On a hillside in Frick Park.
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Tower at PNC Plaza in Progress
The Tower at PNC Plaza, Pittsburgh’s biggest new skyscraper since the 1980s, is still rising. Some of the exterior shell is appearing at lower levels, even though the skeleton hasn’t topped out yet. Here we see it from the Diamond (which is spelled “Market Square” on maps). Earlier pictures are here and here.
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The New Smithfield Street Bridge
“Pennsylvania.—New Steel Bridge Recently Erected Over the Monongahela River at Pittsburgh.” From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 11, 1883. Note that the bridge is half today’s width; the upstream half was added later.
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Kneeling Venus in the Phipps Palm House
You have to look hard to find her, but this statue, a gift from Henry Phipps to his conservatory, is still kneeling in the jungle to the left of the main entrance as you walk into the palm house.
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Flood of 1883: Inundation of Herr’s Island
From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, February 17, 1883. —This would be a rotten thing to happen to all those expensive townhouses today.
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Flood on the Allegheny near Kittanning, 1883
“Breaking of the Ice Gorge Near Kittanning,” from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, February 17, 1883. —The engravings in Leslie’s are always lively and show considerable care for accuracy.
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School for Blind Children
This building from 1894, right next to Schenley Farms in Oakland, was designed by George L. Orth, and still houses the school he designed it for.
