Father Pitt

Category: Coraopolis

  • World War I Memorial, Coraopolis

    Doughboy with bayonet

    The World War I memorial in Coraopolis has been cleaned and polished and looks new. The statue of an advancing doughboy is probably a stock item—it appears on war memorials in other towns—but it is well executed. It does not stand up to the Lawrenceville Doughboy, but nothing does.

    Coraopolis war memorial
    War memorial

    Old Pa Pitt has been making it his usual practice to record all the names on any war memorial he photographs, because even well-maintained memorials like this one can suffer accident or decay. The names will be quite legible if you enlarge the picture.

    Roll of Honor, part 1
    Roll of Honor, part 2
    Roll of Honor, part 3
    Roll of Honor, part 4
    Kodak EasyShare Z981.

  • Coraopolis YMCA

    Coraopolis YMCA

    Now the Historic State Avenue Apartments, this old YMCA was designed by MacClure & Spahr and built in 1910. The style is a rich Georgian that makes the place look like a high-class resort hotel.

    Composite view of the front
    Entrance
    Alcove

    Even the alcoves for trash and utility equipment have a rich Colonial look.

    Coraopolis YMCA

    Cameras: Canon PowerShot SX150 IS; Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

  • VFW Post, Coraopolis

    VFW

    Addendum: Thanks to a kind correspondent, we were directed to this article on Coraopolis history, where the architect of the VFW post is identified as T. Ed. Cornelius—an old friend of ours who always kept up with the latest styles and executed them well. The article as originally written follows.

    Father Pitt does not know the history of this building, but it is certainly a fine outcropping of Art Deco, and very well preserved in nearly its original state.

    VFW Keith Holmes Post No. 402

    The building stands at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Mulberry Street in Coraopolis.

    Above the entrance
    Veterans of Foreign Wars
    Keith Holmes Post No. 402
    Mulberry Street side

    The Mulberry Street side has its own entrance, and this part of the building may date from a different time—but not very different, since it is also in an uncompromising Art Deco style.

    V. F. W.

    A cornerstone on the Mulberry Street side dates at least this part of the building to 1941.

    Cornerstone
    Brickwork

    The architect (or the bricklayer) was someone who understood the effects of shadows, creating geometric patterns in light and dark by arranging bricks at different angles.

    Brickwork
    Kodak EasyShare Z981.