SVHS Philanthropic Legacy & the Development of the Preservation Construction Grant and Architecture Committee
The Architecture Committee shall support and carry out the mission of the organization, “to promote interest in and to record, collect, preserve and document the history of the Sewickley Valley,” through community outreach initiatives that highlight local history and the built environment, including the preservation grant, preservation awards and preservation opportunities.
2005
SOLDIERS’ MONUMENT, SEWICKEY CEMETERY
In 2005, SVHS contributed $10,000 to Citizens for Soldiers, the local group that raised $300,000 for the replacement of the greatly deteriorated 1866 marble Soldiers’ Monument in Sewickley Cemetery honoring local soldiers who died in the Civil War. Both Isaac Broome’s sculpture of “Fame” atop the monument and the original marble base were reproduced in pollution-resistant Vermont granite.
1998
SEWICKLEY BRIDGE FINIALS
SVHS was instrumental in saving two finials from the original 1911 Sewickley-Coraopolis Bridge when that bridge was replaced in 1980-81. In 1998, the Historical Society had one of these finials and a name plate from the old bridge mounted in Park Place, on Ohio River Boulevard near Walnut Street. The finial is featured in the new logo of the Sewickley Valley Historical Society.
2000
SEWICKLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RAILINGS
When the old yellow brick Sewickley Elementary School at Broad and Thorn Streets was demolished in 1976, SVHS saved the four cast iron railings that had adorned the front porch of the school, in front of smaller arches on either side of the large arched entrance. A few years later the Historical Society supported their installation at the Sewickley Public Library, appropriately located across the street from where the school had stood. In 2000, the railings were incorporated into the new Library patio on Broad Street funded by the Village Garden Club of Sewickley.
2009
1927 AMERICAN LAFRANCE FIRE TRUCK RESTORATION
In 2009, SVHS contributed $5000 to the restoration of Sewickley’s Cochran Hose Company’s 1927 American-LaFrance Triple Fire Truck by Ron’s Garage in Eighty-Four, PA. Decommissioned in 2005, the beloved 1,000 pumper returned to use for ceremonial purposes in 2010.
2014
202 BEAVER STREET PRESERVATION
Located on the Sewickley Presbyterian Church campus, “the Pink House” (b. date, Longfellow, Alden and Harlow), was in danger of demolition. SVHS contributed $10,000 in 2014 to the “Pink House Restoration Fund,” a gift to be used for publicity aligned with the the Church’s plan for the preservation of the house. This gift was to act as a catalyst for attracting additional financial support and in-kind resources for its preservation. This Beaux Arts masterpiece, now restored and known as “Faith House,” with the Presbyterian Church and its surrounding greenspace, contributes to the historic streetscape of this important block of Sewickley’s main street.
2015
HISTORIC DISTRICT STREET SIGNS
In 2015, after meetings between the SVHS Architecture Committee Sewickley Borough’s Historic Review Commission and Borough staff, the Historical Society allocated $10,000 toward the purchase of special street signage identifying Sewickley’s three historic districts, which had been designated between 1982 and 1986. The signage was installed by the Borough in 2016.
2013
TUSKEGEE AIRMEN MEMORIAL, SEWICKLEY CEMETERY
Dedicated September 15, 2013, and the largest outdoor memorial of its kind in the United States, the Tuskegee Airmen Memorial at Sewickley Cemetery honors the nearly 100 Tuskegee aviators who hailed from Western Pennsylvania, eight of whom were from Sewickley. As first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces, the almost 1,000 Tuskegee airmen overcame racial prejudice and discrimination while helping to defeat the Nazis. The concept, design and fundraising for the memorial were spearheaded by our sister organization, the Daniel B . Matthews Historical Society of Sewickley. We were joined by the Borough of Sewickley Council, Post 450 of the American Legion and the Sewickley Civic Garden Council. The Sewickley Valley Historical Society funded one of the stone benches at the memorial.
2024
BITTINGER CROSS, SEWICKLEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In 1870, Dr. Joseph Bittinger, pastor for two decades at Sewickley Presbyterian Church and founder of the Query Club, designed a Celtic style cross for the church building along Grant Street. This cross was first installed on the Parish House facing Grant Street. The west façade of the chapel remained unchanged until 1915, when it was replaced by a larger facility. By 1950, the church had grown again and added on to the south side of its facility. The congregation once again chose to maintain the link to Bittinger’s legacy, keeping the cross in its original location, rising above the new chapel and an office wing. Unfortunately, however, the resulting configuration made the cross difficult to see, as it was no longer on the southern wall, but in the center of the roof line.
In the fall of 2023, the staff of the church discovered significant damage to the base of the Bittinger cross. After a century and half, erosion and the elements had taken a toll. The church immediately engaged a masonry company and had it removed via a crane.
In 2024, the Sewickley Presbyterian Church was awarded a $10,000 preservation construction grant. Restoration work included structural reintegration of the base of the cross with stainless steel pins, cleaning and siting a new location for the artefact. A new, custom brace was fabricated and installed to provide structural stability for the cross once mounted on a silver buff limestone base. The Bittinger Cross is now located along the west façade on Grant Street under the Bittinger Window for the community to enjoy as a work of art, artifact and historic relic.
2022
SEWICKLEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sewickley United Methodist Church (SUMC), also known as the “Clocktower Church,” is an historically, architecturally, and socially significant community resource. In 2022 SVHS awarded SUMC a $5,000 preservation construction grant for the rehabilitation of portions of the roof and flashing over the primary entrances along Broad Street. This application demonstrated historical significance within the local architectural inventory as well as extensive community impact through the many social services which take place at the church. In 2025 SUMC was awarded $5,000 to conduct repointing of the historic sandstone foundation / water table. This work helped to watertight the building.