Since we were talking about T. C. McKee a couple of days ago, here is a work of his even earlier than the Shady Avenue Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was built in 1888, according to Justin P. Greenawalt (PDF), and it was brand new (or possibly still a design on paper) when this advertisement was published in the Allegheny County Centennial Souvenir of 1888. McKee would have been about 21 when he designed this building. It stood on Third Avenue about where PPG Place is now.
Frederick Osterling found a niche for a while making Richardsonian Romanesque buildings in a city that couldn’t get enough of Richardsonian Romanesque once it got a look at Richardson’s courthouse. Osterling attacked the style with more enthusiasm than most, and his works are certainly more than just Richardson knockoffs. The rich detail of the Times Building (1892) is a good example of his work.
The picture above was put together from ten individual photographs. Considering the narrow street, it is a very accurate rendering of the façade; but old Pa Pitt apologizes for a bit of fuzziness near the top. Below, the two grand arches of the Fourth Avenue entrance, with their wealth of intricate carved detail. [Addendum: The carving was almost certainly by Achille Giammartini, who also worked with Osterling on the Marine Bank and the Bell Telephone Building.]
The Times Building runs all the way through from Fourth Avenue back to Third Avenue, and the Third Avenue entrance arch is certainly impressive.
Looking up Third Avenue from the Stanwix Street end. In the distance we can see the towering striped octagons of One Oxford Centre.
