Father Pitt

Category: Churches

  • St. Elizabeth’s, Strip District

    St. Elizabeth’s

    The Strip was once a densely populated immigrant neighborhood, and until 1993 there were three Catholic churches within five blocks—an Irish one (St. Patrick’s), a Polish one (St. Stanislaus Kostka), and this Slovak church. By 1993 hardly anyone lived in the Strip, and in the parish consolidations this church was closed. After a few vacant years it became a night club. Then it became a church again: now it belongs to Orchard Hill Church. In a way this new ownership continues both strands of the building’s history: Orchard Hill is the kind of nondenominational church where worship is a stage show with a band.

    St. Elizabeth’s

  • Church of the Ascension, Shadyside

    Church of the Ascension

    We looked at the Church of the Ascension a little while ago. Here is a view of the entire south side of it that took twelve individual photographs to capture. That is the kind of effort old Pa Pitt is willing to put into documenting his city’s architecture for you, his beloved readers. The whole picture is nearly 11 megabytes, so don’t click or tap on it if you’re on a metered connection.

  • Gargoyles on the Church of the Ascension

    Gargoyle
    Gargoyle

  • A Medieval Fantasy

    A little experiment in digital art. It began with a photograph of one of the Gothic gateposts outside the chancery behind St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland. That was made black and white, and then put through a multiple-layer “etching” filter, and then every detail that looked at all modern was scribbled over. This is the result. Was it worth the work? Probably not, but one can always learn something from these experiments.

  • First Trinity Lutheran Church, Shadyside

    First Trinity Lutheran Church

    With its half-timbered parsonage, First Trinity Lutheran Church forms a little medieval enclave on a street of apartment buildings.

    Cornerstone
    Inscription
    Sunday-school wing
    Parsonage

  • Church of the Ascension, Shadyside

    Church of the Ascension

    The Church of the Ascension was designed by William Halsey Wood, a master of Gothic architecture who died very young, at 41, but nevertheless left a substantial body of work. Here he seems to have concentrated his efforts on the massive tower.

    Tower
    Parish foundation
    This church was builded in the years 1897 and 1898
    Cornerstone
    Medallion

    Compare these recent pictures to the Father Pitt’s pictures of the same church in 2013.

  • Southminster Presbyterian Church, Mount Lebanon

    Southminster Presbyterian Church

    This tasteful Gothic church, finished in 1928, anchors the south end of the Uptown Mount Lebanon business district. The architect was Thomas Pringle, who also gave us the Salvation Army Building downtown.

    West entrance

  • Pittsburgh Myanmar Christian Church, Castle Shannon

    Here is another wooden Gothic church whose details have been obscured by modern siding, and old Pa Pitt suspects the job was done by the same contractor who pasted siding over the First Presbyterian Church in Castle Shannon. The tower has been obscured beyond recognition—but note the railing on top, which suggests that it may be a fine place for a bird’s-eye view of the borough. This was the Castle Shannon United Methodist Church, but now it belongs to a lively congregation of immigrants from Myanmar.

    A more than usually lush growth of utility cables is also prominent in this picture.

  • Dormont Presbyterian Church

    Dormont Presbyterian Church

    Dormont Presbyterian Church (now North Way Community Church) in winter sunlight.

  • Transept Tower, St. Paul’s Cathedral

    Transept tower

    A large Gothic church can be prickly with towers. In addition to the great front towers whose spires can be seen for miles, St. Paul’s has a pair of smaller towers on each transept front.