South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club Historic District

Along the north shore of what was once a three-mile artificial lake near Saint Michael in Adams Township, a linear district of club-era buildings survives from the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The club was incorporated in 1879 by Pittsburgh businessmen seeking private fishing, boating and hunting outside the city, and it admitted only members and their families. Most of the wooden, clapboard-sided cottages and the clubhouse were built around 1883 in Queen Anne, Stick Style and Eastlake forms, with open front porches and bays facing the water. The clubhouse, which once had forty-seven bedrooms and a dining hall seating 150, remains the district's focal point despite the loss of its eastern wing. The club ended with the collapse of the South Fork Dam in May 1889, which caused the Johnstown Flood; the buildings were undamaged, but members never returned. Structure 105 is regarded as the best Queen Anne house in Adams Township and neighbouring townships.