Father Pitt

Category: Mount Washington

  • Three Buildings from the 1880s on Shiloh Street, Mount Washington

    131 Shiloh Street

    Some day some clever inventor will patent a way to match mortar colors in brickwork and make a fortune. (That was sarcasm, by the way: it can be done, but first you have to realize that it ought to be done.) Nevertheless, this building looks much better than it did a few years ago, when the front was covered with aluminum, fake stone, and asphalt shingles. Was it absolutely necessary to brick in all the side windows? Well, probably. Otherwise light might leak in. The original building comes from the 1880s, and the basic outline of it remains Victorian Gothic.

    Gordo’s
    200 Shiloh Street

    This building also seems to have been put up in the 1880s, or possibly as early as the 1870s. It has been so thoroughly remodeled so often that it would be hard to guess what it looked like originally; Father Pitt’s best guess would be that it had a Second Empire mansard roof and details, replaced in the 1970s by the parody of a Second Empire roof we see today. In the past two decades, the ground floor has been completely redesigned twice; the current incarnation is better than the way it looked twenty years ago.

    203 Shiloh Street
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

    Here is a Second Empire building that retains much of its original detail, in spite of the complete remodeling of the ground floor (the original design probably let in far too much natural light) and the artificial siding on the dormers.

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  • South Hills Trust Company, Mount Washington

    South Hills Trust Company Building

    Built as a bank and still operating as a bank, this is a little building that gets the message right. It did not have the budget for stone, but the blond Kittanning brick gives it the color of stone, and the simple classical arches convey the impression of a rich and substantial bank where your money will be safe.

    Note how the definition of “South Hills” has changed since this bank was built on Shiloh Street, just a block back from Grandview Avenue.

    Entrance
    Key Bank on Mount Washington
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • Houses on Cola Street, Mount Washington

    Houses on Cola Street

    Cola Street was originally called Coal Street, but at some point there was a transposition of letters. It clings to the edge of Mount Washington, and it was originally built up with the cheapest grade of frame houses. Some of those houses have been adapted to expensive eyries for Pittsburghers who want the most dramatic view of the city; they have been joined by newer houses also specialized for sucking in as much view as possible. Below, a local architect’s own home, perhaps his childhood dream house that he finally prospered enough to build for himself.

    302 Cola Street
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • Upper Station of the Monongahela Incline

    Upper station, Monongahela Incline

    The Monongahela Incline opened in 1870, and it has run since then with a few interruptions for maintenance. There has never been a serious injury on it, as far as old Pa Pitt knows, making it just about the safest form of public transit ever devised.

    The engineer who designed it was John Endres. He was assisted by his daughter Caroline and by Samuel Diescher, who would later go on to design the Duquesne Incline and most of the other inclines around here. Diescher would also go on to marry Caroline Endres, making them certainly one of the first husband-and-wife engineer pairs in the country. They had three sons and three daughters; the sons all became engineers.

    Front of the station

    This upper station has gone through various renovations over the years, but it seems to be the original. The lower station was replaced in 1904 with a much grander building designed by MacClure & Spahr.

    Perspective view
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • Store and Apartments by Frederick Osterling on Mount Washington

    219 Shiloh Street

    A minor work of a major architect, this building on Shiloh Street has suffered multiple renovations since it was built in 1911 that have gradually taken away much of its character. The ground floor was completely remodeled; the arched windows have been replaced with square windows and the arches filled in; and just a few years ago the roofline lost a crest. Still, what remains gives us some idea of how Frederick Osterling handled a small commission.

    Store and apartments
    219 Shiloh Street
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • Back Slopes of Mount Washington

    Back slopes of Mount Washington

    This is the kind of view that makes Pittsburgh unique among American cities. The pictures were taken from the intersection of Cederhurst Street and Estella Avenue in Beltzhoover.

    Back slopes of Mount Washington with One Oxford Center
    Mount Washington with One Mellon Center and the U. S. Steel Tower
    Back slopes of Mount Washington, Pittsburgh
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

  • Upper Station of the Monongahela Incline

    Upper station of the Monongahela Incline
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

  • Memorial Day

    Flags along Grandview Avenue
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

    Flags on Grandview Avenue, Mount Washington.

  • Houses on Bailey Avenue, Mount Washington

    421 Bailey Avenue

    Bailey Avenue, right on the crest of Mount Washington, has an eclectic mix of grand Victorian houses, somewhat more modest houses from later eras, double houses, duplexes, and small apartment buildings. Here is a representative sampling of some of the single-family houses.

    421 Bailey Avenue
    427 Bailey Avenue
    427
    426
    Cornice of 426
    426
    321 Bailey Avenue
    321 Bailey Avenue
    343 Bailey Avenue
    343
    412
    412
    347
    444

  • Saw Mill Run at Seldom Seen

    Saw Mill Run

    We saw the movie version yesterday, and now here are two still pictures of the vigorously moving Saw Mill Run at Seldom Seen.

    Saw Mill Run

    And here is a picture of the path leading toward the Arch and the railroad viaducts:

    Looking toward the railroad viaducts