Downtown Pittsburgh is the story of the great transformation of this city and its contributions to the world.

Downtown Pittsburgh is a 300-acre triangle of land where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge to form the mighty Ohio River. Between the rivers is a tiny spit of flat-bottom land once known as the gateway to the West, the portal to a vast, remote, unexplored wilderness. Ownership of this strategic wedge of land was fiercely contested for hundreds of years.

The powerful Iroquois Nation first invaded the area in the 1600s during the Beaver Wars. When the French planted their flag in 1749, they collided with the British Empire for control of the forks of the Ohio River and all of North America. One hundred years later, this swath of frontier wilderness became the "workplace of the world," the heart of the great Industrial Revolution. Immigrants arrived from around Europe to work in the glass, iron, and steel mills. Industrial giants such as Carnegie, Frick, Mellon, and Heinz forged their fortunes here.

Author: Stuart P. Boehmig
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2007
Page Count: 160
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0738550426
ISBN-13: 978-0738550428

Pittsburgh is a working city, in no small part thanks to its strong African American community.

As an integral stop on the Underground Railroad, many enslaved people traveled through Pittsburgh on their way further North, and many still decided to stay. During the Great Migration of the early 20th century, Pittsburgh was again a main destination for African Americans from the rural South; approximately 95% of these men became steelworkers. There was never one centralized neighborhood where a majority of the Black population lived, but Jim Crow discrimination was still rampant, even in a city such as Pittsburgh. Photographs captured by famed Pittsburgh photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris show the candid experiences of residents, including the achievements and celebrations of people struggling in adversity and finding happiness in their families and community.

Details:

• Author: Carnegie Museum of Art
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: June 14, 2006
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738544878

For centuries, the land at the forks of the Ohio River was known to the Native Americans of western Pennsylvania, but it was not until 1753 that a British officer named George Washington surveyed the area for Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia. He described the land as well timbered and convenient for building, and with that, the first community at the site of modern-day Pittsburgh was established.

Over the next two and a half centuries, Pittsburgh changed from a small settlement in the Pennsylvania wilderness to a city that has flourished because of, and continues to be identified by, its surrounding rivers. The Allegheny, the Ohio, and the Monongahela Rivers have played an inimitable role in the industrial growth of America as they have provided for the movement of coal, lumber, and steel to the Pittsburgh region and beyond.

Pittsburgh's Rivers highlights the immeasurable contributions these three rivers have made to the area both economically and socially.

Author: Daniel J. Burns
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2006
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0738545147
ISBN-13: 978-0738545141

From its founding in 1814 by William Barclay Foster, Lawrenceville has been the center of historic events. During the Civil War, the riverside community became home to the Allegheny Arsenal, where 78 people perished in an explosion in 1862, making it the worst civilian disaster of the war.

Lawrenceville evolved into a lively, walkable neighborhood that barely slept because of the high volume of shift workers at places such as Iron City Brewery, St. Francis Hospital, and the steel mills. Businesses, churches, all-night diners, and other gathering places were easily accessible to residents, and families became closely associated with the landmarks where they worked, worshipped, and socialized.

Having celebrated its 200th birthday in 2014, Lawrenceville remains a bustling community with a vitality equal to that of the immigrant days, and it continues to be a place of camaraderie where individuals are dedicated to their neighborhood.

Author: Joann Cantrell
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2015
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 1467123307
ISBN-13: 978-1467123303

The uplifting story of what pioneering Italian immigrants brought to Pittsburgh and how they laid a foundation for future generations to build on and preserve.

By 1930, one out of every six Pittsburgh residents was an immigrant. More came from Italy than from any other country in the world. Drawn by chain migration and the prospect of work in coal mines, steel mills, railroads, and other local industries, Italian immigrants contributed greatly to the growth and development of western Pennsylvania and endowed the region with a rich and vibrant ethnic culture that has endured to the present day.

In this unprecedented volume, nearly 200 photographs collected from Italian-American families still living in the Pittsburgh region illustrate aspects of the Italian immigrant experience in western Pennsylvania, including work, community, leisure, religion, and family life.

