Collier’s Walker-Ewing Log House under new ownership with Allegheny Land Trust
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A log house located in Collier Township that dates back to the late 1700s is under new ownership.
The Sewickley-based Allegheny Land Trust acquired the Walker-Ewing Log House in August when its previous owners – Pioneers West Historical Society – donated it.
“The original members are deceased now,” said Frank Petrich, referencing the founding members of Pioneers West. The historical society was formed in 1997 to help preserve the two-story log house. Since then, the nonprofit has put around $50,000 into its restoration and began a working history of the house, accessible on its website.
“And there are now about four or five of us who are actively involved in maintaining the house,” Petrich, 78, said.
He serves as the society’s treasurer.
“None of us are getting any younger. So we wanted to find an organization that would preserve it and continue the education of its history.”
According to the Pioneers West website, the Walker-Ewing Log House could have been built anywhere between 1762 and 1790. The house became part of a wedding gift between William Ewing, the son of a man who settled near Carnegie in the 1770s, and Jane Walker, the daughter of a man who settled at Walker’s Mill, near Noblestown.
Various Ewing descendants lived in the house until 1973 when Robert and Jane (Ewing) Grace donated the house and the land on which it stands to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Three years later, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Graces bought it back in 1998 and deeded it to the Pioneers West Historical Society a couple of months later.
The log house is located near the confluence of Pinkertons Run and Robinson Run, along Noblestown Road.
“The house is a real jewel,” Petrich said, adding it has levels, which was unusual, he said for its time. It also has six fireplaces and a stand-up basement. To watch a video of the inside and outside of the house, click here.
“Pretty pristine for being 260 years old.”
The Allegheny Land Trust, which protects around 2,700 acres of green space around the county, has a historical and environmental interest in the property.
Because of its proximity to streams, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden and the county-owned Settlers Cabin Park, Tom Dougherty, ALT’s vice president of development and external affairs, said the site would be great for environmental type programming, along with its rich history lesson.
“It would be a nice spot to do a small meadow around the property – and wildflower or pollinator type programming there,” he said. Dougherty was unsure when those programs would begin because of ongoing restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We don’t anticipate having anything by way of programming there until probably next spring,” Dougherty said.
The main goal in transferring ownership, Petrich said, is to ensure the property and the house are preserved well into the future. ALT has agreed to do that, but the organization added a layer of conservation protection to the nearly 1-acre property by placing an easement on it.
That part of the conservation will belong to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
“We’re pleased to partner with ALT to ensure a forever-preserved future of this historic cabin and green space,” WPC president and CEO Tom Saunders said in a press release.
Petrich, who lives in Mt. Lebanon, said his father’s family grew up on a farm that now houses the Collier Community Center. Growing up, Petrich hunted on that land, which is about a five-minute drive from the Walker-Ewing Log House.
He’s glad for what the Land Trust’s acquisition of the property means for the property, the house and future generations.
“I’ve always had an attachment for that area,” he said.