Prior to 1906, the land that became Ben Avon Heights was farmland belonging to Samuel Taylor and John Wilson. In 1910 Walter Pringle Fraser of Ben Avon bought on the former Taylor farm, using forty of the acres to build the Ben Avon Country Club and golf course. The remaining were opened for a residential development which he named Ben Avon Heights. Like neighboring Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights appealed to Pittsburghers looking for rural summer homes away from the city. The borough was incorporated in 1913.