History of Harrison Township
Harrison Township is a township in Allegheny County. It was incorporated in 1900 and originally had several neighborhoods—Natrona, Ducktown, Birdville, Campton and Pughtown—those all became Natrona Heights. Before it was incorporated, The Township was part of depreciation land, or tracks of land that were auctioned and sold off to servicemen in the late 1700s. Harrison was first a farming community in the early 1800s. There is a home in the neighborhood called The Burtner House which is a National Historic Site, is located in the Township. Phillip Burtner and his brothers George and John built the home in 1818 after arriving in the area in 1793. It has since housed generations of Burtners and has been the subject of history for generations. The property was actually once a working farm. Allegheny Steel Company of Brackenridge started operations in 1900 and over the years it developed into a leader in stainless steels. It’s one of the few steel mills still in operations and is currently the township’s biggest employer.
Little Bull Creek flows southwest through Harrison Township. Rachel Carson Run is within the Township. The township’s population’s median age is 43 and there were just under 5,000 households in the area as of the 2000 census. Many parks are located throughout the township including Harrison Hills Park.
