Troy Hill was part of The Reserve Tract incorporated in 1833. Originally called the village of New Troy, it was settled by German immigrants who worked in the mills, tanneries, breweries and railroads that lined the Allegheny river. The migration up to Troy Hill began when a Catholic church opened a small cemetery in 1842. By 1866 one hundred families were officially Troy Hill residents. The adjacent riverfront land along with Herr's Island would in 1849 be incorporated into the short-lived Duquesne borough (distinct from the modern borough of the same name), that in 1868 was partitioned, the portion upriver of the northern end of Herr's Island becoming part of the newly-formed borough of Millvale, while the downriver portion including the island was annexed to the City of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, as its eighth ward. The upland including the village of Troy Hill was also annexed, forming part of the seventh ward, and following an 1877 redistricting became the city's thirteenth ward. Subsequently, when Allegheny City was annexed in 1907, most of its eighth and thirteenth wards became the new twenty-fourth ward of the city of Pittsburgh, roughly corresponding to the modern Troy Hill neighborhood.