Father Pitt

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Calvary Christian Church, Marshall-Shadeland
Chauncey W. Hodgdon had been practicing architecture for well over four decades when he designed this little church. It was built in about 1924,¹ and this is Hodgdon on a small budget. He minimized expensive indulgences like stone trim and large windows, while still giving the congregation the respectable Gothic church it dreamed of. Now the building belongs to New Hope Church, which is keeping it in very good shape.
1. Source: The American Contractor, August 11, 1923: “Church: Shadland [sic] av. & Dickson st. Archt. Chauncey W. Hodgdon, Martin bldg. Owner The Calvary Christ. Church. Rev. F. Fink, 3426 Cass st. Brk. & Stone. Archt. taking bids on super. to close Aug. 20.” ↩︎
October 29, 2023
Farewell to the Fall Flower Show

Today is the last day of the Fall Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory. This is how the East Room was decorated.

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October 29, 2023
Entrance to the Kinder Building, Allegheny West

The Kinder Building is a little Beaux-Arts masterpiece at the corner of Western Avenue and Galveston Avenue. At night its carefully balanced classical entrance takes on a pleasing air of mystery.

October 29, 2023
Kleber Row, Brighton Heights
This is only part of the row: there are thirteen of these houses in all. But if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, except for the one with the paste-on false shutters. The row was built in 1915 or shortly afterward as rental properties for Henry Kleber, Jr.; the architect was T. E. Cornelius,¹ who shows up frequently in trade magazines of the time as a designer of middle-class houses. Cornelius’ Arts-and-Crafts sympathies are very much in evidence here: one almost feels as though the roof of the row ought to be thatched.

By an odd coincidence, there is another line of rowhouses diagonally across Davis Avenue from these, and once again there are thirteen in the row.
1. Our source for this information is the Construction Record. “Architect T. E. Cornelius, House building, awarded to George E. McKee, 6 Alger Street, the contract for building 13 two-story brick veneered and frame residences on Davis avenue, Northside, for Henry Kleber, Jr., 6020 Crafton street. Cost $25,000.” Kleber is marked as owner on a 1923 map. ↩︎
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October 28, 2023
Chrysanthemums and Coleus

At the Phipps Fall Flower Show.

October 28, 2023
The Traffic Light in Beechview

Central Beechview has one traffic signal, but it’s a very complicated one, regulating traffic on Broadway, Beechview Avenue, and Hampshire Avenue—and also the streetcars.

Yes, that streetcar was still in the intersection when the light turned red. But are you going to argue with the streetcar?

October 28, 2023
Japanese Maples

In the Japanese Courtyard Garden at Phipps Conservatory.

October 27, 2023
Leaves on a Sidewalk

October 27, 2023
Elliott Theatre
This little movie house had 290 seats.¹ It appears on a 1923 map, but not on a 1910 map, which brackets its dates. It may have closed in 1933, when the equipment was auctioned at a constable’s sale for non-payment of rent.

This is one of those cases where old Pa Pitt’s instincts served him well. Out for a walk in Elliott taking pictures of other things, he thought this had the look of a movie theater—narrow but deep, as theaters usually are—and took its picture. A look at the old maps confirmed that it was indeed a theater.
1. Our information comes from the indefatigable Ed Blank at Cinema Treasures. ↩︎
October 27, 2023
Chrysanthemums at the Phipps Fall Flower Show

This is the last weekend of the Fall Flower Show at Phipps. They’re already starting work on the Winter Flower Show. Every year each show has a whimsical theme, but for fall the stars of the show are always the chrysanthemums.

October 26, 2023