Details:

• Author: Nicholas P. Ciotola
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: May 2, 2005
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738537788

All you need is love and cookies.

Everyone loves cookies, but the people of the Steel Valley take this love to another level.
Nowhere else in America will you behold hundreds--or even thousands--of cookies piled high for events of all kinds.

This is the regionally famous cookie table.
But how did this tradition start?
Why do residents of the Pittsburgh and Youngstown areas always create them not just for weddings but for birthdays, graduations, fundraisers, community events, and so much more?
How did this once quaint local custom become a social media phenomenon?
How are the cookies made, and how is a cookie table organized?

Join author and cookie table enthusiast Alice Crosetto on a delectable journey through this beloved Steel Valley tradition.

Learn more about Fort Pitt, a key military bastion of the American Revolution and guard of the Western frontier, Pittsburgh, through this vivid illustrated history.

With vivid detail, historian Brady Crytzer traces the full history of Fort Pitt, from empire outpost to a bastion on the frontlines of a new Republic. A keystone to British domination in the territory during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion, it was the most technologically advanced fortification in the Western Hemisphere. Early patriots later seized the fort, and it became a rallying point for the fledgling Revolution. Guarding the young settlement of Pittsburgh, Fort Pitt was the last point of civilization at the edge of the new American West.

Details

• Author: Brady J Crytzer
• Publisher: History Press
• Print Type: Paperback
• Page Count: 192
• ISBN-13: 9781609494117

Through more than 200 vintage photographs, Pittsburgh's Shadyside chronicles the personalities, places, institutions, and events that transformed a farming community into an affluent industrial-age suburb and diverse city neighborhood.

The suburb of Shadyside was established in the middle of farmland during the late 1860s when the Shadyside train station opened. As Pittsburgh grew into the world's preeminent industrial city, Shadyside became the home of many influential men of the industrial age. Rapid change struck Shadyside early in the 20th century when commerce sprouted up around the perimeter of the neighborhood to cater to the residents' demand for luxury goods and services. Within another decade industry moved in, especially close to the train tracks, and in 1915, the Ford Motor Company assembly plant opened in Shadyside.

Details:

• Author: Donald Doherty
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: July 21, 2008
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738557014

Offering a panoramic view of present-day Pittsburgh, Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines attract pedestrians traveling from the river's shore to the top of Mount Washington.

These inclines were completed in 1870 and 1877 by real estate speculators hoping to capitalize on undeveloped land at the top of "Coal Hill," a name given due to its many coal mines. Housing in the valleys and other low-lying areas could not accommodate the influx of new residents following the Civil War. Using technology perfected to haul coal from mines, the region's first inclined railroads, or funiculars, carried people and goods and formed a part of the Allegheny Portage Railroad. By 1900, inclines were an integral part of the city's identity. During the early decades of the 20th century, however, automobiles and trucks made access to Pittsburgh's hilltops relatively easy. Before the automobile, there were at least 15 inclines in Pittsburgh. Today, there are two: the Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines.

Details:

• Author: Donald Doherty
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: June 25, 2018
• Print length: 96 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-1467127806

Praise

Ron Donoughe captures not only the essence of a subject or place but a moment in time as well. . . . Ron Is drawn intuitively to the sites that he paints by color, light, atmosphere, texture, shadow, shape, and form. . . . He paints in all seasons and at all times of the day in an effort to translate particular places and moments into art.
-- Barbara L. Jones, curator at the Westmoreland Museum of Art

The Monongahela River Valley in Southwestern Pennsylvania is steeped with a rich industrial history. Starting with iron, brass, tin, and glass production, the river towns--from Brownsville to Braddock--ultimately helped make Pittsburgh the one-time steelmaking capital of the world.

With this industrial legacy in mind, artist Ron Donoughe set out to document the small towns in this region, one painting at a time.
Over a twelve-month period, he explored the forgotten towns of Brownsville, California, Donora, Charleroi, Monessen, Monongahela, Clairton, Duquesne, McKeesport, Braddock, and the Monongahela River itself. Brownsville to Braddock provides key insight on a forty-mile stretch of river towns.

