The Diamond

The Diamond is the historical name of a Square. The origin began in Pittsburgh. The British chased the French out of the region between the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers to establish the settlement in 1758. The Diamond took shape 20 years later when the Penn family surveyed the land nearby their manor home at Ft. Pitt at the Point. The Penn’s signed over to the city the deed to the land so that it could be put to good use as a social, civic and merchants gathering spot. George Wood and Thomas Vickroy created the city block plan for streets in Pittsburgh’s core, creating Market Square in 1784. It was originally known as “Diamond Square” or “Diamond Market” for the Scotch-Irish idiom “Diamond” representing a public common or square. At its four corners, the Diamond pointed north, south,east, and west and served as a compass for visitors. 

When the British settled the area, the Diamond bore strong traces of the city’s heavy Scotch-Irish heritage. Diamonds can be still found throughout the northern area of the Emerald Isle in places such as Rapahoe, Clones, and Donegal. In “Architectural Heritage of Western Pennsylvania”, Charles Stotz writes, “Public squares or “Diamonds” were common in many early American towns, intended as ‘practical provisions for the overnight parking of coaches, wagons, and horses rather than for beautification”’ or social centers for towns.

Boalsburg Village Conservancy – 2026