Ben Avon Heights, PA

Ben Avon Heights is an Allegheny County borough on a hill above the Ohio River, about nine miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The 2020 census counted 400 residents. The borough is mostly residential, with about 142 homes, a community park, and Shannopin Country Club as its principal named institution. Kilbuck Township surrounds it on three sides and Avalon borders it to the south, so local streets quickly meet the wider Pittsburgh road network.

Before 1906, the land belonged to Samuel Taylor and John Wilson farms. Walter Pringle Fraser bought 84 acres in 1910 and used 40 for the Ben Avon Country Club and nine-hole course, with homes planned around it. The club closed in 1917, and much of the course became residential lots; Shannopin Country Club opened in 1920. Its streets follow the old development pattern, with no commercial downtown. Ben Avon Heights grew from a country-club development into a borough of homes, volunteer government, and a hillside park above the river.