Moon Township, Pennsylvania

Moon Township is a township along the Ohio River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Moon is a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area and is located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Pittsburgh. The origin of its name is unknown; historians suggest it was derived from a crescent-shaped bend in the river. Local lore tells of a waning crescent moon that descended to plow furrows in farmer's fields with its sharp cusp, but killed many excited witnesses who cursed and praised the moon's early morning activities. The population was 24,185 at the 2010 census.

History

Early history (1756-1773)

The initial settlement of Moon Township was a direct result of the westward expansion of English settlers and traders who arrived in the Ohio Valley in the early to mid-18th century. During the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), the Iroquois, which controlled the land for hunting grounds through right of conquest, ceded large parcels of southwestern Pennsylvania lands through treaty or abandonment to settlers; in some cases, the land was already occupied by squatters. The ceding of these lands occurred either through early treaties or outright abandonment by the Iroquois nation, the avowed owners of the land.

Indian settlements of the south bank of the Ohio River typically relocated to more populous areas of the north bank in the current locales of Sewickley, Aliquippa and Ambridge.

On the southern banks of the Ohio, political disputes among settlers clouded the disposition of lands. Generally, the Pennsylvania Land Office apportioned land to owners through grants. But, some of the land encompassing what is now the Coraopolis Heights, Thorn Run valley, and Narrows Run valley were claimed through the process of "Tomahawk Improvements". Settlement processes were often convoluted because of differences among land policies of the several colonies claiming the land, specifically Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Each colony had its own means of either granting or restricting settlement opportunities. Each settler claiming land in what is now Moon Township had to go through a multi-level process of application for grant, warrant of property, and survey to ensure the physical boundaries of the property, and patent approval whereby the applicant paid for the land and title was conferred.

On April 3, 1769, Andrew Montour, an Indian interpreter who had provided service to the English settlers during the French and Indian War, was granted one of the first land patents for approximately 350 acres (1.4 km²) of what later became the borough of Coraopolis and Neville Island. In 1773, the settler John Meek was awarded a 400-acre (1.6 km²) land grant from Virginia above the river bottom and between the Thorn Run and Montour Run valleys, and "Moon Township" was born.

Settlement times (1773-1799)

The settlers Robert Loudon and John Vail were awarded grants to a total of 600 acres (2.4 km²). Loudon's tract was situated on the Coraopolis Heights adjacent to the Meek grant. Vail's grant was established somewhere between the current Thorn Run and Narrows Run valleys (although this location is open to some interpretation).

Three other early grants were warranted by either Virginia or Pennsylvania land speculators. The boundaries of these land tracts are hard to identify, but historians believe that they encompassed about 700 acres (2.8 km²) or so, and were occupied by anonymous squatters. while the history is not known, scholars believe the squatters were somehow marginal to the social order. In abandoning their lands, the squatters ceded any potential claims to settlers who would otherwise improve and/or cultivate the land.

As the 18th century drew to a close, abandoned lands were taken up by new settlers who were drawn to the region by the fertility of the soil. This round of pioneers were, by and large, wealthier than their predecessors and had the means to develop the broken and hilly areas into plots suitable for farming.

At this time Moon Township was an enormous tract of land - possibly 145 square miles (380 km²). The sheer difficulty of residents to perform their civic duties (e.g., report to assigned polling places or attend jury trials) made it necessary for local governing authorities to parcel out the land into smaller municipalities. So in 1790, the current Fayette Townships were portioned off from Moon Township, to be followed by Findlay and Crescent townships, respectively.

1900s to present

In 1943, the federal government designed and built a housing plan known as Mooncrest for defense workers. Mooncrest residents produced armor plates, munitions and ships at the nearby Dravo Corp. during World War II. Operated by the U.S. Air Force after 1945, homes were sold to private investors in the mid-1950s.

Moon became home to Pittsburgh's modern-day airport in 1951, replacing the Allegheny County Airport as the main terminal for the region. The area developed mainly due to the airport. Prior to this time, the western hills of Allegheny County consisted largely of rolling farms and small residential developments.

