EARLY HISTORY:

The settlement of the Dravosburg area pre-dates the founding of our country. Once, the whole of south-western Pennsylvania was a hunting ground for the migrant tribes of Indians generally known as Lenni Lenape who inhabited the area long before the coming of the white man.

In 1753, George Washington was dispatched to negotiate with the French at Fort LeBouef, and he passed very close to what is now Dravosburg both ways on his journey. It is recorded in his journal, that, on his way back, in late December, he stopped at the cabin of John Frazier at the mouth of Turtle Creek. Frazier is generally acknowledged to the first English settler on the lower Monongahela. He was a blacksmith, gunmaker, and traded with the Indians. He settled at the mouth of Turtle Creek in about 1742 after being ousted from his former home in Venango by the French. While visiting Frazier, Washington was told that Queen Aliquippa, leader of the Indian settlement at what is now McKeesport was insulted that he had not visited her on his trip north, so he made it a point to visit her then. Washington recorded this in his journal: 

"I made her a gift of a watch-coat and a bottle of rum, the latter of which
was considered to be much the better present of the two" 

Queen Aliquippa was known as a diligent leader, and she posted scouts to keep watch on the rivers. It is likely that at least one of these posts was near where the Irvin Works stands today. Just two years later, General Braddock led his troops across the river at McKeesport, and re-crossed the river just below Kennywood to his ill-fated battle with the French and Indians at what became known as Braddock’s Field.

 One history I have states that fourteen years after the above events, in 1769, John and Thomas Penn, sons of William Penn, granted title to a section of land in the Dravosburg area to a man named John Gray, and that the original deed to that land was in the hands of the C.L. Whitaker family. (Except for the land record below, I have not been able to find any historical record of the Grays. Perhaps someone has further information on this, which they are willing to share?)

According to a map of the area dated 1788; the incorporation date of Mifflin Township, the land that is now Dravosburg was roughly divided into two halves of about 320 acres each. The dividing line was along the hollow that is now McClure Street. In those days, it was common practice to name your land. The northern half, owned by John Gray, was called “Mount Gray”, and the southern half, owned by Henry Wood was further divided into “Coventry” and “Rich Lands” In modern times, Mount Gray became North Hill, Coventry the center of town, and Rich Lands, the cemetery and Curry Hollow.

In 1789, the southern half was deeded to Conrad Latterbock, and, in 1837 to John Curry. Mr. Curry lived in a log house near the intersection of present day Elizabeth Road and Route 837 and farmed the land that later became the cemetery. Curry married Jane McRoberts and they had at least seven children; Mary, Lizzie, Martha, Belle, John, Samuel and Hiram. Mr. and Mrs. Curry both died of typhoid fever, and are buried somewhere in Curry Hollow.

In 1817, the northern half was patented to  Eleanor Cunningham and Alexander Snodgrass. Mr. Snodgrass also owned about 350 acres south of town approximately where the Irvin Works is today.

Daniel Risher was one of the earliest settlers in the Six Mile Run area (later known as Streets Run and Hays). His son, John C. Risher, (pictured at right) born in 1815, eventually bought over a thousand acres of land in the area, which included the all of the area where Dravosburg is today.

Eventually, after the establishment of Allegheny County in 1788, the land inside the bend of the Monongahela between Six-Mile Run (now Hays) and where Dravosburg is today all became Mifflin Township.

For an excellent history of Mifflin Township, the lands and the families who helped settle our area at that time (AND the story of a grisly murder!) click HERE and HERE

By 1854, the Cunningham family was living in a two-room log house overlooking the river, which was later became the home of Konrad Goldstrohm.

The Cunninghams later moved to the house, which is the present day Airways Tavern, at the intersection of Lebanon Church Road and Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard. Later, the Jebez Grooms family lived in this house for many years.

Konrad Goldstrohm, a native of Darmstadt, Germany, settled in Mifflin Township in 1852. He farmed for three years, and later became a successful butcher. One of Konrad’s ten children, Charles Frederick Goldstrohm, was born in Dravosburg in 1854, married Christiana Foster in 1877, and operated his father-in-law’s coal mine in Jefferson Township for several years. Charles was appointed postmaster in Dravosburg by Grover Cleveland’s first administration, and later was instrumental in getting the Duquesne post office organized. He went on to become a successful businessman in Duquesne. The extended Goldsrtohm family were among the founders of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Dravosburg in 1859. The road leading from Dravosburg to Duquesne was named in their honor.