Much of Pittsburgh’s small but dense and lively Chinatown was destroyed when the ramp to the Boulevard of the Allies viaduct was built, but some of the Chinese merchants doggedly rebuilt in the 1920s. The On Leong & Merchants Association Building was designed by Sidney F. Heckert, who gave his clients a fairly standard 1920s Pittsburgh commercial building with well-chosen decorative details to send the message that this was an outpost of Chinese civilization. Today it is home to the Chinatown Inn, perhaps Pittsburgh’s oldest Chinese restaurant and the only Chinese business left in Chinatown.
We also have a picture of the Court Place side of the building.
Leave a Reply