Ross Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is adjacent to the northern border of Pittsburgh. The population of the township was 33,176 at the 2020 census. While most of the township is residential, a retail corridor is located along McKnight Road along with business districts on U.S. Route 19 and Babcock Boulevard.
Ross Township, along with the nearby borough of West View, comprises part of the North Hills School District, and both participate in the multi-municipality Northland Public Library.
History
On June 26, 1809, John McKnight, along with 30 other residents of Pine Township, petitioned the courts of Allegheny for the formation of a new township. In the November term, permission was granted and Ross Township was born. It was called Ross after a prominent Pittsburgh attorney James Ross. He represented Western Pennsylvania at the convention to ratify the Pennsylvania Constitution in 1790. Ross was a United States Senator and the personal land lawyer to George Washington.
Many of the early settlers lived in fear of the Native Americans, since many Indians did not agree with Chief Cornplanter's treaty with Washington in 1784. In 1794, Casper Reel decided to finally settle in the area after being formally chased out by a group of Indians. His twin sons, David and Casper Jr., became the first white men born north of Pittsburgh.
One of Ross Township's earliest claims to fame was the roads that passed through the area. The Native Americans traveled the Venango Path, later called the Franklin Road, and was one of the most important routes used by Commodore Oliver Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. After his victory, the road was once again changed to the Perrysville Plank Road. During this time, the road had large wooden planks on one side to assist in traveling during inclement weather. It was only when State Senator Herman P. Brandt petitioned to have the road paved from the city line to Perrysville in the 1920s. The road changed names once again to what is now known as Perry Highway.
Along the road was built the Hiland Presbyterian Church circa 1799. The church, which still stands today, served as the hub of the community with most of the early families worshiping there and as its use as the town meeting hall. Adjoined to church property was the Perrysville School. This was the setting of one of both Pittsburgh's and Ross Township's most infamous prison escapes. On January 30, 1902, Katherine Soffel, wife of the warden of the Allegheny Jail, helped the Biddle Brothers, whom she was in love with, escape. It was during this escape through a blinding snow storm that they found themselves on Perrysville Plank Road looking for shelter, transportation and something to eat. Having nowhere else to stay, they broke into the one room Perrysville school house and warmed up next to the pot-bellied stove still warm from the day's classes. Wanting something to eat, the Biddles traveled up the road to the White House Hotel, where they requested six ham sandwiches and a pint of whiskey. Realizing they were short on cash, Ed Biddle pulled out a woman's pocketbook and paid for them. He did not have enough room in his coat, so he drew his gun in full sight of the bartender, Christ Weller. After many failed attempts to steal horses and a buggy, they found an open barn along Three Degree Road, where their attempt proved successful. Word of their escape broke out in the morning of January 31, in which they were tracked and later caught in Butler County. Along with these infamous strangers, some of the residence of Ross had fame in the lives as well. Herman P. Brandt was a State Senator, Casper Reel & Jacob Weitzel were famed Revolutionary War Soldiers, Simon Girty was a renegade traitor to the settlers and has been written about many times all over the world.
In 1908, the Perrysville Volunteer Fire Company was formed.
On August 1, 1962, Northway Mall in Ross Township opened with 62 stores. The unique mall was the site of the first enclosed mall in the state of Pennsylvania. Today, it operates as The Block Northway.
In the summer of 1967, Jim Delligatti invented the Big Mac sandwich in the kitchen of his McDonald's, located on McKnight Road.
In 1984, the Pittsburgh Chinese Church purchased the original Perrysville church building at 4101 Perrysville Ave with a main grand entrance at 4050 Vinceton St. In 2001, the PCC left this location for its current building at 8711 Old Perry Highway.
