Father Pitt

Category: Downtown

  • On Leong & Merchants Association Building, Chinatown

    On Leong & Merchants Association Building

    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.

    Roof
    Roof ornament
    Perspective view of the building
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.

    We also have a picture of the Court Place side of the building.

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  • Lanterns on the City-County Building

    Lanterns on the City-County Building

    The Forbes Avenue side of the City-County Building, with bronze lanterns that few pedestrians stop to appreciate.

    Lantern
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.
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  • Prothonotary

    Prothonotary

    When Harry Truman was campaigning in Pittsburgh in 1948, he was introduced to the prothonotary. He replied with the question that was always on everyone’s mind on similar occasions, but that was seldom expressed as straightforwardly as Truman could express it: “What the hell is a prothonotary?”

    We never figured out a good answer to that question, so we no longer have a prothonotary. But you can still see the title over this Forbes Avenue side entrance to the City-County Building; and if you go in through that door and explain to the first person you see what a prothonotary was, perhaps you will win a prize. But be aware that an alarm will sound.

    Prothonotary entrance
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.
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  • Waterfall at PNC Firstside Center

    Waterfall along First Avenue
    Waterfall along First Avenue
    Waterfall along First Avenue
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.
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  • Entrance to the Oliver Building

    Entrance to the Oliver Building

    Impressive fat columns tell us that this is a colossal building even if we’re too close to see how colossal it really is. The architect was Daniel “Make No Little Plans” Burnham.

    Perspective view
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
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  • Corinthian Capitals on the Benedum-Trees Building

    Three Corinthian capitals
    Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR.
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  • Construction on the Diamond

    Construction on the Diamond
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

    The reconfiguration of the Diamond or Market Square is pretty far along now. This semicircular shelter echoes the style of the new BRT stations downtown.

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  • Oliver Building from Mellon Square

    Oliver Building with fountains of Mellon Square in foreground
    Composite of two photos from the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

  • Regal Shoe Company Building

    Regal Shoe Company

    Designed by Alden & Harlow and built in 1908, this deliberately quaint little store has held up well.

    Entrance
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
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  • Silhouette of a Blowing Engine

    Silhouette of blowing engine at Station Square with skyscrapers behind
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

    A blowing engine from a blast furnace, on display at Station Square, silhouetted against the skyscrapers that such machines made possible.

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