Ormsby River Farms

Ormsby River Farms. Three Rivers Heritage Trail. Homestead Farms, owned by Major John Ormsby, was a huge tract of nearly 3,000 acres that included Pittsburgh's South Side and Mt. Washington neighborhoods. Major Ormsby acquired part of this land from England as payment for military service during the French and Indian War. He purchased the remainder of the land tracts through Indian trading. Ormsby's son-in-law Nathaniel Bedford laid out a town plan within Homestead Farms. He called it "Birmingham" after the British industrial city where he was from, and he named the streets after female members of his family, Jane, Sidney, Sarah, Mary and Josephine. The Borough of Birmingham later became part of the South Side.

After the Major died in 1804, his descendants continued to build beautiful riverside mansions between 21st Street and 26th Street. In front of these manor houses, extending down the gentle slope to the river's edge, were rose gardens, forests and meadows. The country scene changed when the railroad and industrial development transformed the South Side riverfront during the early the 20th century.

(captions) , A fisherman casts his line into the Monongahela River in front of the Ormsby Farms. The trees along the river were huge, boats could be dock beneath their exposed roots. Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania , Grant's Hill was blasted away and the rocks and earth were carted off to fill the stream valleys. The site is known today as Grant Street. , In 1790, farms with log or wood houses lined the Monongahela River along today's South Side. Across the river, Pittsburgh was little more than a river village. Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania