Incorporated: As a borough June 9, 1891

Location: Eastern Allegheny County, about 15 miles east of Downtown; the borough covers 0.5 square miles and is accessed primarily by Route 130 (including Tri-Borough Expressway) and Routes 48 and 22

Population: 3,689 (2000 census)

Government: Mayor-council

Mayor: Betsy Stevick

Median price of a home: $51,000 after the first quarter of 2009, up from $43,700 a year earlier

Municipal phone, Web site: 412-372-6500, www.pitcairnborough.us

School district: Gateway, 412-372-5300, www.gatewayk12.org

History: The Pitcairn Rail Yards opened in 1892, one year after the borough was formed. More than a century later, it is still in operation, still a local landmark, known more simply as Pitcairn Yard, a freight transport area for Norfolk Southern Railway.

It is appropriate, then, that the borough was named for Robert Pitcairn, superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which used the rail yards as a major switching yard for many decades. The site was later used by Penn Central, Conrail then Norfolk Southern.

More than 10,000 men worked on the rails and shops in the yards in the early 20th century. Pitcairn's population nearly doubled from 2,601 in 1900 to 4,975 in 1910, and reached a peak of 6,310 in 1940.

Bandleader Ted Weems, musical instrument maker Carl Thompson and early NFL football player Harry Robb were born in Pitcairn, and the first Fox's Pizza Den opened there, on Broadway Avenue, in 1971. Like the rail yards, it is still in business.