Long before the Hulton Bridge, Hulton's Ferry carried locals across the Allegheny River to the road to Pittsburgh and the world beyond. The ferry helped transform a sparsely populated outpost in the early 1800s into a thriving settlement a few decades later and thus earns recognition as the first bookmark in the history of Oakmont. Others followed: the Allegheny Valley Railroad; a lake that covered part of what now is one of the town's busiest streets; Civil War and World War I army encampments; the Willows nightclub and its huge swimming pool; and boat clubs, yacht clubs, and a world-famous...