From the Employes Magazine of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad, August, 1916. There were many more daily papers at the time, including at least three dailies in German, but these were the biggest ones. Note, by the way, the spelling “Pittsburg” on the Press building. By 1916, the spelling had finally been standardized as “Pittsburgh” for postal purposes, but the Press stubbornly stuck to the spelling without the H into the 1930s.

Edgar Kaufmann: department-store magnate, philanthropist, and indulgent employer of notoriously difficult architects. Another sketch from the pen of W. S. Washburn. In the background, your humble servant, old Pa Pitt himself, receives infinite favors from the bounty of Mr. Kaufmann’s department store. Not that Father Pitt can be bribed, but he does feel somehow favorably disposed toward Mr. Kaufmann now.

Pittsburgh’s favorite architect as he appeared at the height of his creative power, from Sketches, Serious and Otherwise: Men of Pittsburgh and Vicinity, by W. S. Washburn. Alert readers will note that Father Pitt himself makes a few guest appearances in this book. The Tech banner reminds us that Hornbostel established the School of Architecture at Carnegie Tech and was for many years the head of the Department of Fine Arts there.

“Pennsylvania—Robert M. Ammon, the leader of the Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne railroad strike, at his post, directing the movements of the strikers.” From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 11, 1877.

A scene from the railroad riots of 1877, as drawn for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.

A woodcut and accompanying article from Atkinson’s Casket. The scene is very little different now, 181 years later.

From the Architectural Annual, 1907. —This building, one of the famous Fourth Avenue bank towers, was a year old when this picture was published. It is now called “The Carlyle” and filled with expensive condominium apartments.

From the Architectural Annual, 1907. The Oliver Building, designed by Daniel Burnham, opened in 1910.

From an 1860 Pittsburgh directory. Weldin’s is still in the same place today, still selling papers and stationery. The address is now 415 Wood Street, but it is the numbers that have moved, not Weldin’s.

“Pittsburgh, at the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany Rivers, is the second city in the State. It has a large trade and is noted for its commerce and its vast manufactures of iron. Alleghany City and Birmingham are connected with Pittsburgh by bridges.”

From A System of Modern Geography. The engraving may not be accurate down to the individual buildings, but it probably does a good job of conveying the general impression produced by the city just after the Civil War.