About Harrison Township

Harrison Township was established as a First Class Township in March 1900. Today, we are home to over 10,000 residents and span 7.2 square miles along the west shore of the Allegheny River, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh. Although most people know us as Natrona and Natrona Heights, we are officially Harrison Township.

Our township is primarily residential, featuring mostly single-family homes. Currently, Maronda Homes is developing over 100 acres of land, adding more than 300 new multi-family and single-family housing units.

Residents of Harrison Township enjoy an exceptional quality of life, unparalleled in the Alle Kiski Valley. Our community boasts the Harrison Hills County Park, a full-service YMCA, a vibrant public library, a hospital with extensive healthcare facilities, diverse religious and non-profit organizations, a wide array of retail businesses, restaurants, financial services, industrial firms, and top-notch municipal services.

Our six largest local employers are ATI-Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation, which recently completed a $1.2 billion hot-rolling and processing facility at the Brackenridge Works, Allegheny Valley Hospital and the Allegheny Health Network, the Highlands School District, JV Manufacturing, UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center facilities, and Walmart. Additionally, numerous smaller businesses of all types are scattered throughout the township, with many located along Freeport Road, the main thoroughfare.

Harrison Township is the “best-kept secret” in the Alle Kiski Valley, offering a welcoming community for families and businesses within commuting distance of Pittsburgh.

Our History

Much of the land in Southwestern Pennsylvania was originally known as “Depreciation Land,” which consisted of tracts auctioned and sold to servicemen in the late 1700s when this area was still the western frontier. Given this history, it’s no surprise that Harrison Township began as a pioneer farming community in the early 1800s.

Harrison Township was officially incorporated in 1900, and it comprised several neighborhoods. Natrona was the first, and as people began moving “up on the hill,” new neighborhoods like Ducktown, Birdville, Campton, and Pughtown emerged, all of which eventually became known as Natrona Heights.

One of the first homes in what would later become Harrison Township was the Burtner House, a National Historic Site. Phillip Burtner and his brothers, George and John, arrived in the Allegheny Valley in 1793 as frontier scouts and began constructing the home in 1818. The house served as the residence for generations of the Burtner family and stands as a symbol of the community’s history. The property was once a working farm, and travelers would stop at the house to water their horses before continuing up the hill on what is now Burtner Road.

Today, the Burtner House is owned by the Township and has been meticulously restored by members of Burtner House Restoration Inc. under a lease with the Township. The house hosts annual events, and the Restoration Group offers tours. Located at the expressway exit to Natrona Heights, the Burtner House is one of the first sights visitors see as they enter the Township.

In the early 1900s, the Allegheny Steel Company of Brackenridge, now ATI Flat Rolled Products (part of Allegheny Technologies), began operations as part of Pittsburgh’s rise as the steel capital of the world. Over the years, the company has become a leader in the production of stainless and specialty steels. It is one of the few remaining steel mills in the Pittsburgh area, continues to grow, and remains the largest employer in the Township.

Harrison Township Historical Album (PDF) – please note that due to large file size the PDF may take a few minutes to load completely.

*this publication was from the Harrison Township Bicentennial Committee, 1976

History Time Line

(Valley New Dispatch – July 23, 1995)

1734 – Shawnee Indians inhabit Allegheny Valley.

1795 – West Deer, East Deer, Frazer, Springdale, Springdale Township, Cheswick, Fawn, Tarentum, Brackenridge, Harrison, known as Deer Township.

1805 –  Highway from Sharpsburg to Freeport laid out; oil discovered.

1821 –  Burtner House built.

1826 –  Construction begins on canal through the Valley.

1829 –  Canal begins operation in Tarentum.

1836 –  Deer Township split into East and West Deer; West Deer remains today as it was.

1842 –  Tarentum withdraws from East Deer.

1852 –  First row of houses built on Federal Street by the Penn Salt Manufacturing Co. for employees.

1853 –  Canal filled in to make a bed for railroad tracks; Harrison family settled above Natrona.

1858 –  Fawn withdraws from East Deer, but still contains modern-day Harrison and Brackenridge.

1860 –  800 men employed by Penn Salt; Natrona population reaches 1,870.

1862 –  More than 200 Natrona men enlist to serve in Union Army.

1863 –  Harrison secedes from Fawn on February 7.

1865 –  Canal closes.

1868 –  Harrison population reported at 3,000.

1880 –  Potts Mansion built.

1888 –  72 hours a week, $1 a day wage scale at Penn Salt.

1889 –  West Penn Press organized and located at North Canal Street, prints Natrona News.

1895 –  First trolley runs through Natrona, Tarentum Traction Company.

1896 –  Fire destroys metals refinery at Penn Salt; Fidelity Glass Company begins in Brackenridge.

1901 –  Brackenridge secedes from Harrison; First National Bank of Natrona organized, located on Federal Street.

1901 –  Allegheny Iron and Steel begins operation.

1902 –  Pond Street School built.

1904 –  Valley Daily News organized by Charles Howe.

1906 –  Valley hospital organized and operates in West Tarentum.

1907 –  Natrona Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 formed.

1907 –  Steel industry work hours are 12-hour days, 24 hours every second Sunday.

1918 –  Fire destroys Penn Salt; flu epidemic kills hundreds.

1920 –  First fire truck purchased by Natrona Fire Company for $12,500; first 40 feet of concrete completed at Natrona Dam.

1921 –  Work on Natrona Dam halted due to lack of money; Harbrack High School opens, 375 wooden steps built from Natrona to top of hill to the school; Citizens Bank of Natrona opens.

1923 –  Harrison Township sanitary system partially operational.

1927 –  Lock No, 4 on Allegheny River officially opens to general river traffic; Birdville Post Office name changed to Natrona Heights Post Office.

1929 –  Birdville School built.

1930 –  Allegheny Steel Company merges with West Penn Steel Company; first air mail pickup at Natrona Air Field; Natrona Citizens National Bank merges with the First National Bank of Natrona.

1931 –  Harrison Township tax levy at 7.5 mills.

1940 –  Buses take over trolley line; Natrona storm sewer given OK to run from hill through Chestnut and Garfield Streets down the alley to the river.

1950 –  Penn Salt closes.

1954 –  Heights Plaza opens.