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LIVING IN UPPER ST. CLAIR

1830 LOG HOUSE

The 1830 Log House that stands on McLaughlin Run Road across from the Township Municipal Building is probably the most familiar of our community's landmarks. But many of us know nothing of the Log House, or its story or its place in our local history.

No one would claim that the Log House is of great historical significance, nor is it a grand architectural monument. It is, however, a real and direct link to our community's past - a glimpse into the way working men and women lived in this area more than a century and a half ago.

Members of the 1830 Log House Association see it as a teaching classroom and a way to see what life was like in the 1830's when our forefathers were settling in Upper St. Clair.

One of the better known of these forefathers was Alexander Gilfillan, who settled here in the late 1760's and whose descendants are enjoying life in Upper St. Clair over 200 years later. He and his family built a house and lived on what is now St. Clair Country Club. They owned, in total, 413 acres. Sometime around 1830, Alexander or his son, John, built four or five log houses as housing for hired men and their families. Just one of these survives - the 1830 Log House on its original site in the heart of Upper St. Clair.

The Log House probably remained in the Gilfillan Family until 1899. From then until 1917, it changed hands a number of times and was home to a blacksmith's assistant, a rector's daughter, and an employee of the Brookside Farms development, which was just breaking ground in 1913.

In 1923, the Log House was purchased by James E. and Emily Fulton who used it as a summer home. Mr. Fulton was a founder and charter member of St. Clair Country Club in 1916 and he reportedly enjoyed coming home from work to play nine holes of golf before dinner. In 1939, the Log House was deeded to the Fulton's son, James Grove Fulton. He served as the U. S. Congressman from the 27th District of Pennsylvania from 1945 until his death in 1971, at which time he was serving his 14th consecutive term. Congressman Fulton was a bachelor, a collector of art and antiques and an accomplished and popular host. A number of colorful and cultured, if not slightly eccentric, people visited and at times lived in the Log House during his ownership. His estate sold the Log House to the Township in 1972.

Today a visitor to the Log House will find a well tended perennial bed of herbs, such as calendula and yarrow, which were commonly grown in the past. Well worn stone steps lead beyond a wooden door to the one room, dominated by a stone hearth, that comprises the downstairs. Narrow, curved steps lead to the one room upstairs.

The original purpose of the 1830 Log House Association was to restore and protect the structure. Restoration, for the time being is complete, and the Association's vision of the Log House as a teaching classroom is fulfilled by the Upper St. Clair students, Girl Scouts, women's clubs and other groups that tour the house.

This short history of the 1830 Log House is taken from an article written by Nancy Brown and Harla Brown, which appeared in the first issue of the Upper St. Clair Today Magazine, September 1994.