The post-industrial economy led to a decline in manufacturing, and with it, substantial job losses. These towns face many significant challenges, yet there is still beauty to be found. Donoughe finds it as he paints the human spirit through the mills, factories, parks, and homes. The people he meets share their stories of family joy and sorrows, along with a genuine love for the area they call the "Mon Valley."

Foreword by Maxwell King
Afterword by Ron Baraff

About the Author
Ron Donoughe has been painting and documenting the western Pennsylvania region for the last thirty years. His paintings can be found in the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, the Heinz History Center, the Duquesne Club, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and numerous corporate and private collections. He has taught painting at LaRoche College, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and at workshops throughout the United States and France. His previous books include 90 Pittsburgh Neighborhoods and Essence of Pittsburgh.

ISBN-13: 9780822946755

Publish Year: 2020

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Pittsburgh's Monongahela Riveris named after the Lenape Indian word Menaonkihela, meaning where banks cave and erode. The name is fitting: for over a century, these riverbanks were lined with steel plants and railroads that have now caved and eroded away.

By the 1880s, Carnegie Steel was the world's largest manufacturer of iron, steel rails, and coke. However, in the 1970s, cheap foreign steel flooded the market. Following the 1981-1982 recession, the plants laid off 153,000 workers. The year 1985 saw the beginning of demolition; by 1990, seven of nine major steel plants had shut down.Duquesne, Homestead, Jones & Laughlin, and Eliza Furnace are gone; only the Edgar Thomson plant remains as a producer of steel.

The industry could be said to have built and nearly destroyed the region both economically and environmentally. While these steel plants are lost today, the legacy of their workers is not forgotten.

Details

• Author: Robert S Dorsett
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
• Print Type: Paperback
• Page Count: 96
• ISBN-13: 9781467134668

Publisher Marketing: Southwestern Pennsylvania is heralded by many as the birthplace of professional football. Here lived the athletes who were first paid to play. In Pittsburgh, the Allegheny Athletic Association paid Pudge Heffelfinger $500 in 1892 to help them beat their rivals, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. In Latrobe, the first all-professional club was fielded in 1897. The Birthplace of Professional Football celebrates the contributions that the towns in southwestern Pennsylvania made to the sport, a national obsession in this country. These stories also come from towns such as Jeannette and Greensburg and include Latrobe s failed attempt to secure the Professional Football Hall of Fame in the late 1940s and 1950s."

1976 National Champion Pitt Panthers: Miracle on Cardiac Hill

Ten years after a one-loss season and being ranked third in the nation, the University of Pittsburgh's historic football team had fallen on hard times. In 1973, the team hired former All-American Johnny Majors to right the ship, and he promptly recruited Tony Dorsett and Al Romano. Over the next four years, the new-look Panthers were brought back to prominence with stunning victories, culminating in the 1976 NCAA National Championship. Dorsett, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, became the first college running back to eclipse two thousand yards in a season and was awarded the Heisman Trophy in the championship year. Author David Finoli tells the story of one of the most dramatic turnarounds in college football history.

Author: David Finoli
Publisher: The History Press
Publish Date: November 2021
Page Count: 160
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 1467148938
ISBN-13: 978-1467148931

The Pittsburgh Pirates have thrilled their fans for more than 120 years. Beginning as the Allegheny's, the Pirates boast 35 hall of famers, five world champions, nine National League pennants, and nine division titles. Treasured memories, from Honus Wagner's all-around excellence and Mazeroski's remarkable 1960 World Series blast to Roberto Clemente's grace on and off the field, are captured in this book.

