Fitting tribute-ary: Stream named after Turner's Dairy Farms in Penn Hills

Turner’s Run isn’t a river of iced tea or chocolate milk, like the name might imply, but it does flow with crystal-clear water across the Turner Dairy Farms campus in Penn Hills.

It only recently got its name, despite existing alongside Turner’s since the beverage company’s founding in 1930.

Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese proclaimed the stream Turner’s Run on April 9 during the company’s annual creek cleanup.

The proclamation followed approval from the U.S. Board on Geographic Names in June 2023.

“It was kind of out of the blue,” said Steve Turner, vice president of sales and marketing for Turner’s.

Damian Butler-Buccilli, a planner with the Penn Hills Department of Planning and Economic Development, initiated the process after discovering the lack of a name.

“I do like a good glass of Turner’s chocolate milk,” Butler-Buccilli said. “I wanted to do something fun, not just for where I live, but to commemorate people I have a lot of respect for.”

Turner’s has deep ties to Penn Hills, where it has been based since 1930, employing about 215 people at its offices, plant and distribution center along Jefferson Road.

The company was happy to go along with the name, Turner said, and had Autograph Signs create an unofficial road sign to mark the stream.

The 1-mile-long creek originates near the intersection of Jefferson Road and Stoneledge Drive and flows into Thompson Run, Turtle Creek and, eventually, the Monongahela River. It’s only a few feet wide at most points.

Turner’s tries to be a good steward of its namesake waterway, Turner said. Three years running, the company has done a spring litter cleanup along the stream.

The first year, workers filled two pickups with trash. To the surprise of Turner, a similar amount of litter is strewn along the creek each year.

“Like, holy cow,” Turner said. “Where is all that stuff coming from?

He urged community members to cut down on the litter and “take care of the land to make sure it’s healthy and safe for people.”