Father Pitt

Author: Father Pitt

  • Inside the Second United Presbyterian Church, Highland Park

    Stained Glass, Second United Presbyterian

    We have seen pictures of the outside of this church before—here, for example, is a picture from May of 2021:

    Exterior of the church

    The other day the current inhabitants, the Union Project, were kind enough to turn old Pa Pitt loose in the sanctuary to take as many pictures as he wanted.

    Interior

    The architect was John L. Beatty, who designed the building in about 1900. A newspaper picture from 1905 (taken from microfilm, so the quality is poor) shows the exterior looking more or less the way it does now.

    Pittsburg Press, April 29, 1905.

    After a disastrous fire, much was rebuilt in 1915, again under Beatty’s supervision.1 Another fire in 1933 would necessitate rebuilding part of the tower.

    The church was built for the Second United Presbyterian congregation, which had moved out to the eastern suburbs from its former location downtown at Sixth Avenue and Cherry Way (now William Penn Place)—exactly one block from the First United Presbyterian Church, which moved to Oakland at about the same time. Later it became the East End Baptist Church, and then was renamed the Union Baptist Church. When that congregation folded, the church was bought by a Mennonite group that founded the Union Project. It is now a community center for pottery, because “everyone should have access to clay.” The sanctuary—which has been preserved mostly unaltered, except for the removal of pews and other furnishings—is available for large events.

    Ceiling

    The sanctuary is roughly square, which is typical of many non-liturgical Protestant churches in Pittsburgh at the turn of the twentieth century. Above, looking up at the center of the ceiling.

    Front of the sanctuary
    Side windows
    Stained glass in the side windows

    The stained glass was restored as part of a remarkable community effort in which people in the neighborhood learned the art of stained-glass restoration themselves. It would have cost more than a million dollars to have the work done professionally, but volunteers learned priceless skills, and the glass is beautiful.

    Stained Glass
    Stained glass
    Support
    Lantern
    View across the sanctuary
    Back of the sanctuary
    Back of the sanctuary
    Vestibule

    The vestibule includes some of the original furniture from the church, and some smaller stained-glass windows.

    Furniture
    Stained glass in the vestibule
    Sony Alpha 3000; Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
    1. Source: The Construction Record, January 16, 1915: “The Second United Presbyterian Congregation has selected Architect J. L. Beatty, 146 Sixth street, to prepare plans for repairing the church on Stanton and Negley avenues.” ↩︎
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  • Crocus Time

    Purple crocuses
    Striped crocus

  • Father Pitt in Winston-Salem

    Main Street in Old Salem

    A little while ago, Father Pitt found himself in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for three days with a bag of cameras and nothing to do but walk around. It’s a city made for walking, and the result was hundreds of pictures. The obvious thing to do was to set up a separate subdomain to publish them in a similar style to the main site here. Old Pa Pitt is still sorting through the pictures, but since there are already more than sixty articles over there, now is a good time to make a public announcement of Father Pitt in Winston-Salem.

  • Store and Apartments by S. A. Hall, Oakland

    41–425 South Craig Street

    This building at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Craig Street was designed by S. A. Hall in 1904.1 It still holds down its corner very well, and most of the original details are preserved—including the art-glass transoms.

    Stained glass with torch
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
    1. Source: Pittsburg Press, April 26, 1904. “Architect S. A. Hall has awarded to the Iron City Construction Co. the contract for the erection of a two-story brick and stone store and apartment building on the corner of Craig and Forbes streets for George A. Charles. The structure will cost $25,000.” The building ended up with three floors instead of two, but Mr. Charles is shown as owner of the property on plat maps. Thanks to David Schwing for the information. ↩︎
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  • South Hills Trust Company, Mount Washington

    South Hills Trust Company Building

    Built as a bank and still operating as a bank, this is a little building that gets the message right. It did not have the budget for stone, but the blond Kittanning brick gives it the color of stone, and the simple classical arches convey the impression of a rich and substantial bank where your money will be safe.

    Note how the definition of “South Hills” has changed since this bank was built on Shiloh Street, just a block back from Grandview Avenue.

    Entrance
    Key Bank on Mount Washington
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • Resurrection School, Brookline

    Resurrection School

    John T. Comès, perhaps Pittsburgh’s greatest contribution to ecclesiastical architecture, designed this school in 1909.1 As often happened in growing parishes, it was meant to serve as the church as well until a bigger sanctuary could be built (which finally happened in 1939). The upper floor was added in 1912, and wings (invisible from the front) were added after Comès died by the Kauzor Brothers, one of whom had briefly been Comès’ partner. Today the school has been turned into retirement apartments without much change to the exterior.

    Entrance
    Entrance
    Date stone: A. D. 1909
    Resurrection School
    Cornerstone
    Cornerstone: Anno Domini 1909
    Resurrection School
    Rear of the school
    Canon PowerShot SX150IS.
    1. Source: A very thorough Chronology of Resurrection Parish published in 1934. ↩︎
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  • Let Spear Feather Your Nest

    Spear & Company

    For a century, this section of Penn Avenue was the furniture district, and Spear and Company had one of the largest stores. The building was designed by Charles Bickel, who festooned it with terra cotta in blue and white.

    The picture above comes from 1915. The original is at Historic Pittsburgh; Father Pitt has brightened the shadows a little to bring out more detail.

    Terra Cotta
    Terra cotta
    Blue and white terra cotta
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.
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  • Church of the Annunciation Convent, Perry South

    Church of the Annunciation convent

    Edward J. Hergenroeder, who worked with Benno Janssen on the school for Annunciation Parish, was the architect of this convent, built in 1928. The style is a sort of modernized Gothic, though the crenellations in the peak at the end of the building look back to the middle 1800s. The building is now home to Angels’ Place, so it is well kept.

    Entrance to the convent
    Church of the Annunciation Convent
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  • Houses on Cola Street, Mount Washington

    Houses on Cola Street

    Cola Street was originally called Coal Street, but at some point there was a transposition of letters. It clings to the edge of Mount Washington, and it was originally built up with the cheapest grade of frame houses. Some of those houses have been adapted to expensive eyries for Pittsburghers who want the most dramatic view of the city; they have been joined by newer houses also specialized for sucking in as much view as possible. Below, a local architect’s own home, perhaps his childhood dream house that he finally prospered enough to build for himself.

    302 Cola Street
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • St. Mary’s Priory, Dutchtown

    St. Mary’s Priory

    Built in 1888 to house the priests from the adjacent St. Mary’s Church, this is now the Priory Hotel.

    Inscription: “St. Mary’s Priory”
    Cross
    Entrance
    Sony Alpha 3000; Nikon COOLPIX P100.
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