Father Pitt

Tag: Carson Street

  • Bracket

    Ornamental bracket on a storefront on Carson Street.

  • Row of Windows, Carson Street

    A row of more than usually ornate Italianate windows on Carson Street, South Side.

  • Brackets

    Ornamental brackets on a corner building on Carson Street, South Side.

  • Art Nouveau Stained Glass on Carson Street

    The Art Nouveau style never made much headway in Pittsburgh, but there are a few examples of ornamentation in a style that deserves that name—especially stained glass, which lends itself to the kind of abstraction we associate with Art Nouveau. This window is in a storefront near the Birmingham Bridge.

  • Carved Brackets on Carson Street

    This doorway could use some fresh paint and a little wood repair, but it would certainly be worth preserving the Victorian carved ornaments.

  • Finial

    Decoration on the roof of a Victorian building on Carson Street, South Side.

  • Victorian Storefronts on Carson Street

    A pair of storefronts in a commercial building between 15th and 16th Streets. The decorations are very well preserved—enlarge the picture to see how the ornaments in the carved cornice match the keystones in the flattened arches. Notice also the recessed entrances. Old Pa Pitt is still astonished that we have forgotten the reason for those. The reason is that, if the entrance were flush with the sidewalk, someone leaving the store could swing the door out into a passing pedestrian’s face. This happens more often than we realize in modern storefronts, or old ones that have been modernized, and apparently the reaction each time is “Who could have seen that coming?”—to which the answer is “Any Victorian architect.”

    Note the distinctive beehive ornament in the middle of the building that serves as the date stone.

  • Victorian Details on Carson Street

    Ornamental details on a row of commercial buildings on Carson Street.

  • Zovko’s Garage, South Side

    This utilitarian garage has a faint scent of Art Deco: instead of a flat front, we get pleasingly arranged vertical lines.

  • Second Empire Storefront on Carson Street

    The cornice and dormers are fine specimens of Victorian woodwork.