Early Land Use

Early Land Use. Frick Park. , Before Henry Clay Frick gave the City of Pittsburgh 150 acres to create Frick Park, the land , formerly called the Gunn Hill Tract , was owned by the Wilkins family. The Honorable William Wilkins (1779 - 1865) was a prominent Pittsburgh jurist, United States senator, and Secretary of War under President Tyler. In 1839, he constructed a stately mansion called Homewood. From this, the Homewood cemetery later took its name., The Wilkins family is said to have named this tract of land after an old pioneer by the name of Gunn who was massacred in one of the last known Indian attacks in this vicinity., During the Civil War, gun emplacements were being built throughout the Pittsburgh area in fear of the Confederate Army's possible attack. A high point of the Gunn Hill Tract (now called Clayton Hill) served as a point of defense for the city., Swisshelm Grist Mill , The Swisshelm Grist Mill once stood at the southern end of Braddock Avenue on the Nine Mile Run Road. It is believed to have ground most of the grain in the Pittsburgh area, as its earliest known records date back to 1788., In that year, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted 250 acres of land to Abdiel McLure. The plot of land first changed hands in 1801, when William Pollock acquired 162 acres from McLure. Seven years later Pollock sold the land to John Swisshelm, for whom the Mill was named.