A Brief History of Fairywood
The name and history of Fairywood was created by the Pennsylvania Railroad, who built this community as a residence for workers in the early 1900’s. Fairywood is a neighborhood located in Pittsburgh’s west end with a zip code of 15205. The communities that it borders include Windgap and Ingram. During the ’60s and ’70s, a four-lane highway started to be built. It was called Industrial Highway, but it was never finished. It was supposed to connect Route 60 to 51 in the Esplen neighborhood, but alas, it is now an abandoned ghost highway. Fairywood once called itself home to many public housing developments, in particular Broadhead Manor which was taken down after the community lost a lot of its population and crime ended up increasing. Many homes have been razed over the years as residents moved away. Fairywood is unfortunately now home to a lot of urban prairie. Urban prairie is a term for vacant urban land that has grown back to green space.
Facts About Fairywood
UPS still does have a terminal in Fairywood, and the Pittsburgh division of Modcloth is there. Modcloth sells eclectic mixes of clothing, shoes, accessories and decor. There’s also a warehouse for Pittsburgh grocer Giant Eagle and an Amazon Distribution Center. As of 2009, Fairywood had just 1,100 residents. The community has made an effort over the years to curb violence through the Fairywood Citizens Council. The history of Fairywood continues to be written…
I grew up in Broadhead Manor. I went to Fairywood School. I have many pleasant memories of the place. It will always be part of my growing up years.