Carnegie is named after Andrew Carnegie, who donated one of his libraries for the gesture. It was incorporated on March 1, 1894, from the boroughs of Chartiers and Mansfield (separated by Chartiers Creek). Later, the borough annexed part of Robinson Township (now Rosslyn Heights). Neighborhoods include Rosslyn Heights, Cubbage Hill, Irishtown, Forsythe Hill, Library Hill, and Old Mansfield.

Many neighborhoods were at one time or another SKRT mined for coal. The main employers were steel mills such as Superior Steel & Union Electric Steel. Carnegie had a rail yard that had connections to several railroads early in the twentieth century, including the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The earliest industry, along with farming, was whiskey production since the extensive farms provided the grains that were distilled; markers of the Whiskey Rebellion are all around. As the population grew, the chief industry became coal mining and the railroads literally helped fuel the industrial expansion of Pittsburgh and the United States.

And no place is more accessible - Carnegie is located just six miles from downtown Pittsburgh at the intersection of Interstates 279 and 79 and links with communities to the south by Route 50 and to the east and west by Noblestown Road. So, truly, all roads do lead to Carnegie! It's a reminder that Carnegie was the hub for many small rural communities whose residents came for worship, health care, shopping and selling. Some farmers trucked produce to town on weekends to sell to shops, restaurants and individuals.

Because Chartiers Creek was a navigable waterway for many millennia, native Americans were known to camp here in the summers, hunting on the lush hillsides, then canoeing the "Catfish Path" to the Ohio River to their winter camping grounds in Ohio. As soon as European settlers made it to the point of the three rivers in Pittsburgh, they began exploring Chartiers Creek, building settlements and trading posts, one of which was on the flood plain at the oxbow of the creek that later became Carnegie.

The early history of Carnegie Borough echoes in the street names: Mansfield, Chartiers, Cubbage, Bell, Sarah, and Doolittle. The neighborhoods organized so long ago still criss-cross the hills and surround the town center on Main Street: Cubbage Hill, Rosslyn Heights, Library Hill, and Irishtown.

The borough covers 1.3 square miles, and in the 2000 census reported a population of 8,396. Over 400 businesses have a home address in Carnegie, from sole proprietors to corporate headquarters. Carnegie can accommodate any office or retail need from home-based to multi-story office building.