Editing Baldwin Township, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
The area that would become Baldwin Township was originally settled around 1780. The Allegheny County Court of Quarter Sessions established Baldwin Township on February 24, 1844, from [[Upper St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania|Upper St. Clair]], [[Lower St. Clair Township|Lower St. Clair]], Jefferson, and Mifflin townships.<ref name="phmc">{{cite web |url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/counties/pdfs/Allegheny.pdf |title=Allegheny County - 2nd Class |access-date=August 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810194157/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/counties/pdfs/Allegheny.pdf |archive-date=August 10, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> The area was named for [[Henry Baldwin (judge)|Henry Baldwin]], a [[Pittsburgh]] lawyer who served as an [[Supreme Court Justice|Associate Justice]] of the [[United States Supreme Court]] from 1830 until his death in 1844.

Baldwin Township was originally {{convert|10550|acre|km2}} and consisted of the present-day [[Pittsburgh]] neighborhoods of [[Carrick (Pittsburgh)|Carrick]], [[Hays (Pittsburgh)|Hays]], [[Brookline (Pittsburgh)|Brookline]], and [[Overbrook (Pittsburgh)|Overbrook]], along with the present-day municipalities of [[Brentwood, Pennsylvania|Brentwood]], [[Whitehall, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Whitehall]], [[Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania|Castle Shannon]], and [[Baldwin, Pennsylvania|Baldwin Borough]].

The [[coal seam]] lying underneath Baldwin Township made [[mining]] the township's largest industry. The township was also home to the first glass factories in [[Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Allegheny County]]. Agriculture was an important part of Baldwin Township's economy from 1753 to 1876. Its most well-known agricultural exports were [[cherry|cherries]] and [[whiskey]] (many citizens of Baldwin Township were part of the [[Whiskey Rebellion]]).

The township continued to thrive until the late 19th century. Due to the lack of maintenance throughout the township's roads, residents of many areas broke off to form their own municipalities. In 1901, {{convert|201|acre|km2}} became the Pittsburgh neighborhood of [[Hays (Pittsburgh)|Hays]]. Three years later in 1904, [[Carrick (Pittsburgh)|Carrick]] and [[Brookline (Pittsburgh)|Brookline]] became Pittsburgh wards, taking with them {{convert|1058|acre|km2}} and {{convert|138|acre|km2}}, respectively. From 1915 to 1951, approximately {{convert|8700|acre|km2}} of the original Baldwin Township broke off to become the municipalities of [[Brentwood, Pennsylvania|Brentwood]], [[Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania|Castle Shannon]], [[Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania|Mt. Lebanon]], [[Whitehall, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Whitehall]], and [[Baldwin, Pennsylvania|Baldwin Borough]]. The City of Pittsburgh annexed an additional area of land that is now the city's [[Overbrook (Pittsburgh)|Overbrook]] neighborhood.

Today, only 400 of the township's original {{convert|10550|acre|km2}} remain. Historians calculate that if Baldwin Township had never been divided, it would now be the second largest community in Allegheny County, with a population of over 100,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |work=baldwintownship.com |url=http://www.baldwintownship.com/history.html}}</ref>