Brushing Up on SF’s Past
Seven things you didn’t know about South Fayette

From legendary bar-room brawling to obscure school board meeting minutes, South Fayette has a rich, lively, and often entertaining history, but until fairly recently, there wasn’t any organized entity documenting the township’s past.That changed a few years ago when township commissioner Sue Caffrey founded the Historical Society of South Fayette, which began compiling oral histories of the area and archiving old documents. In 2006, Caffrey passed the reigns to Emily Williamson-Brady, who, along with other Society members, continues the work of keeping the township’s past alive, along with providing historyrelated programs throughout the year. In the past 12 months, the group has hosted lectures on local coal mines, historical immigrations, South Fayette nostalgia, and more. The South Fayette Source spoke with the Society recently about some of the livelier bits of SF lore:

TheTownship’s Oldest House
The oldest “remaining” structure in South Fayette dates back to the 18th century, according to Historical Society documents. Dubbed the Cardillo Log Home, it was built by German immigrants a few years after the Revolutionary War and subsequently occupied by a Scots-Irish family named Watters. In keeping with the designs of the times, the fourroom structure had a small door and very narrow windows – to protect from both the elements and prying Native Americans.

Around 1914, the Cardillo family, which emigrated from Italy a decade prior, purchased the land and the home. In the 1950s, the family disassembled the home and put it in storage, where it remains, under the ownership of Michael Cardillo.


The Area’s First (Temporary) Settler
According to the Historical Society, an Englishman named Miller built a log cabin at the mouth of the nearby creek sometime before 1768.He later moved to Kentucky and sold his South Fayette land holdings to someone named Campbell.


The Township’s First (Permanent) Settler
Christian Lesnett (another surname that resonates in this area), was born in Kassel, Germany, in 1728. At 17, he sailed to America and met his future wife during the voyage. Landing in Maryland, the cabinetmaker joined the army, and over the next few years aided the fight against various tribes of Native Americans.

Lesnett first headed north when his regiment went to Fort Pitt to battle the Ottawa, who were led by their chief, Pontiac, in 1763. In 1776, Lesnett returned to stake a “tomahawk claim” (the 18th century version of squatting) on a 1,000-acre tract of land in what is now South Fayette Township. Lesnett fathered five sons, but reports indicate that four of them died in battles with natives.


Frick’s Mule Barn
Drive down Millers Run Road between the magistrate’s office and the police station, and you’ll see a building called the National No. 1 Office and Warehouse Complex. About 100 years ago, this building was an important cog in Henry Clay Frick’s local coal mine machine. It was the barn used to store the mules that pulled carts in Frick’s area mines. Back then, some historians say, mules were considered more vital to a successful mining operation than the men and boys who toiled inside.Today, the building is owned by Kim and Mark Losego, who have renovated it while preserving its historical integrity.The interior still contains the original red brick and cedar beams of the late 19th century.


South Fayette is (Possibly) the Birthplace of a Genuine American Legend
If you remember Disney’s old Davy Crockett television show (the one where Davy was played by Fess Parker), you might recall a comical sidekick character named Mike Fink, who operated a keelboat.There was a real-life Mike Fink, and some believe that he was born in Sturgeon (think Fink’s Run Road). Fink made a name for himself in the early 19th century with both his river boating skills and his penchant for bar-room brawls and general wild behavior.

According to legend, he and his friends entertained themselves by shooting beer mugs from the tops of each other’s heads. One tale appearing on Wikipedia has Fink and the real-life Davy Crockett (1786-1836) engaged in a shooting match where they were just about even, when Fink came out on top by shooting a comb off his wife’s head. Fink died during an expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1829. One account of his death has Fink accidentally killing a friend while trying to shoot a cup off his head. Another friend then retaliated by killing Fink.


Education Used to Come Cheap
In 1911, the Bridgeville School Board agreed to admit eight students from South Fayette’s Sygan section because that neighborhood’s school building was in need of repair, according to Paula Pradines’ book, South Fayette: Celebrating 65 Years of Education. In exchange for taking in the students, South Fayette had to pay Bridgeville $2.25 per month, per student.

That’s about $42 in 2008 dollars, according to a government inflation calculator.Then, in 1916, the South Fayette School Board hired James Guthrie as its new supervising principal at the rate of $100 per month – roughly $1,700 per in today’s dollars.Two years later, the board set its teacher pay rate at $70 for instructors with five years of tenure, about $1,200 per month adjusted for inflation. By 1922, though, the principal was earning the equivalent of $33,000 per year.

It is also apparent that being on the School Board was never easy. In 1917, the board decided that it would not hire married teachers who were supporting their husbands.The board reaffirmed that stance in 1922, when it declared that: “We do not elect any married women teachers, and a teacher getting married resigns her position.”

By the same token, the issue of interfering parents is not new. In 1928, two parents objected to the “whipping” their sons had received. According to the board minutes, the situation was resolved when, “Parents agreed to stay away from school and not be annoying to the teachers. Teachers were censured for the case.”


Kennywood Day was Once Prohibited
The same 1917 school board that took a stance against students “staying at home to do washings,” also decided that students should not have a day off from school to go to Kennywood. It was not until a decade later that the board relented and declared that students could go to Kennywood “if they wish.”