Based on the results of an online public
opinion survey ran by Moon Township this
spring, residents question if there are
enough historic resources left to preserve.
“There certainly are,” says Tracy Zinn of
T&B Planning, the consulting firm hired to
prepare the Preservation Plan. “In fact,
Moon Township’s important historic resources
date from the 1800s up through 1965,” says
Zinn. The Township’s Historic Architectural
Review Board (HARB) is working with the
consulting firm to prepare the Preservation
Plan. Approximately 150 resources have been
identified so far.
All residents were invited to attend a
public participation session on July 24. The
firm presented the inventory of historic
resources, gave preliminary recommendations,
answered questions, and sought input.
Contact Lora Dombrowski at the township
administration office, (412) 262-1700 or
ldombrowski@moontwp.com for more
information.
Moon is in the process of creating an
Historic Preservation Action Plan to
highlight the township’s historic and
cultural significance. The primary goals of
the Preservation Plan are to identify and
map the township’s historic and cultural
resources, increase public awareness of the
township’s history and historic assets,
prepare a prioritized plan of action, avoid
inappropriate demolitions of historic
structures while encouraging economic growth
and community development, and, finally, to
encourage voluntary preservation efforts
through education and public awareness.
Moon Community Access Television (MCA-TV)
released the first episode of a four-part
series of history programs in celebration of
Moon Township’s 225th Anniversary. Three of
the programs were created by the Old Moon
Township Historical Society and one is being
created by Sharon Community Presbyterian
Church. All four of the programs in the
series are being produced by MCA-TV
volunteer and community producer, Earl
Edwards.
“Travel Journals” premiered on July 5 on
Comcast channel 14 and Verizon FiOs channel
35 in Moon Township, Coraopolis Borough,
Crescent Township, Findlay Township, North
Fayette Township and Neville Township. It
will air again; check the MCA-TV web site
for schedule information.
“Travel Journals” starts with the
earliest records of human occupation of this
area then moves to the adventures of five
individuals who penned travel journals when
they passed through Moon Township prior to
1760. The earliest journals are written by
archaeologists, as no original writing
survives. Edwards’ program begins with the
archaeology of the Meadowcroft rock shelter
located in Avella. The University of
Pittsburgh became interested and hired a
young archeologist, James Adovasio, to
supervise the excavation. Results showed
sporadic occupation for over 16,000 years,
making it, at that time, the oldest evidence
of human occupation in North America.
The next segment of “Travel Journals”
covers the McKees Rocks Mound, within the
boundaries of Old Moon Township in 1788, 225
years ago. The 15-foot high, 85-foot long
mound was built by the Adena people between
200 BC and 100 AD. The mound was later used
by the Hopewell and Monongahela people and
sometimes served as a burial site. Seven
hundred years later, Andrew Carnegie had the
mound excavated. Today, the mound is
completely destroyed. Excavations in the
late nineteenth century revealed 33
skeletons and numerous artifacts made of
copper and shells.
“Travel Journals” then moves on to the
Monongahela culture of the Native American
Woodland people who lived in western
Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern
Ohio, and West Virginia from 1050 to 1635
A.D.
The program concludes with the written
journals of five individuals: Conrad Weiser,
a negotiator for Pennsylvania and Virginia
who traveled through Moon to make Indian
alliances against the French; Father
Bonnecamps, a Jesuit from Montreal who was
part of a French expedition; George
Washington, then a major in the militia who
came representing the Governor of Virginia
in an attempt to kick out the French; the
final journal tells the tale of two young
girls who were taken captive by the Delaware
Indians, and then drug back and forth across
western Pennsylvania and Ohio. They escaped
three years later.
Edwards researched the stories for this
program through a book entitled Pen Pictures
of Early Pennsylvania published by the
University of Pittsburgh Press in 1938. The
book is one of a series about Western
Pennsylvania History, written under the
direction of the Western Pennsylvania
Historical Society.
MCA-TV will release air dates and times
for the other three episodes of the history
series in the coming months. |
