08/07/2026
Tomorrow is the fourth annual Houston Block party, which will celebrate Houston Borough ’s 125th anniversary. In advance of the event, I presented borough officials with a House citation marking the occasion.
The land on which the borough now occupies was part of a tract purchased from John Haft on Jan. 24, 1827, by Daniel Houston, a near relative of Gen. Sam Houston, leader of the Texans in their war for independence from Mexico. After the Chartiers Valley Railroad was completed through that section in 1871, David C. Houston, a son of Daniel Houston, saw the possibilities of a town at that point and laid out the plan of Houstonville.
The first house in the new town was completed in the summer of 1871 by A.T. Haft and the second by J.C. Johnson. A few years later, H.E. Riggle laid out a plan adjoining which was called Riggletown. On May 13, 1901, the Borough of Houston was incorporated from land of Chartiers and North Strabane townships.