Harrison

Smaller neighborhoods like Birdville and Natrona built up over a century of Allegheny River-based industrialization, melding into the established township of Harrison. Far from stuck in the past, Harrison continues to support a community of small businesses, riverfront industries and generations of longtime residents. “Highland Tire, Anchor Inn, Czekalski Real Estate – some of us have been in business around 60 years. There’s a lot of shopping, restaurants, we have access to doctors and the ATI Steel Mill still open down in Brackenridge,” says Christine Spece, an associate broker at Czekalski Real Estate who has lived in Harrison her entire life. “It’s very much a community – everyone seems to know each other.” Under the lights at Highlands football games, on riverfront hiking trails and in a 20th-century steel mill filled with 21st-century steelworkers, Harrison doubles as an economic and community center within the Alle Kiski Valley and as a bedroom community to Pittsburgh. Since the mid-20th century, Harrison has developed a colorful mix of small, simple single-family homes along grassy blocks. Prewar homes like National gable fronts and American Foursquares blend with Minimal Traditional designs and bungalows, selling for $60,000 to $280,000 depending on square footage and renovation levels. Homes built in the 1950s through 1970s take similar forms and introduce other popular vernacular styles including ranch-style homes, Cape Cods and Colonial Revival homes with higher square footage and two floors of living space, selling for $70,000 to $390,000 depending on square footage, lot size and upkeep. Homes needing serious rehabilitation sell for under $60,000. While some streets are lined by extensive, tree-shaded sidewalks, others have only spotty, disappearing stretches or no sidewalk at all. Commuters have a 23-mile drive into downtown Pittsburgh on Route 28. The Allegheny County Flyer PRT bus runs along Freeport Road from Harrison to the city on weekday mornings and evenings. Health care services and employment are closer to home at Allegheny Valley Hospital and several smaller UPMC medical centers. Running parallel to the Allegheny River, Freeport Road is Harrison’s main commercial thoroughfare. Strip malls like Heights Plaza and Highlands Mall connect shoppers to larger retailers like Community Supermarket, Walmart and Tractor Supply as well as smaller specialty stores and banks. Regional chains like Pittsburgh’s smiley cookie supplier, Eat‘n Park, and smaller franchises like Freedom Square Diner serve familiar diner-ambiance and menus, while locally owned gems like J & S Pizza cultivate loyal customer bases with family recipes. Anchor Inn has been in business since 1953 and is well-loved for their broad, homestyle menu and sea-faring window paintings and decor. Several fast food chains and gas stations like Sheetz have locations throughout the township. Harrison Hills Park is a destination park for both township residents and Rachel Carson Trail hikers making their way to the path’s eastern terminus. Shorter hiking trails running through the woods to a scenic overlook of the Allegheny River and a wooden boardwalk observation deck over wetlands are popular with park-goers, as are the playgrounds, soccer fields and fishing lake. Smaller parks are peppered throughout the township, including Bushman Field, home of the Rams Youth Football Organization and Natrona Community Park which added new mosaics of native birds, fish and other wildlife to its playground and green space. Several blocks away, the Three Rivers Water Trail Natrona Access launches boaters into the Allegheny River. The Sylvan Park Pool is open to members in the warmer months and celebrates its 60th summer in 2024. Highlands Early Childhood Center serves prekindergarten through kindergarten and earns a C-plus from Niche. Highlands Elementary School, formerly called Grandview, serves first through fourth grades and earns a C. Highlands Middle School and Highland High School each earn a C-plus. While high schoolers enjoy diverse extracurriculars, Golden Ram pride is especially strong during football season. “Everybody loves football. You can hear cheering from the stadium pretty much throughout the community on Friday nights,” Spece says. Rotating Allegheny County Parks events take over the lawns and pavilions of Harrison Hills Park, including lawn chair concerts during the Acoustics Series and pop-up Movies in the Park viewings. The Guardian Angels Parish hosts popular annual events like the festival that takes over the grounds at Most Blessed Sacrament Church for four nights each July. Hot summer breezes carry the sounds of live music and the smell of powdered sugar-topped funnel cakes through rows of carnival rides and game booths. During unusually heavy rain, areas of Natrona which lie low along the Allegheny River can be prone to storm surge and flooding. Away from the river, Little Bull Creek creates another flood plain.