During the Cold War, Moon Township was the location of Nike Site PI-71, which was a battery of Nike Ajax and/or Nike Hercules surface-to-air missiles, used by US armed forces for high – and medium-altitude air defense. The former missile site is now a nature preserve.

Development of Pennsylvania Route 60 (now Interstate 376) to the Pittsburgh airport, plus the addition of the Parkway West from Pittsburgh and nearby exits of Interstate 79, allowed Moon to become the area's crossroads for transportation via air and road.

In 1991, the relocation of the landside terminal of the Pittsburgh International Airport to nearby Findlay Township resulted in a loss in traffic to the township. Moon experienced a significant loss of tax revenues but has since rebounded as the cargo area for the airport.

A majority of the airport's runways and facilities are still located within the boundary of Moon Township.

The township is home to the Air Force Reserve 911th Airlift Wing, which was established in 1943. Moon is also home to the 171st Air Refueling Wing of the Pa. Air National Guard. Additionally, the Army has its 99th Regional Readiness Command, built in the late 1990s in Moon Township.

Since the loss of the airport terminal, the township has shifted its focus from airport commerce to corporate development, residences and university hub. The main campus of Robert Morris University is also located within the township.

Major corporation headquarters like Nova Chemicals, FedEx Ground, First Health/Coventry and the consumer division of GlaxoSmithKline are located in Moon.

Expansion and development

Growth is expected to continue in Moon in the near future due to many new construction projects such as the redevelopment of University Boulevard and conversion of the West Hills Shopping Center into a new shopping plaza.

Ground was broken in late 2006 on the new Cherrington Parkway extension. The extension, anticipated to be opened in early 2008, will create additional shovel-ready land for Class A office space, for corporate development.

As a result of Robert Morris University, the college feeds much of the economy along the township's University Boulevard area.

Several new businesses have opened recently, including the new DoubleTree Hotel and restaurants including Primanti's. A new Walgreens has been completed.

US Airways development

After years of declining its operations in Moon Township, US Airways announced Feb. 20, 2007, it would build its flight operations center on a piece of land adjacent to the Pittsburgh International Airport and Business Route 60 (now Interstate 376 Business). The center would retain 450 high paying jobs and increase it by 150 for a total of 600 jobs.

West Hills Shopping Center

The West Hills Shopping Center, once the heart of Moon's commercial business, was sold to Wal-Mart for $4.7 million and announced to the public on Jan. 3, 2007.

Wal-Mart officials announced their plans to build a supercenter location on the site of what's now the West Hills Shopping Center. The company also purchased two adjacent parcels of land along Brodhead Road. The store could open as soon as 2010.

University Boulevard

On the morning of Aug. 14, 2003, the former Beers School and Narrows Run roads became known as University Boulevard, a move that helped to promote the township as the home of Robert Morris University.

The new road name also depicts the township's efforts to re-emerge as a business-dominant community. Since the 2003 renaming, township officials have researched various zoning ordinances to piece together Moon's main business corridor.

Explore Our Universe

Playing off the township's unique name, supervisors in 2005 gave Moon a new slogan, "Explore Our Universe." "The slogan is a play not only on the township's lunar name but also on Robert Morris University and the University Boulevard business corridor, which township officials would like investors and consumers to explore a little more thoroughly," wrote the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2005.

Moon Park renovations

Moon Park, the township's largest community park, was to begin a $10 million renovation in the spring of 2008.

Moon Area School District

Moon Township is home to the Moon Area School District, which consists of students from both Moon and Crescent townships. The school district enrolls approximately 3,800 students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

Surrounding communities

In Allegheny County, Moon Township is surrounded by Coraopolis, Crescent Township, North Fayette Township, Findlay Township and Robinson Township.

The township is accessible to the boroughs of Sewickley and Edgeworth via the Sewickley Bridge over the Ohio River.

The township is also situated next to Hopewell Township in Beaver County.

National recognition

In 2007, Moon Township was honored with several honors as one of the country's best places to live.

