A Brief History of Rosslyn Farms

In 1901, the Chartiers Land Company invited William Hayes Parrish, a successful land developer and builder in Newark, Ohio, to develop Rosslyn Farms. The community's name was adopted from Rosslyn, Scotland, where the president of the Chartiers Land Company's parents were born.

Mr. Parrish began construction of six houses, one of them for himself one for Monro Lemon, the secretary of the land company. These two houses were located at 45 Edgecliff and 101 Edgecliff, respectively. The other homes were located on Park Road and Puritan Road. In 1919, William Hayes Parrish died unexpectedly and his son, William Morrison Parrish, took over developing the community.

When Rosslyn Farms came to be, horse and buggy was still the main mode of transportation. Pittsburgh Railways provided street car service from Main Street in Carnegie to the top of the hill in Rosslyn Farms as soon as the borough had 60 occupied houses, but the line was hazardous, particularly in the winter months, and short-lived. For many years, even after automobiles became common, men walked to the foot of Rosslyn Road to catch the Pennsylvania Railroad at Rosslyn Station to their jobs in Pittsburgh. Bus service from the borough began in 1941.

Rosslyn Farms has enjoyed a lively social scene since its early days. William Parrish began the annual 4th of July celebration soon after his arrival, and the Woman’s Club originated in 1902 when a small group of women met during the summer months once a week. At these meetings, the women sewed while one member read out loud to the group. Later on, the Woman’s Club merged with the Men’s Club to form the Rosslyn Farms Community Club.

Until Rosslyn Farms built a community school house in 1910, the borough's twelve school-aged children walked to Carnegie each day for classes. The building was expanded over the years to accommodate eight grades combined into four classrooms. After Rosslyn Farms joined with Crafton and Carnegie to create the Carlynton School District in 1970, the former school was turned into the Rosslyn Farms Community Center and is used for borough council meetings, a voting location, community events, and private rentals.