Crafton

History

Prior to European colonial usurpation, the area was inhabited and controlled by the Seneca Indians. It is believed the legendary chief of the Seneca, Cornplanter, called the area Killemun. But even before the Seneca came, the Crafton/Ingram area was inhabited. In her 1993 historical account, local historian and Crafton-native, Betsy Martin, writes that, “Burial mounds from a much earlier pre-Columbian Adena Culture were found farther down the [Chartiers] creek toward the ‘Rocks’ in the vicinity of the Fall Hole.” It is likely Martin is referring to a mound site near the junction of the Creek with the Ohio River, a site which underwent excavations in 1896 by the Carnegie Museum. The excavation unearthed at least 33 burials, all “Early Woodland Adena in affiliation.” The Indians who built the mounds are believed to be Algonquin. While there is no way of knowing exactly which mounds Martin talked about, the reality is that such ancient interment mounds and early-indigenous habitation sites were strewn across the entire Chartiers Valley region, including Crafton/Ingram. Throughout the 20th Century, however, most of the sites were destroyed as a result of industrial development and building construction. For obvious reasons, the Chartiers Creek was the dominant geographical feature during the premodern era, winding a northwesterly path to its terminus in the Ohio River at McKees Rocks. By 1749/1750, The French, under the aegis of King Louis XV, were staking land claims throughout the creek valley and surrounding forested hills and open meadows. George Washington passed through the area for the first time in 1752, along with his guide, Christopher Gist. Crafton is named after James S. Craft, a frontier attorney who was granted land near the "forks of the Ohio" in…

Geography

Crafton is located at (40.433869, -80.068146). According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has an area of , all land. Crafton has six land borders, including Ingram to the north and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Crafton Heights to the northeast, Westwood to the east, Oakwood and East Carnegie to the south, and Fairywood to the northwest. Across Chartiers Creek, Crafton runs adjacent with Thornburg to the west and Rosslyn Farms to the southwest.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Baldwin SHS
  High · Pittsburgh · 2,086 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Mt Lebanon SHS
  High · Pittsburgh · 1,840 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• North Hills SHS
  High · Pittsburgh · 1,383 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Pittsburgh Allderdice HS
  High · Pittsburgh · 1,362 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Bethel Park HS
  High · Bethel Park · 1,338 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Upper Saint Clair HS
  High · Pittsburgh · 1,288 students · 14:1 ratio
• Shaler Area HS
  High · Pittsburgh · 1,225 students · 11.9:1 ratio
• Moon SHS
  High · Moon Township · 1,218 students · 13.7:1 ratio