Father Pitt

Would you like to see a random article?
Of course you would.

901 and 903 Liberty Avenue

Two fine commercial buildings on Liberty Avenue. The large windows on the second, third, and fourth floors of No. 903 suggest workshops, which generally had the largest possible windows to take advantage of natural light.

Every once in a while old Pa Pitt slips in a picture taken with a cheap phone. This is one of them; he mentions it to point out that, within their limitations (this one demands bright light for acceptably sharp pictures), even cheap phone cameras can produce good pictures. The camera you have with you is always better than the one in the camera bag at home.

April 7, 2022
Colonial Place

Colonial Place, off Ellsworth Avenue, is one of those little one-street enclaves in Shadyside that shut out the world as much as they can to create a tiny insular community. The architect here was George S. Orth, who also designed a couple of prominent millionaires’ mansions in Allegheny West. The landscape design by E. H. Bachman was just as important, and the sycamore trees he specified have matured into elegant sculptures as attractive when the leaves are off as they are in full leaf.

April 6, 2022
Two More Daffodils

April 5, 2022
Smallman Street

Smallman Street in the Strip changes over time, but it keeps its traditional link with the food business. The Strip became the wholesale-food district because the Pennsylvania Railroad unloaded the culinary treasures of the earth here. Today those treasures arrive mostly by truck.

The glory of Smallman Street is the broad plaza from 16th to 21st Streets, leading to St. Stanislaus Kostka, the mother church of Polish Catholicism in Pittsburgh, and one of Frederick Sauer’s most distinguished works.

One response

April 5, 2022
A Distinguished Beard: George Estep, Burgess of Duquesne

George Estep was one of the founders of the borough of Duquesne and was burgess—the equivalent of mayor—twice. He was elected to the council in the first elections held in the new borough, and immediately began squabbling with the other members, leaving a trail of court cases all the way up to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and beginning a political tradition that has been lovingly preserved in Duquesne to the present day. His lush growth of beard distinguishes him in the group portraits of Duquesne founders.

This photograph has never been published before, as far as old Pa Pitt knows, and he thanks the family for preserving it for us.

April 4, 2022
Commercial Buildings on Brereton Street, Polish Hill

A pair of nicely restored buildings in what was once the commercial heart of Polish Hill. Note that the basement of one is on the same level as the storefront in the building next to it.

April 4, 2022
Bracket Fungus

April 3, 2022
Strawberry Way

April 3, 2022
First Unitarian Church, Shadyside

A small but substantial Gothic church that could easily pass for a church from any other denomination.

April 2, 2022
Baywood

Perhaps the grandest Second Empire mansion in Pittsburgh, Baywood was built in 1880 for Alexander King. The house is listed for about three million dollars, and thanks to the real-estate agents you can “experience Baywood” virtually. According to the site, the house sits on “an unprecedented 1.8 acre lot,” and readers are invited to speculate on what the word “unprecedented” means in that context.

April 1, 2022