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Highland Park mansion rich with Pittsburgh history
Bob Karlovits can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7852.
A report nominating the mansion as a city historical site tells the story.
In 1789, Virginian William Heth was granted a large piece of land near Pittsburgh that he called "Heth's Delight." In 1799, he sold part of it to Jacob Negley, a local farmer who eventually was to own the largest chunk of land on the eastern side of the city.
In the 1850s, the land was passed down to James Scott Negley, who defaulted on a mortgage loan and lost the property in a sheriff's sale.
Merchant Alexander King bought 42 acres of land and the Negley house, moving into the home called Baywood in 1858 or '59. It burned in 1879, and King replaced it with the current home in 1880.
He died in 1890, leaving the home to his wife, Sarah Cordelia Smith King, and children, Alexander Jr., Jennie and Robert Burns.
When Mrs. King died in 1911, the children divided the property, with the home being taken by Robert Burns King.
In 1949, shopping magnate Edgar Kaufmann offered the city $500,000 to build a home for the Civic Light Opera. City planners tried to get the King estate and its natural bowl of land for the project, trying to take the house through eminent domain.
King fought the plan, and the battle was ended when he agreed to turn over his property to the city as a recreational and educational site when he died.
After he died in 1954, the city took it over for a variety of uses, including the headquarters of the Arts in the Park program and offices for groups such as the Audubon Society, the Pittsburgh Zoological Society and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
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