BEN AVON

Incorporated as a town on January 9, 1892, Ben Avon has a long and storied history. The name Ben Avon was proposed by resident James C. Lewis who thought the area reminded him of a hamlet near his birthplace in England. The name Ben Avon when translated by the Scots means, “Hill by the water.”

The present Ben Avon Municipal Building was built in 1920 for municipal purposes. Until that time, the Borough Council had met at Ben Avon Elementary School. The Borough began with five members, and by 1904 had increased to seven members. By 1906 twenty-eight streets had been laid out in the borough. Since then only a few streets have been added.

Growing populations in the borough required the construction of schools. First was a two-story, four-room brick building at the corner of Dickson and Sturgeon finished in the fall of 1893. A high school followed in 1912. In 1938, the Avonworth Union School District was formed, becoming the first union school district in the state. Consisting of the communities of Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights, Emsworth, Kilbuck Township and, later, Ohio Township, it dropped Union from the name in 1970 and became, as it is known today, Avonworth School District.

At the time of World War I, there were three newly constructed churches in Ben Avon – Ben Avon Presbyterian Church at Church and Perrysville, Ben Avon United Presbyterian (later Woodland United Presbyterian) at Dickson and Woodland, and Ben Avon Methodist Church on Breading Avenue. In 1987, the two Presbyterian churches consolidated into Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon. Soon afterward, the Methodist church closed its doors. The borough has grown steadily since its incorporation in 1892, with its population hitting its peak in 1970 with 2,713. Numerous additions and changes have made Ben Avon more accessible to Pittsburgh. The addition of the Ohio River Boulevard in 1930 made for a scenic drive through Avalon and Bellevue, though the road was not connected to Pittsburgh until some sixty years later. The additions of Routes 79 and 279 provided another thoroughfare to Pittsburgh for Ben Avon residents via Camp Horne Road.

Today, Ben Avon is as vibrant as ever, populated by several businesses and over 2,000 residents who are dedicated to preserving the storied past of Ben Avon through organizations such as the Avon Club and the Avonworth Historical Society.