Some views from two different divisions of the Union Dale Cemetery.
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Downtown Through the Trees
Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6; Sony Alpha 3000 with Wirgin Telepar 105mm lens; Kodak EasyShare Max Z990.
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The Natatorium Building, Renovated
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. Last year we saw the Natatorium Building in the middle of a renovation. Now here it is renovated, and looking pretty much the same. The original architect was R. B. Melvin.
We also have some history of the Natatorium Building.
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Lohr Building, Wilkinsburg
Old maps show this as the Lohr Building, owned by A. C. Lohr. Lohr was a patent-medicine peddler who promoted himself as “the Plant Juice man,” selling a supposedly herbal concoction called Plant Juice that would treat “all forms of stomach, liver and kidney trouble and blood disorders,” according to identical articles planted in the Gazette Times and the Press for July 13, 1914. Pittsburgh is most famous for glass, iron, and steel, but in the golden age of patent medicines it was one of the most important centers of medical hooey in the country, and fortunes were made here in that trade.
The storefront retains its corner entrance, but with the step up from South Avenue blocked by a planter.
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Most Holy Name of Jesus Rectory, Troy Hill
The rectory for Most Holy Name of Jesus Church, built in about 1875 in an elaborate Second Empire style—quite possibly with Father Suitbert Mollinger’s own money, since he had quite a fortune and nothing to spend it on but his parish and his collection of relics.
Kodak EasyShare Max Z990.
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Polish Hill
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. Polish Hill seen from Troy Hill across the Allegheny. Below, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.
Kodak EasyShare Max Z990.
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Gulf and Koppers Buildings
Two of our most prominent Art Deco buildings, as seen from Spring Hill (so the lines will be a little wavy if you enlarge the picture, owing to the mile and a half of intervening atmosphere).
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Graff Building, Wilkinsburg
This is an unusually interesting building, and old Pa Pitt wishes he could say something more definite about it than that. It was built in 1912, and it bears a plaque from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation saying it is “attributed to Frederick Scheibler.” However, Scheibler’s biographer Martin Aurand lists it among the “misattributions,” and old Pa Pitt’s eye sees nothing Scheiblery about it, other than that it is a striking building in an East End neighborhood.
Since the construction listings we have found mention no architect, saying only that it was built for the General Improvement Co. of Wilkinsburg, Father Pitt will either have to remain silent or indulge in wild speculation. And since remaining silent has never been among his virtues, Father Pitt will suggest that Wilkinsburg’s own Milligan & Miller might have been the architects. They designed numerous apartment buildings in Wilkinsburg and nearby; they watched the latest trends from Chicago and adapted them to local tastes; they liked broad eaves like the ones on this building; and several of their buildings have a narrow masonry stripe setting off the top floor.
The huge bright French doors with surrounding windows are the most distinctive feature of this building.
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS; Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.
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Skyline from Spring Hill
A panorama from early summer, taken from St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery on Spring Hill. It is made from four separate photographs.
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A Stroll on North Avenue, North Side
North Avenue between Federal Street and Allegheny General Hospital is a mixture of domestic buildings, with a couple of commercial buildings thrown in. We begin at Federal Street with a building that seems to have a story to tell us. Thirty years ago, this corner was the sort of place that Pittsburghers warned each other to stay away from. Now there’s a branch of Yinz Coffee here, and the district is filling in with shops and residents. But this building is only a quarter of its old self: old maps show a building with four floors here, and this is almost certainly that building with three of its floors amputated.
There was construction going on along the street when old Pa Pitt took his walk there, so you’ll have to forgive some debris in the pictures.
This building has apparently lost some elaborate Italianate trim around the windows. Ordinarily, Father Pitt prefers to see bricks left unpainted, but here is a case where painting the front would eliminate some ugly scars.
This looks like a narrow house that was early on extended by one bay, possibly when it was converted to apartments.
Now we come to an eclectic row of houses in a number of different styles from different eras.
This stone-fronted Romanesque house (it’s brick on the sides that don’t face the street) literally stands out in its row, thanks to a big turret that bulges out beyond the front walls of the rest of the houses.
Sony Alpha 3000; Sony DSC-S90. The Aberlie house, which was probably built in about 1880, has its own Wikipedia article, which tells us that it is the Abelie House and was probably built in about 1880.
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