The Second Empire style is named after the Second French Empire of Napoleon III. Its most obvious characteristic is the mansard roof with dormers, which supposedly arose in France because, in buildings that were taxed by their interior space, attics were not taxed, and the space under the roof counted as an attic no matter how accommodating it was. The building here at the corner of Carson and 18th Streets is a splendid example of the Pittsburgh implementation of the style.
More old backstreet stores converted into living spaces on the South Side. As old Pa Pitt mentioned earlier, it is easy to recognize these old backstreet stores. They are usually on corners, and the ground floor shows the distinct traces of its old commercial purpose. Above, two side by side on 23rd Street.
The cheap-looking fluted pilasters, ersatz-colonial multipane windows, roof over the entrance, and pedimented schedule board make it almost certain that this pair of houses combined into one was used as a funeral home.
Not every backstreet storefront has been turned into living space. Once in a while we run across one that is still active as a business, like this salon on Sidney Street.
In the days before suburban shopping centers, every block of a city neighborhood would have its backstreet grocery store. Many of these old stores have been converted to apartments, but you can still recognize them easily. They’re often on a corner, and the ground floor in front is distinctly different, usually distinguished by space for a sign along the top of the ground-floor façade, sometimes with the shop windows filled in with siding or other later accretions. Here are two typical examples from the South Side.
In the old days, every block in a dense rowhouse neighborhood like the South Side had its backstreet grocery and its backstreet bar. Most of the groceries are gone, but a surprising number of the bars survive. Above, Cupka’s Cafe, which has become well known for food as well. Below, Karwoski’s Tavern, which is mostly for drinking and not much for eating.
In the little corner of downtown Pittsburgh near First Avenue there are still some half-blocks that never entered the skyscraper age. Here we can see some of the humbler pre-skyscraper commercial architecture of Pittsburgh. The first floor of the front of this building has been heavily altered, probably by someone who wanted to make it look more Victorian and ended up making it look more 1978. But the rest of the building is a typical small Italianate structure of the 1870s.
Few Pittsburghers from between the rivers ever find their way into the West End, but there are some minor architectural treasures to be seen there. This interesting terra-cotta front faces Main Street at the corner of Wabash Street.
No one has to ask when this distinguished Victorian commercial building was constructed. There was a brief time about fifteen years ago when the West End looked like the next trendy artsy neighborhood—for example, you can just barely make out that this building briefly housed a Steinway piano dealer. It seems that the neighborhood was too far out of the way for the arts community to take firm roots. The neighborhood is still pleasant, but much of the business district is deserted.
Liberty Avenue, Bloomfield, as it appeared in 1999. The picture was taken with an old folding Kodak Tourist camera.
East Liberty was down on its luck at the end of the twentieth century, but this row was still filled. The buildings have not changed much since then, fortunately, since this is one of the better Art Deco streetscapes in Pittsburgh, which never really embraced Art Deco as much as many other cities did. Surprisingly enough, Sam’s (no longer Bostonian) Shoes is still here; the terra-cotta tiles have disappeared from the front of that building. Its neighbor Anthon’s is also still in business. Most of the rest of the businesses in the row have changed, but the buildings are still there, and since East Liberty is a trendy neighborhood now, they have a good chance of preservation.
A block of modest storefronts from 1883, built in the Italianate style.
