William P. Boswell, mayor of the borough of Osborne, walks along Beaver Street, passing a park that he helped to create, the Mary Roberts Rinehart Nature Trail and Park.

"It's nice to be involved in government where you can actually see the results of what you're doing on a day-to-day basis," said Mr. Boswell, who has been involved with the borough of nearly 600 residents for 25 years, the past 10 as mayor.

Osborne can be easy to miss while driving on Ohio River Boulevard, or Route 65. It covers less than a square mile and consists of about 200 homes north of Haysville and just south of Sewickley.

Beaver Street, originally an Indian trail, is lined with quaint historic homes and newer houses designed with the past in mind.

The street is decorated with green and white borough flags that Mr. Boswell designed with the help of a friend.

The mayor is passionate about the beautification of the borough, but it's the town's history that captivates him.

To help preserve the past, local officials are working to change the name of the borough back to Glen Osborne, the name locals have used for more than a hundred years.

Glen is not the name of a person but a reference to the land, Mr. Boswell explained.

"The term 'glen' is English, Scottish and Irish, and I think it probably describes the geography and topography of the place pretty well. Since we come down from the hills going towards the Ohio River, we make a nice little glen," he said.

Borough council will petition Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for the name change.

Richard J. Klixbull, vice president of Osborne council, supports the change back to Glen Osborne.

"We've talked about the name change for several years now, basically in relation to our 125^th anniversary of the borough [this year]. Since I was a kid, I've known it as Glen Osborne. The older people all call it Glen Osborne. It gives us some tradition and some history that I think a lot of us would like to see come back to the borough."

Osborne was named for Frank Osburn. A railroad station was built near the eastern boundary of his property, and to avoid confusion with another station up the line, the name Osborne was used. Eventually, the Osborne station was replaced with another station and was renamed Glen Osborne. The name stuck for decades with locals.

But the borough's official name has been Osborne after that first railroad station.

If the court approves the name change, some metal signs along Ohio River Boulevard will be changed right away, Mr. Boswell said, but the two decorative wooden signs on Beaver Street probably will stay for while.

The only other thing that will have to be replaced is the borough stationery, but that won't be done immediately.

"We're frugal. We'll probably use the letterhead until it's gone," Mr. Klixbull said with a laugh.

One of the borough flags hangs below the American flag at Osborne Elementary School. The Osborne flag depicts the area's connection with the river, "the sterling character of the people who live here" and the borough's fascinating history, Mr. Boswell said.

"We use this as a teaching device for the elementary school kids so that they can understand better the history of the area and maybe understand a little bit about where they came from."

Returning to an older name for the borough would bring it closer to its past.

"I think everyone is really interested in doing this because of the historical connections," Mr. Boswell said. "... I think it's a way of connecting us to the roots that we have in American history."