BusinessWeek.com ranked Moon one of five best affordable suburbs in the North East.

Township officials had no idea the community received the award until Greg Smith, the township's manager, found the report online. The recognition includes the 15108 zip code covering Coraopolis borough, Kennedy and Moon townships.

Moon also was included in the 2007 "Best Places To Raise Your Family" published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Moon is featured on pages 166-167. This listing included Coraopolis and Moon as the rankings are based on zip code.

Notable residents

Current

• John Calipari, Head basketball coach at the university of Kentucky.
• Chuck Aber, actor
• Kurt Angle, NCAA champion wrestler, US Olympic gold-medal wrestler and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) professional wrestler; also formerly a sports anchor at WPGH-TV
• Willie Colon, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Joe DeNardo, long-time WTAE-TV personality that is mostly known for his work as a weather forecaster and the phrase "Joe Said It Would"
• Trai Essex, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
• James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Sarah Marince, singer
• T. Mark Mustio, Pennsylvania state representative
• John Pippy, former Pennsylvania state senator
• Katelyn Pippy, American actress

Former

• Jodi Applegate, graduate of Moon Area High School, former NBC News anchor, currently employed at the Fox affiliate in New York City
• Gust Avrakotos, CIA operative whose exploits in Afghanistan were depicted in the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War
• Jim Baechtold, second pick in 1952 NBA draft and Head Coach of Eastern Kentucky University basketball
• Barry Bonds, resided in Moon while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Plaxico Burress, resided in Moon while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• John Calipari, graduate of Moon Area High School, basketball coach
• Lou Christie, graduate of Moon Area High School in 1961; singer, songwriter
• Bob Davie, former Notre Dame football coach and current ESPN sportscaster, grew up in Moon
• Ann B. Davis, actress, briefly lived in Moon in the 1990s
• Sean Gilbert, Washington Redskins player
• Ryan Malone, former Pittsburgh Penguin
• Rich Milot, graduate of Moon Area High School, a former American football linebacker who played his entire nine year career with the Washington Redskins from 1979 to 1987 in the National Football League. He played college football at Penn State University.
• Ray Seals, resided in Moon while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Brandon Wilson, graduate of Moon Area High School, author/explorer

Moon in the media

• Scenes from the 1979 movie The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh were shot in the gym at Moon Area High School
• Los Angeles based production company, Phalco Films, was established in Moon Township in early 2006 before relocating to the west coast.
• Parts of the movie The Silence of the Lambs were filmed in Moon Township. Several Moon Township police officers had minor non speaking roles as extras in the film.
• Parts of the movie Adventureland were filmed in Moon Township at the Stardust Lounge.

Presidential visits

Because Pittsburgh International Airport is adjacent to Moon, many presidential visits to the Pittsburgh area start in Moon. For example, President Gerald Ford made a surprise visit to Moon a day after pardoning President Richard M. Nixon on Sept. 9, 1974. President Bill Clinton in the 1990s greeted Prime Minister John Major of Great Britain at a hangar at the 911th Air Wing of the Air force Reserve at the Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon Township. In 2008, Clinton made a campaign appearance at Robert Morris University. A day after securing the Democratic nomination for president, then-Vice President Al Gore held a rally at Moon's high school gym on March 16, 2000. September 2009 President Obama visited Pittsburgh for the G-20 conference.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 24.1 square miles (62 km²), of which 23.7 square miles (61 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²), or 1.41%, is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 22,290 people, 8,445 households, and 5,767 families residing in the township. The population density was 939.1 people per square mile (362.5/km²). There were 9,200 housing units at an average density of 387.6/sq mi (149.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 93.17% White, 3.58% African American, 0.06% Native American, 1.94% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.25% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.99% of the population.

There were 8,445 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the township the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $57,173, and the median income for a family was $68,256. Males had a median income of $48,444 versus $31,073 for females. The per capita income for the township was $26,457. About 2.2% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

External links

• Moon Township official website
• Coraopolis-Moon Record
• Moon Township Economic Development