COMMUNITY CHAMPION: HELEN WILSON

By Jim Rogal

SO, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT SQUIRREL HILL? Who developed Beechwood Boulevard, and why? Is there really an intact stone bridge underground somewhere? How did Squirrel Hill form geologically, and how was it used before settlers began to put down stakes in the early 1700s? Whatever the question, and whatever the time period, there’s a mighty good chance that Helen Wilson will know the answer.

But first … the initial iteration of Beechwood Blvd. was designed as part of a city-wide public works project led by Edward M. Bigelow in the late 19th century. It was initially meant to extend from Schenley Park to Highland Park, and to be used as a “pleasure drive” with great views of the Mon Valley, primarily the steel mills and the neighborhoods that developed as a result of the mills, many of which can be seen from Helen’s front porch. “Well, over there is Braddock and then Rankin and then Swissvale and then Edgewood,” Helen pointed out. She went on to name quite a few others, but you get the idea.

By the way, the expansive view from Helen’s porch can be explained by the geological history of the hill that became Squirrel Hill. Massive ice melts from glaciers north of Pittsburgh carved valleys such as the Mon, but Squirrel Hill remained high ground. In the 1800s people used to say they were located “on” Squirrel Hill, not “in” it. Prior to the start of settlements in Western Pennsylvania, all of the land including Squirrel Hill served as a Native American hunting ground.

Oh, and that underground intact stone bridge? It’s buried beneath S. Homewood Ave. bordering Homewood Cemetery and Frick Park. The ravine from S. Homewood Ave. to Dallas Ave. was filled in sometime before 1939, so the bridge was no longer needed. Instead of being destroyed, it was just buried.

But back to Helen Wilson, who of course provided all this information. She’s a retired teacher who now serves as vice-president, newsletter editor, and historian for the Squirrel Hill Historical Society, which explains her deep involvement in the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition. Her home is filled with photos and maps and files and drawings, all pertaining to the area. “Squirrel Hill is just four square miles, but it’s made up of so many small districts and discreet individual communities, you have to do a driving tour to see it all,” Helen said. “You can’t really get it all if you want to walk it.”

Helen calls her passion “urban archeology.” “History is everywhere,” she said. “We’re looking at things as they are now, but I’m also seeing what was. I was always interested in history, even when I was very young.”

She was born in Turtle Creek and went to Carlow University for college, after which she moved to Squirrel Hill. She’s never left. “I spent 32 years as an art teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools,” Helen said. She married a fellow Pittsburgher along the way and raised two sons.

“I love art, but I also love history and archeology and geology and writing,” she said. “I can talk Pittsburgh forever. There are so many fascinating stories about old mine tunnels and buildings and cemeteries and roads.” Why is all of that so appealing to her? “What comes next and next and next and next is what interests me,” Helen said. “It’s all about connections from the past to the present to the future, the layers of life.”

Helen channels almost all of her interest and information into a newsletter for the Historical Society—“I’ve put one out every month since 2014”—as well as her regular column on Squirrel Hill history that runs in this magazine. She also continues to teach at CMU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which she’s been doing since her retirement as a public-school teacher. She used to teach a six-part class on Squirrel Hill history (no surprise) and now she teaches a writing workshop three times a year.

“If I ever stop doing all this, I have a book in my head about the early days and years of Squirrel Hill,” Helen said, again to no surprise. She’s already done the research. “I have about nine hours of Squirrel Hill history from my CMU Osher course, and that doesn’t even come close to everything I have.”

Sounds like Helen has a lot of history left to tell.

One final question, the one she’s asked more often than any other: Did Squirrel Hill really get its name because there were an inordinate number of squirrels living here? The answer … drumroll … is yes. “There used to be squirrels everywhere when it was a Native American hunting ground,” Helen said. “Even when Squirrel Hill was comprised of farmlands and estates. But that changed once the trolleys started running in 1893.”

Once a teacher, always a teacher.

Helen Wilson examines an old pylon sculpture from the Beechwood Blvd. (Greenfield) Bridge.