Demmler Brothers was founded in 1861, and the company (now in Cuddy) is still in business today. The ghost of its name is just barely visible on the front of its old headquarters at 100 Ross Street, and on the back of the building we can see layers of ghost signs advertising enameled ware, refrigerators, and stoves.
Built in 1907, this small skyscraper (originally the Jones & Laughlin Building) was just barely spared by the Boulevard of the Allies a decade and a half later. It was designed by the always-tasteful MacClure & Spahr in the restrained Gothic style popular in the early twentieth century.
PNC Firstside Center occupies a whole block of First Avenue east of Grant Street. Above, an architecturally correct composite; below, the main First Avenue entrance. The architects were L. D. Astorino Companies, who also designed the Trimont skyscraper apartments on Mount Washington.
A view eastward on Second Avenue under the Boulevard of the Allies viaduct. Below, the relief and inscription at the Grant Street entrance to the viaduct.
In classical times, worshipers deposited their money in temples, leaving it under the protection of the god. In neoclassical times, banks were built in the form of classical temples, but the only god was money itself.
Few Pittsburghers from between the rivers ever find their way into the West End, but there are some minor architectural treasures to be seen there. This interesting terra-cotta front faces Main Street at the corner of Wabash Street.
This ancient building in the West End ought to be one of our top preservation priorities, but it is a peculiarity of Pittsburgh’s preservation movement that often the oldest and most historic structures are ignored. There was a campaign to raise funds for its restoration, but the site has vanished from the Web.
The most probable date for this old tavern is the 1780s, but there was a bit of a stir some years back when an old date stone was found from 1758, which would have made it older than the Fort Pitt Blockhouse. Old Pa Pitt has not seen the stone; the consensus seems to be that it was misread, but there are still locals who argue for the earlier date.
