Father Pitt

Tag: Ridge Avenue

  • St. Peter’s Church, North Side

    St. Peter’s, perspective view

    On a rainy evening not long ago, old Pa Pitt stopped to take a few pictures of the former cathedral of the former diocese of the former city of Allegheny.

    Saint Peter Catholic Church, former cathedral of the former diocese of Allegheny, sign

    He took a few pictures of a few details, and then the windows of heaven were opened and a drenching downpour sent him scurrying for shelter.

    Main entrance

    Andrew Peebles, one of our most important architects in the latter 1800s, designed this fine example of mid-Victorian Gothic, which was built in 1872–1874. It was a cathedral-sized church; so when, shortly after it was finished, Bishop Domenec threw Catholic Pittsburgh for a loop by coming back from Rome with the news that there was a new diocese of Allegheny, this church was ready to slip comfortably into its new role.

    The new diocese, however, was a flop. Allegheny had all the rich churches; Pittsburgh had all the debt. Bickering followed, until the Pope, declaring that you kids should just settle down and let a body think for a while, suppressed the diocese of Allegheny in 1889, and Pittsburgh absorbed the territory again. In the secular world, the city of Pittsburgh would soon absorb the city of Allegheny itself.

    Left entrance

    But a diocese never really goes away in the Catholic Church, and there is still a titular bishop of Allegheny, who the last Father Pitt heard was an auxiliary bishop of Newark. And a church never forgets that it has been a cathedral.

    Iron fence in front of the church

    This fine iron fence bears the mark of its makers: Cochran Bros. of Pittsburgh.

    Makers’ mark: Cochran Bros., Pitts., Pa.
    Iron fence
    Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR.

    And then the rain came. But we have more pictures of St. Peter’s, as well as some pictures of St. Peter’s at night.

    It’s worth noting that the cathedral was hit by a disastrous fire in 1886 that destroyed everything but the walls. But the original plans were followed in the reconstruction, and Peebles was still around to supervise, so the current church is essentially the one that was built in the 1870s.

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  • St. Peter’s Church, North Side

    St. Peter’s Church

    Andrew Peebles was the architect of St. Peter’s, which was dedicated in 1874. In 1876, it became the cathedral of the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Allegheny, carved out of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which was left with all the debt while the new Diocese of Allegheny took all the rich churches. That went about as well as you might expect, and in 1889 the Diocese of Allegheny was suppressed and its territory reabsorbed by Pittsburgh. But a church never quite gets over being a cathedral.

    West front of St. Peter’s, North Side

    In 1886, a fire ravaged the building and left nothing but the walls standing. Fortunately Peebles’ original plans were saved, and so the restoration, which took a year and a half, was done to the original design.

    Perspective view
    St. Peter’s
    St. Peter’s
    Front of the rectory

    The rectory was built with a stone front to match the church, but the rest of the house is brick.

    Rectory
    Rectory
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.

    We also have a picture of the front of St. Peter’s at night.

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  • First Christian Church, Allegheny West

    First Christian Church

    This interesting modernist church was built in 1963, as we find from the attractive plaque by the entrance:

    Date plaque with date 1963

    The balance of modern design and hand-crafted artisanship in the lettering is very appealing.

    Front of the church

    The architects of the church were Williams & Trebilcock.1 The church was dedicated on April 5, 1964; it replaced a building that had been next to the old Presbyterian Hospital. This building now belongs to Living Word Ministry.

    First Christian Church from across the street
    Left side of the church
    Right side of the church
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
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  • Community College of Allegheny County

    Milton Hall and the library
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

    An abstraction with part of Milton Hall and the campus library at the Allegheny Campus of CCAC. Tasso Katselas was the architect.

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  • Byers-Lyons House, Allegheny West

    Byers-Lyons House
    Father Pitt will admit to having removed an ugly utility pole from this picture. Perhaps some day he will do an article about the utility pole and remove the house.

    Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, Pittsburgh’s most prestigious firm, were the architects of this Flemish Renaissance mansion, which is now Byers Hall of the Community College of Allegheny County. Of the surviving millionaires’ mansions in Allegheny West, this is old Pa Pitt’s favorite. It is impressively huge, but the details are inviting rather than forbidding. Even the huge iron gate in front seems to be there more to invite you in than to keep you out.

    Gate
    Arcade and entrance

    The arcade on two sides of a garden court forms a pleasant cloister in front of the house, rather than behind it, suggesting that the residents do not turn their backs on their neighbors.

    Byers-Lyons house
    Byers Hall
    Chimney
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

    Are these the most artistic chimneys in Pittsburgh? They are certainly in the running, at any rate.

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  • B. F. Jones Mansion, Allegheny West

    Magnolias at the entrance to the B. F. Jones house

    Rutan & Russell, both of whom had worked for H. H. Richardson, designed this immense Jacobean pile for steel baron Benjamin Franklin Jones, Jr., son of the Jones of Jones & Laughlin. It was finished in 1910. The terra-cotta company must have made its numbers for the entire year supplying the ornaments for this house, right down to the address over the entrance.

    808 in terra cotta
    B. F. Jones house

    The house now belongs to the Community College of Allegheny County, which keeps the exterior perfect.

    B. F. Jones house
    B. F. Jones house
    Dormer
    Window
    Terra-cotta panels
    Downspout

    Even the downspouts are works of art.

    Corner of the roof
    Magnolias

  • Front Door of the B. F. Jones House, Allegheny West

    Front door of the Jones mansion
    Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.

    Steel baron B. F. Jones’ front doorway is a feast of elaborate terra cotta. This is a very large picture: enlarge it to appreciate the details of the terra cotta and ironwork.

  • Grotesques on the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny West

    Yawning head

    The Western Theological Seminary (now West Hall of the Community College of Allegheny County) was built in 1914. It was designed by Thomas Hannah, but so far old Pa Pitt has not found the name of the sculptor who decorated the entrance with these delightful grotesques.

    Tower of the Western Theological Seminary (now West Hall)
    Yawning head face-on
    Mr. It Figures
    Mr. It Figures from the side
    Salamander
    Monkish head
    Tortoise
    Grotesque staring face
    Foliage skull
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

  • J & K Building, Allegheny West

    834 Ridge Avenue

    This building, in a Deco Gothic style, appears to have been part of the Western Theological Seminary, and perhaps an expert in Allegheny West history can shed some light on it. Old Pa Pitt published a picture of it once before, but recently he noticed the concrete flaking away from the obliterated date stones by the door.

    Entrance
    MCMXXXII just visible

    This is the stone to the right of the door. The date was purposely obliterated (why do people do that?), but it is clearly legible now through the later layer of concrete: 1933, which, judging by the architectural style, would be just right for the date of the building itself.

    1872

    The stone to the left of the door bore the date 1872, and Father Pitt must admit to being ignorant of its significance. It is not one of the various dates usually claimed as the foundation of the Western Theological Seminary, which in 1884 claimed to have been founded in 1825. Perhaps a historian from its successor, the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, can enlighten us.

    Floral decoration
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

    This floral ornamentation is carved in the stone that frames the main entrance.

  • Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny West

    Western Theological Seminary
    Sony Alpha 3000.

    We saw the Western Theological Seminary at the blue hour last month. Here are a few pictures taken just after sunset, when the light is brighter and just touched with gold.

    Tower

    The building was designed by Thomas Hannah in 1914. It is now West Hall of the Community College of Allegheny County, which has an admirable record of preserving historic buildings.

    Entrance
    Top of the tower
    Perspective view
    Another perspective
    From the sidewalk