Founded: In 1895

Location: Allegheny County, 10 miles southeast of Downtown Pittsburgh; East Pittsburgh covers 0.4 of a square mile and is accessed primarily by Routes 30 and 130

Population: 1,839 (estimated June 2008, U.S. Census)

Government: Mayor-council

Mayor: Louis Payne

Manager: Eileen Navish

Median price of a home: $13,000 after the second quarter of 2009, down from $15,100 a year earlier

Municipal phone, Web site: 412-823-7124, no Web site

School district: Woodland Hills, 412-731-1300, www.whsd.k12.pa.us

History: East Pittsburgh was incorporated in 1895, a year after Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. opened a facility producing equipment for power plants in Niagara Falls and for transit systems in New York City. The town evolved from two farms, one on a hill called Bessemer Terrace, the other in Turtle Creek Valley.

Majestic George Westinghouse Bridge, which carries Route 30 over Turtle Creek, is the borough's most identifiable feature. The Westinghouse plant, however, had that distinction until it closed in 1988, giving way to Keystone Commons industrial complex.

The town played a major role in the development of TV. In 1928, an early demonstration was made at the Westinghouse laboratories there.

The borough is the hometown of Joseph Wambaugh, a well-known crime novelist and a former Los Angeles police officer. Now part of Woodland Hills, East Pittsburgh had its own school district until the 1971-72 school year, when it was absorbed by the Turtle Creek district via court order. The sports teams of East Pittsburgh High School had a fabulous nickname: the Shamrocks.

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