Allegheny County Celebrates 220th Birthday

Allegheny County was officially created on Sept. 24, 1788, from parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties to meet the needs of the many people settling around Pittsburgh. When it was first created, Allegheny County originally extended north to Lake Erie - its current borders were set by 1800. A birthday celebration is scheduled for noon today at the Allegheny County courthouse.

Today also marks the 120th anniversary of the opening of the Allegheny County Courthouse & Jail, designed in 1883 by renowned Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Construction on the courthouse complex begain in 1884. Work on the jail was completed in 1886, and the courthouse opened on Sept. 24, 1888. The jail was officially closed in 1995, but the magnificent building is still in use, as home of the juvenile and family sections of the Common Pleas Court.