Then and Now: 1875 O'Hara home is among oldest in township

One of the oldest existing homes in O’Hara stands along Freeport Road overlooking the Allegheny River.

According to township historian Tom Powers, the home was among the first built in the Montrose Plan and is at least 150 years old.

It sits in an area of the township not far from the railroad tracks – at the exact spot where business tycoon David Hostetter stirred controversy with his attempt to dupe the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) out of freight service charges, Powers said.

Hostetter was co-founder of the Fort Pitt National Bank and among the founders of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.

He formed the Columbia Conduit Company to send oil through a pipeline from his Butler County investments to Pittsburgh refineries, bypassing the railroad’s service charges, Powers said.

When Hostetter tried to position his pipeline underneath the PRR’s tracks at Powers Run, the railroad successfully blocked the move.

“Frustrated, Hostetter leased the pipeline to a group that came up with a solution to the PRR’s blockade,” Powers said.

They moved the crossing to Boyd Avenue — a public road — and used tanker wagons to transport oil from the north side of the tracks to the south side and into the Fairview Oil Refinery’s storage tanks.

As seen in the photo from 1875, the house along Freeport Road stands in the background just near the Boyd Avenue crossing where the horse-drawn tankers traversed Boyd.

Fun fact: Hostetter was said to have made his fortune selling “Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters.”

The medicine was used by Northern soldiers during the Civil War – and also served in saloons. The content was 47% alcohol with sugar.