Details:

• Author: David Finoli
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: November 22, 2006
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738549156

Pittsburgh is synonymous with winning. From the Penguins and Steelers to the Pirates and Panthers, the Steel City knows championships. The Negro League's Crawford and Homestead Grays are too often overlooked in the city's sports history but were as talented as any team that has played there. Names such as Lemieux, Crosby, Roethlisberger, Bradshaw, Clemente and Stargell are legends of American sport and members of Pittsburgh's most cherished franchises. The 1970s Steelers were known as the Steel Curtain. The Penguins have raised the Stanley Cup five times. Author Dave Finoli ranks the fifty greatest teams that won trophies, brought glory and lifted the hearts of Pittsburgh's devoted sports fans.

Details:

• Author: David Finoli
• Publisher: History Press Library Editions
• Publication date: October 30, 2017
• Print length: 194 pages
• Print type: Hardcover
• ISBN: 978-1540227072

In 1909, Pittsburgh Pirates president Barney Dreyfuss began construction on a new facility for his team in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.

Dreyfuss decided to call his palace - the first concrete and steel facility built in the National League - Forbes Field, after the British general John Forbes, a hero in the French and Indian War. Opened on June 20, 1909, Forbes Field was a hit from the onset; the venue hosted large crowds that came to watch the Pirates win in their first World Series against the Detroit Tigers that year. As the years went on, Forbes Field became synonymous with the greatest sports memories in the city's history. Patrons saw the trials and tribulations of the Steelers as well as some of the greatest collegiate football teams in the history of the game. The University of Pittsburgh won three collegiate football national championships, and Duquesne University and Carnegie Tech also fielded many winning teams while calling Forbes Field home. Alongside football, boxing was a constant event at the famed facility, hosting some of the most memorable pugilists this city has ever produced. Above all else, it was a baseball mecca. While the field is no longer in use, the wall remains intact, reminding Pittsburghers of the field's rich history.

Details:

• Author: David Finoli, Tom Aikens
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: February 4, 2013
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738598321

Publisher Marketing: Author and sports historian David Finoli's inside look at the 50 greatest male and female athletes in Pittsburgh history.

Beginning with its construction in 1764, the story of the Fort Pitt Block House is one that spans nearly three centuries of Pittsburgh history. The Block House was originally constructed as a defensive redoubt for Fort Pitt, a key British fortification during the French and Indian War. After the conflicts on the Pennsylvania frontier ended, the brick-laid building served as a trading post for wares and munitions, and in the nineteenth century, it played host to families and even a candy shop. In 1894, the only surviving structure of Fort Pitt was gifted to the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Though the building was threatened by demolition for the expansion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Daughters of the American Revolution fought to preserve this historic treasure for Pittsburgh. Join site curator and author Emily M. Weaver as she chronicles the remarkable history of the Fort Pitt Block House.

Details:

• Author: PA Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Allegheny County, Emily M. Weaver
• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication date: October 15, 2013
• Print length: 160 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-1609499334

Pittsburgh's contributions to the uniquely American art form of jazz are essential to its national narrative.

Fleeing the Jim Crow South in the twentieth century, African American migration to the industrial North brought musical roots that would lay the foundation for jazz culture in the Steel City.

As migrant workers entered the factories of Pittsburgh, juke joints and nightclubs opened in the segregated neighborhoods of the Hill District, Northside and East Liberty.

The scene fostered numerous legends, including Art Blakey, Billy Strayhorn, George Benson, Erroll Garner and Earl "Fatha" Hines.

The music is sustained today in the practice rooms of the city's universities and by groups such as the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and the African American Music Institute.

Authors Richard Gazarik and Karen Anthony Cole chart the swinging history of jazz in Pittsburgh.

Details

• Author: Richard Gazarik
• Publisher: History Press
• Print Type: Paperback
• Page Count: 192
• ISBN-13: 9781467144292

For more than a century, Kennywood has been the Pittsburgh area's playground. Founded in 1898 at the terminus of the Monongahela Street Railway trolley line, the park quickly grew into a favorite summertime destination. Kennywood is unique in that it is one of the country's few successful trolley parks.

In 1987, Kennywood was designated a National Historic Landmark and is known today as America's Finest Traditional Amusement Park. Many unique rides and attractions have distinguished Kennywood over the years. Some old favorites, such as the Rockets, Laff in the Dark, Ghost Ship, and Skooters, are long gone. Others, such as the Old Mill, Noah's Ark, Auto Race, Turtle, Whip, and Grand Carousel, still entertain guests today.

