Built as a bank and still operating as a bank, this is a little building that gets the message right. It did not have the budget for stone, but the blond Kittanning brick gives it the color of stone, and the simple classical arches convey the impression of a rich and substantial bank where your money will be safe.
Note how the definition of “South Hills” has changed since this bank was built on Shiloh Street, just a block back from Grandview Avenue.
John T. Comès, perhaps Pittsburgh’s greatest contribution to ecclesiastical architecture, designed this school in 1909.1 As often happened in growing parishes, it was meant to serve as the church as well until a bigger sanctuary could be built (which finally happened in 1939). The upper floor was added in 1912, and wings (invisible from the front) were added after Comès died by the Kauzor Brothers, one of whom had briefly been Comès’ partner. Today the school has been turned into retirement apartments without much change to the exterior.
For a century, this section of Penn Avenue was the furniture district, and Spear and Company had one of the largest stores. The building was designed by Charles Bickel, who festooned it with terra cotta in blue and white.
The picture above comes from 1915. The original is at Historic Pittsburgh; Father Pitt has brightened the shadows a little to bring out more detail.
Edward J. Hergenroeder, who worked with Benno Janssen on the school for Annunciation Parish, was the architect of this convent, built in 1928. The style is a sort of modernized Gothic, though the crenellations in the peak at the end of the building look back to the middle 1800s. The building is now home to Angels’ Place, so it is well kept.
Cola Street was originally called Coal Street, but at some point there was a transposition of letters. It clings to the edge of Mount Washington, and it was originally built up with the cheapest grade of frame houses. Some of those houses have been adapted to expensive eyries for Pittsburghers who want the most dramatic view of the city; they have been joined by newer houses also specialized for sucking in as much view as possible. Below, a local architect’s own home, perhaps his childhood dream house that he finally prospered enough to build for himself.
Built in 1888 to house the priests from the adjacent St. Mary’s Church, this is now the Priory Hotel.
Exchange Way is an ancient alley that has served the backs of buildings on Liberty Avenue and Penn Avenue for two centuries or more. It has never been completely continuous, and a two-block interruption caused the name of the stub of the alley that branched off Cecil Way to be forgotten, so that it was renamed Charette Way when the Pittsburgh Architectural Club opened a clubhouse with its entrance on the alley. But originally that alley was part of Exchange Way, too.
A good alley is a symphony of textures, and some of Father Pitt’s favorite pictures are black-and-white photographs of alleys.
The last time we looked at this church, it was undergoing some renovation. Here it is with a fresh coat of paint. It was perhaps a shame to cover up the original blond bricks, but in a transitional neighborhood like Uptown, paint is certainly the easiest way to keep a building looking sharp and fresh. The painting was done with care to leave the stone trim unpainted, and the church looks very good.
This church was also known as Second German Lutheran, and to English-speaking neighbors it was known as the Dutch Lutheran Church. It now belongs to an Anglican ministry called Shepherd’s Heart.
A commercial building and apartment block in the eclectic style popular in the 1920s: it carries a whiff of Spanish Mission, but also a bit of Renaissance. Liberal use of terra cotta enlivens the façade.
The Monongahela Incline opened in 1870, and it has run since then with a few interruptions for maintenance. There has never been a serious injury on it, as far as old Pa Pitt knows, making it just about the safest form of public transit ever devised.
The engineer who designed it was John Endres. He was assisted by his daughter Caroline and by Samuel Diescher, who would later go on to design the Duquesne Incline and most of the other inclines around here. Diescher would also go on to marry Caroline Endres, making them certainly one of the first husband-and-wife engineer pairs in the country. They had three sons and three daughters; the sons all became engineers.
This upper station has gone through various renovations over the years, but it seems to be the original. The lower station was replaced in 1904 with a much grander building designed by MacClure & Spahr.
