Father Pitt

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Knoxville Christian Church
Knoxville’s own Edwin V. Denick was the architect of this half-shingled corner-tower church,¹ currently abandoned. Since it sits right next to the Knoxville Presbyterian Church that burned last month, and since it has been boarded up by the city, we have to assume that it could vanish at any time, so here are a few pictures to document it before it goes. We’ll put it it the Endangered category on our scale of Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, and Demolished.

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In the gables that face the street, the shingles have been replaced with artificial siding; but we can still see them on this gable in the back of the building.
1. Source: Pittsburg Press, May 26, 1904, p. 2. “Foundations have been started on the buff brick stone and terra cotta church being built on Charles and Knox avenues, Knoxville, for the Knoxville Christian congregation from plans drawn by Architect E. V. Denick.” ↩︎
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February 1, 2026
Some Houses on Roycroft Avenue, Mount Lebanon

This side of Roycroft Avenue—which was the sunny side yesterday afternoon—is in the St. Clair Terrace plan (the other side is part of a different plan). As with many of the plans in the Mt. Lebanon Historic District, the lots were sold off to buyers who would hire their own architects to design their dream houses. The result is a pleasingly eclectic collection of houses whose designs are all of high quality. We’ve seen some of these houses before, but the deep snow added an irresistible picturesqueness.

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January 31, 2026
Facing Banks in Bridgeville
George S. Orth, who lived in Bridgeville, designed this building,¹ which was put up in two stages, beginning in 1903 or 1904, for the Bridgeville Trust Company. If you look very carefully, you can see the seam in the middle of the long side along Station Street, marking the line between the original square building on the corner and the later addition behind it. At some time in the middle twentieth century, the ground floor was entirely redesigned to look more like a modern bank, so that only on the second floor is Orth’s work visible today. The building was still a bank (a branch of PNC) until just a few years ago.

Across the street, the First National Bank of Bridgeville was going up at the same time. James E. Allison was the architect of this one.² Soon—probably while this building was still going up—he would take his brother David on as a partner in the firm of Allison & Allison. In 1910 they moved to Los Angeles, and they flourished there as architects of some of the most notable buildings in the city.

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1. Philadelphia Real Estate Record & Builder’s Guide, September 30, 1903, p. 341 (641; pages are misnumbered): “Architects G. S. Orth & Bros., Stevenson Building, have completed revised plans for the erection of a two-story brick bank and office building to be erected for the Bridgeville Trust Company, of Bridgeville, Pa. The cost will be about $20,000.” ↩︎
2. Record & Guide, November 18, 1903, p. 763. “At Bridgeville, Allegheny county, the First National Bank will erect a building two stories high, of stone and brick, all modern conveniences. The plans have been prepared by J. E. Allison, Westinghouse Building, Pittsburg, Pa.” The building ended up with three floors, but Hopkins maps show the First National Bank at this location. ↩︎
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January 30, 2026
McNally Building

The perspective of this picture has been adjusted on two planes to make a more natural view of the building, at the cost of distorting some of the other things in the picture.

Thomas D. Evans was the architect of this towering warehouse, built just as the age of skyscrapers was dawning in 1896. It has kept its Romanesque decorative details, and the ground floor has been restored and lightly modernized with sympathy for the original lines of the building.

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The picture above was taken in September of 2023; we append it to show the strong impression the building makes from half a block away.

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January 29, 2026
Fairy-Tale Apartment Building in Brookline

A little apartment building—with four apartments, judging by the number of buzzers—in what old Pa Pitt calls the fairy-tale style, the mark of which is exaggeratedly picturesque features that look like illustrations from a children’s book.

The entrance is so similar to the entrance to the Sholten Arms in Carrick that we have to suspect the same hand drew both. Father Pitt’s guess is that the decorative gable was originally carried all the way to its logical peak, but was truncated when the overhang was rebuilt.

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January 28, 2026
Mellon National Bank Building

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Trowbridge & Livingston, Andrew Mellon’s favorite architects, designed this block-long palace of finance. The legendary interior was destroyed in the 1990s for a blink-and-you-missed-it department store, but the exterior is almost completely unchanged from the day the building opened in 1925.

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January 27, 2026
Snowdrift

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January 26, 2026
Snow in the Branches

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January 26, 2026
Victorian Double House on Alder Street, Shadyside

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A good example of how an old building can be updated on a limited budget without too much damage to its appearance. Front porches are gone, and vinyl siding and new windows lost some of the Victorian detail. But the windows are framed appropriately if simply, and distinctive woodwork on the third floor has been preserved and restored. Now five apartments, the double house is still an attractive building; and if old Pa Pitt would prefer to have seen it restored to its original Victorian appearance, he nevertheless recognizes and applauds a tasteful effort to balance restoration with profitability.

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January 26, 2026
Row of Apartment Buildings on Shady Drive East, Mount Lebanon

A row of four originally identical apartment buildings with Jacobean detailing.

This entrance seems to preserve its original details better than the others.

On the other hand, the colored tiles beside the door at this entrance are probably original, but have disappeared from the other three entrances.

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January 26, 2026