Kennywood is perhaps best known for its impressive collection of roller coasters, from earlier coasters such as the Figure Eight, Speed-O-Plane, and Pippin to the Racer, Jack Rabbit, Thunderbolt, and Phantom's Revenge coasters that still thrill riders today.

Author: David P. Hahner Jr.
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2004
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 073853563X
ISBN-13: 978-0738535630

In the late 19th century, the boroughs of Mansfield and Chartiers were situated south and west of Pittsburgh and divided by a creek. They merged to become one unified city, and a new name was sought. The community petitioned philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for financial assistance, and he responded generously. Thus, the town of Carnegie was founded on March 1, 1894.

Throughout the decades that followed, Carnegie experienced rapid growth of industry, commerce, and population. Yet anyone who has ever resided there will boast of its small-town charm. The steel mills supported generations of families, who then struggled to adapt to a changing world when the plants closed down. Carnegie's hometown heroes include Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner and NFL coach Mike Ditka. Carnegie is a photographic essay that chronicles the town'shistory and abundant contributions to industry and transportation.

Author: Sandy Henry
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2006
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 073854518X
ISBN-13: 978-0738545189

Squirrel Hill is one of Pittsburgh's premier residential neighborhoods. It has a vibrant commercial center and two exceptional parks. The area was first settled in the eighteenth century as a pioneer farming community. As the city of Pittsburgh prospered, so did the status of Squirrel Hill. In 1867, Squirrel Hill was incorporated into Pittsburgh, but large portions of the neighborhood remained as farmland or large country estates into the early twentieth century. The neighborhood's primary era of growth was from 1900 to 1930, due in part to the connection of the Boulevard of Allies to downtown. During this time, Squirrel Hill developed into a lively center of Jewish life, with kosher shops, bookstores, and Jewish restaurants. The neighborhood continues to have a large Jewish population but has since become more ethnically diverse.

Details:

• Author: The Squirrel Hill Historical Society
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: June 20, 2005
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738537177

Historic photographs of the German and Croatian immigrants who flocked to this area on the outskirts of Allegheny City, and their customs, religions, skills, and traditions.

The Reserve Tract across from Fort Pitt was set aside in the 1780s by the government of Pennsylvania as a way of raising funds to pay the troops who had served during the American Revolutionary War. Although many areas in the commonwealth were set aside like this, few grew to such prominence as the distinct neighborhoods of Troy Hill, Spring Garden, Spring Hill, and Mount Troy. Photos of the German and Croatian immigrants who helped build a new nation by providing steel, leather products, food, and even beer; their spirit and work ethic set a standard that many Americans to this day try to emulate. The Heinz complex, the old E&O Brewery, St. Anthony's Chapel, Most Holy Name Church, and the Teutonia Mannerchor are several of the local landmarks that were established generations ago and are still being utilized today.

Details:

• Author: James W. Yanosko, Edward W. Yanosko
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: October 24, 2011
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738575926

In the 19th century, the positioning of Pittsburgh as a major manufacturing center and the subsequent rise of the area's steel industry created a wave of prosperity that prompted the beneficiaries of that wealth to construct extravagant residences. Wealthy enclaves sprang up in the city s East End, across the river in neighboring Allegheny City, and into the countryside.

Pittsburgh's Mansions explores the stately homes of the area s prominent residents from the 1830s through the 1920s. Businessmen such as H.J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and members of the Mellon family commissioned elaborate homes from the preeminent architects of their day. Firms such as Alden & Harlow, Janssen & Abbott, and Rutan & Russell left their marks on the city's landscape, often contributing iconic public buildings as well as expansive private homes. Though many of the residences have since been lost, Pittsburgh's Mansions offers a look back at the peak of the city's prominence.

Author: Melanie Linn Gutowski
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2013
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 1467120154
ISBN-13: 978-1467120159