Home Care In Bakerstown, PA

The Richland History Group will monthly highlight notable aspects from the area’s past.

At sunrise on an average day in the 1850s, a traveler in Richland Township might have seen an ordinary farm wagon passing north toward Butler. Its wagon bed was covered with a tarp, as farm wagons often were.

But a few hours before, when the night was darkest, the wagon was silently loaded in Bakerstown village with an unusual cargo. It may have held a family or a group of adults who only knew each other as fellow “passengers” on the most dangerous journey in America: the Underground Railroad.

In the two decades before the Civil War, many slaves were helped to escape to freedom by a growing network of Abolitionists. But after 1850, federal law required free states to help return runaway slaves, so even in the north transporting runaways became dangerous. Now Pennsylvania wasn’t far enough; they had to head for Erie and Canada.

The railroad had no road, of course. It was “underground” only through a network of people committed to keeping the “passengers” absolutely hidden from sight. Runaway slaves traveled mostly on foot and at night, staying away from roads, using creeks to navigate.

Cities were places to avoid, so the routes went around them. A walker who crossed the Allegheny River could follow Deer Creek to Bakerstown, but as the network grew stronger, there was a faster, safer way.

In 1857, the Pennsylvania Railroad bought land and began laying track. Bennett Station in Millvale doubled as an underground “station.” From Millvale, Thomas McElroy drove passengers in a covered wagon up the Evergreen Plank Road to Bakerstown.

Bakerstown today hardly looks like a town because some of the old buildings, such as its old hotel, have been demolished. Modern Route 8 bypassed Bakerstown, carrying commercial development over its head. Perhaps because commercialization passed it by, two of the old buildings used in the Underground Railroad are still in fine shape.

One is a large brick building at the crossing of Bakerstown and Heckert Roads. It has been used for various businesses, now a bakery with the bricks painted white.

About a quarter mile east on Bakerstown Road, the 1831 William Brickle House (more recently called the Hull House) is now part of the Benedictine convent. A narrow stair to the attic still takes a visitor to the same space where passengers on the Underground Railroad waited for their last long wagon ride.

In Bakerstown, the postmaster and school teacher was James Jones. He may have been the leader in the village’s role in the runaway network. Perhaps as proprietor of a store in the brick building he could manage the hideaway spaces in attic or cellar. A farmer named Gilland, who lived just north of the village, used his wagon on the next stage north.

From Bakerstown, they followed either the Packsaddle Trail (now Bakerstown Road) or the Butler Plank Road (now Route 8).

Work began in 1852 to upgrade the “Butler and Pittsburgh Turnpike” (a former Indian path widened in 1822) into the Butler Plank Road (completed in 1856), a major highway with split logs to keep vehicles from sinking into seasonal mud.

Thankfully, in 1862 the Emancipation Proclamation put an end to slavery in the United States while many Pittsburgh area men were serving the Federal Army in the Civil War.

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Categories: Local | Pine Creek Journal

The First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown has reason to celebrate this weekend – 140 of them really. The church will be hosting its 140th Anniversary Celebration and is pulling out all of the stops for the three-day event.

Church Program Assistant Leslie Ward has a long history with the church and has been helping to plan the anniversary celebration. A church member for more than 30 years and an employee for 14 years, Ward knows a lot about the history.

Another member has delved into the church’s history by completing extensive research on the church and writing a booklet.

“She prefers to remain anonymous, but we are giving each family a copy of the booklet and a DVD about our history,” said Ward.

The church actually started as a mission outreach by the located in Pine Township west of Babcock Boulevard. According to the history provided by Ward, Cross Roads was founded in 1840.

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In 1867, Cross Roads decided to create the “Mission Church of Bakerstown.” Although the churches are only a few miles and minutes apart in today’s world, it wasn’t the case back then.

“Believe it or not, that was considered a pretty far distance,” said the Rev. Dan Muttart, pastor. A small one-room church was built on the grounds of where the current church stands at the intersection of Route 8 and Bakerstown Road.

In 1871, the church became independent and on May 20 of that year, the First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown was recognized. At that time, it had 58 members.

Today, according to Pastor Muttart, there are nearly 1,000 members.

“But we were started as a mission and we remain devoted to missions to this day,” he said. Located in Richland Township, the church has members from surrounding communities including Mars, Cranberry, Deer Lakes, Pine and Hampton, said Muttart.

Throughout the church’s long history, there have been many ups and downs, including a few years in the 1930s and 1940s when the church struggled financially; but today, as Muttart said, they have a large parish.

Now in his fourth year at Bakerstown, Muttart said the anniversary will give the church a chance to reflect and pay honor to its history, but also to look forward.

“Our theme for the weekend is ‘The Future is Now,’” he said.

Started as a mission, the church is deeply committed to mission work, said Muttart.

“We have started four strong missions including the Lighthouse Foundation, , the Bakerstown Presbyterian Children’s Center, and the Bakerstown Honduras Medical Mission.”

A highlight of the weekend celebration will be the return of retired Rev. Dr. Richard A. Morledge and the Rev. Dr. David L. McDonald.

“David is coming from Georgia to help with the service Friday night and I am delighted,” said Muttart. “And of course, everyone knows and loves Rev. Morledge.”

The anniversary, while serving as the opportunity for reflection, also is a good time to look toward the future, according to Muttart.

“We are looking at the ‘future as now,’” he said, “We have always been a mission organization and will continue to reach out to others. Through proclaiming the word of God, we inspire people to their calling.”

“It will be exciting to see the new missions for us in the future,” Muttart said.

The church plans a three-day celebration from May 20 to 22. In brief, the schedule provided by Ward includes:

For more information, contact the church office at 724-443-1555 or visit www.fpcb.org.