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Backbone Road house in Sewickley HeightsPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Sewickley Heights

Sewickley Heights dates to 1935, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Wilpen Hall. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1910.

1935founded
1on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sewickley Heights’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sewickley Heights began

When was Sewickley Heights founded?

1935

Sewickley Heights dates its founding to 1935 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 773 in 19102020 census: 85791 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.The full story ↓

What stands out about Sewickley Heights’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19065 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1990. Watch Sewickley Heights change.Old housesHalf of Sewickley Heights’ homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · On the map

Sewickley Heights on the map, 1906 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sewickley Heights. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sewickley Heights on the 1906 USGS mapSewickley Heights on the 1953 USGS mapSewickley Heights on the 1960 USGS mapSewickley Heights on the 1979 USGS mapSewickley Heights on the 1990 USGS map1906Sewickley sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sewickley Heights.

The story

How Sewickley Heights came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sewickley Heights.

Read it all →

Sewickley Heights was established as a borough in 1935, but the area's character was largely established with the move of the Allegheny Country Club from Pittsburgh to its Sewickley Heights location in 1902. The establishment of the country club accelerated the settlement of the area as a haven for wealthy Pittsburgh residents. Many estates established in Sewickley Heights up through the 1930s occupied hundreds of acres with houses of immense proportions. Among the grandest estates was As You Like It, the estate of banker, shipper and investor William Thaw. As You Like It was featured in a 1903 print advertisement of the United States Battery Company that promoted electric lighting for country homes. Other notable estates included the Henry Robinson Rea mansion, Farmhill (which hosted Madame Curie in May 1921), and B. F. Jones' 100-room mansion, Fairacres.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sewickley Heights, 1904 to 1935

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904In the archive1904-04 Summer Home of C. C. Scaife, Sewickley Heights, Vrydaugh & Wolfe, Architects
  3. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1910In the archiveSewickley Heights, Sewickley, Leet
  5. 1935
    FoundingSewickley Heights is established
By decade

Sewickley Heights, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s4 items
1904-04 Summer Home of C. C. Scaife, Sewickley Heights, Vrydaugh & Wolfe, Architects19041904-04 Summer Home of C. C. Scaife, Sewickley Height…Sewickley Heights, Sewickley, Leet1910Sewickley Heights, Sewickley, LeetSewickley Heights, Sewickley, Leet1910Sewickley Heights, Sewickley, LeetJ. F. Byers House1912J. F. Byers House
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Fairacres, Blackburn RoadDate?Fairacres, Blackburn Road
Today7 recent
Blackburn Farmhouse2015Blackburn FarmhouseBackbone Road house in2015Backbone Road house inStone building of Wilpen Hall through trees, Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania, 2012-09-112012Stone building of Wilpen Hall through trees, Sewickle…Gate to Wilpen Hall, Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania, 2012-09-112012Gate to Wilpen Hall, Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania,…Brick building of Wilpen Hall, Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania, 2012-09-112012Brick building of Wilpen Hall, Sewickley Heights, Pen…2012-02-20 Hemitrichia clavata (Pers.) Rostaf 20394120122012-02-20 Hemitrichia clavata (Pers.) Rostaf 203941Map of Allegheny County PA Highlighting SewickleyHeights2007Map of Allegheny County PA Highlighting SewickleyHeig…Map
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1904-04 Summer Home of C. C. Scaife, Sewickley Heights, Vrydaugh & Wolfe, Architects
Retake this view1904-04 Summer Home of C. C. Scaife, Sewickley Heights, Vrydaugh & Wolfe, Architects, 1904

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sewickley Heights’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Sewickley Heights

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
2011
Wilpen Hall
Wilpen Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Shingle Style1
Wilpen HallShingle Style

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Sewickley Heights, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 984

Between 654 and 984 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sewickley Heights’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Sewickley Heights

Nobody well known was born in Sewickley Heights itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Pete MaravichAmerican basketball player · b. 1947
Cameron JohnsonAmerican basketball player · b. 1996
Lou ChristieAmerican singer · b. 1943
Bill HinzmanAmerican actor · b. 1936
K
Katharine WayAmerican physicist · b. 1902
Christa HarmottoVolleyball player · b. 1986
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sewickley Heights
Blackburn United Methodist ChurchSaint JamesSaint Paul LutheranSewickley

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Sewickley Heights’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sewickley Heights’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view1904-04 Summer Home of C. C. Scaife, Se…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Sewickley1 historic placeASewickley HillsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAleppo TownshipIts storyC−Edgeworth3 historic placesB+Bell AcresIts storyC+

Questions about Sewickley Heights’ history

What year was Sewickley Heights founded?

In 1935, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1910 counted 773 people here.

What is on the National Register in Sewickley Heights?

One place: the Wilpen Hall (listed 2011).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.