So they say in Pittsburgh. This clock on the old Duquesne Brewery may or may not be the world’s largest, but it’s huge (compare it to the houses in the foreground). From across the Mon on the Boulevard of the Allies, it’s the most obvious thing on the South Side. [Update: It should be noted that, since this article was written, at least two larger clocks have been built: the largest in Mecca, and a very large one somewhere in Turkey. This is still the largest clock in the Americas, the Western Hemisphere, the English-speaking world, and a number of other categories one could think of.]

A break from fall in Mellon Park to take a walk on the South Side.

It’s the common pattern in the old rowhouse neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. Alleys were built between the main streets to serve the backs of the houses. But then the real estate became so valuable that people sold their back yards, and houses sprung up along the alleys. Here on the South Side, impossibly narrow alleys are full of small houses, some making up in dignity what they lack in size, others more utilitarian.