickory Heights is served by the South Fayette School District. The public high school for the area is South Fayette High School. In 2006 the South Fayette Middle School was named a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.[3] It is one of only six public schools in Pennsylvania that year to earn this award.[3] In 2005, the school earned the Charles Gray Award for Excellence in Arts Education.[3] On the 2006 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) results, South Fayette's 6th-grade students ranked first in the state in Math (the second consecutive year for this group of students); and the 5th, 6th and 7th-grade students ranked first in Allegheny County in Math. South Fayette’s 6th-grade students also ranked first in Allegheny County in Reading. The district was named an “Outperformer” in 2007 by Standard & Poor’s for their exemplary achievements over the past three years.[3] The high school is also highly ranked with a strong academic record, solid sport programs, and a well known marching band (The Green Machine) which performs throughout the country. Local universities include University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and others.

Surrounding communities

Photos
  • Second street view of Hickory Heights (Hickory Heights, PA)
  • View of the houses from the Ninth Green (Hickory Heights, PA)
  • Hickory Heights Club House (Hickory Heights, PA)
  • Creek running past the community (Hickory Heights, PA)
  • Rolling Hills Ranch. (Hickory Heights, PA)
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References
  1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  2. Achenbach, Joel: "George Washington's Western Adventure", Washington Post.com
  3. "www.southfayette.org". SouthFayette.org. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
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