History of Pittsburgh's South Side
Encyclopedia
History
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
provided John Ormsby
John Ormsby (Pittsburgh)
John Ormsby was a soldier in the French-Indian War, Pontiac's Rebellion, and the American Revolution, and among the first settlers of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The son of the Anglo-Irish landed gentry, he emigrated from Ireland to the Thirteen Colonies in 1752...
approximately 2400 acres (9.7 km²) along the south bank of the Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
as payment for his services during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. The land was then divided into four boroughs: South Pittsburgh, Birmingham, East Birmingham, and Ormsby. The four boroughs were annexed into the City of Pittsburgh in 1872. These areas, collectively, provided for the foundation of the South Side
South Side (Pittsburgh)
South Side is an area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, located along the Monongahela River across from Downtown Pittsburgh. The South Side is officially divided into two neighborhoods, South Side Flats and South Side Slopes. Both the Flats and the Slopes are represented on Pittsburgh City...
as it is known today.
General James O'Hara
James O'Hara
James O'Hara is the name of:* James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley , British Army officer* James E. O'Hara , U.S. Representative from North Carolina* James G. O'Hara , U.S. Representative from Michigan...
and Major Isaac Craig
Isaac Craig
Isaac Craig was a Pittsburgh businessman and politician in the early days of western Pennsylvania settlement.-Life:...
, the pioneers of the glass industry in Pittsburgh, opened the first glass factory in the county in South Side, near the present-day Duquesne Incline parking area. By the early-to-mid 19th century, South Side was known as the center of glass industry
Glass production
Glass production involves two main methods - the float glass process, which produces sheet glass, and glassblowing which produces bottles and other containers.-Glass container factories:...
in the United States of America. In 1876, there were about 76 glass factories in the neighborhood. The location was so nationally regognized for production, Presidents Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
and James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
ordered glass tableware for the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
from companies operating in the area. South Side factories produced a myriad of glass products such as goblets, window glass, bottles, tableware, etc. By the 1920s, most of the glass factories had moved away from the area due to high taxes and lack of available real estate for expansion.
Iron and Steel Mills
In concordance with many Pittsburgh neighborhoods, iron and steel mills in South Side became the workplaces of various immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe. In 1854, Benjamin Franklin Jones
Benjamin Franklin Jones (Pittsburgh)
Benjamin Franklin Jones was a pioneer of the iron and steel industry in Pittsburgh. Originally involved in the river barge industry, he purchased a share in American Iron Works in 1851, along with Bernard Lauth. He later joined with James H...
and James Laughlin
James Laughlin
James Laughlin was an American poet and literary book publisher who founded New Directions Publishers.- Biography :He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Henry Hughart and Marjory Rea Laughlin...
became business partners and formed American Iron Workers. Jones and Laughlin created the world's inaugural blast furnace and named it Eliza, which was located on the north side of the Monongahela River. This furnace was connected to South Side by the Hot Metal Bridge, which is still in use today for vehicle traffic. By 1916, J & L operated six blast furnaces and nine 200-250 ton open furnaces. By 1929, J & L was producing 1.74 million tons of steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
each year. However, the steel factories started to experience economic trouble in the 1960s. Due to these economic problems, there was a rapid decline of capital and J & L began to demolish the older buildings on their site. By 1989, the steel industry nationwide had almost entirely sucummed to international pressures and a changing market. Today, many stores and restaurants have developed in South Side in an area previously occupied by the stell mill dubbed The Southside Works.
Bridges
Before bridges were constructed in the area, the only way to cross the river was by ferry. Currently, Pittsburgh, deemed the “City of Bridges”, has a number of historic bridges that cross the Monongahela River into South Side. The Monongahela Bridge (formerly known as the Smithfield Street BridgeSmithfield Street Bridge
The Smithfield Street Bridge is a lenticular truss bridge crossing the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.The bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, the engineer who later designed the Hell Gate Bridge. The bridge was built between 1881–83, opening for traffic on March 19, 1883....
) was designed in 1818 and built of wood and iron. During the Great Fire of Pittsburgh
Great Fire of Pittsburgh
The Great Fire of Pittsburgh, which occurred on April 10 1845, destroyed a third of the city with damages estimated in the millions, perhaps tens of millions of dollars...
in 1845, the bridge was destoryed by fire in a swift, ten minute blaze. The bridge was then rebuilt in 1846 in an updated, wire rope
Wire rope
thumb|Steel wire rope Wire rope is a type of rope which consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes....
Suspension Bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
construction, designed by John A. Roebling
John A. Roebling
John Augustus Roebling was a German-born American civil engineer. He is famous for his wire rope suspension bridge designs, in particular, the design of the Brooklyn Bridge.-Early life:...
. The Liberty Bridge
Liberty Bridge (Pittsburgh)
The Liberty Bridge, completed in 1928, connects downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Liberty Tunnels and the South Hills neighborhoods beyond...
was built in 1928 and was designed by George S. Richardson. This bridge, which corsses over the South Side area, connects downtown Pittsburgh to the Liberty Tunnel
Liberty Tunnel
The Liberty Tunnels are a pair of tunnels located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that allow motorists to travel between the South Hills of Pittsburgh and the city, through Mt. Washington...
.
List of other bridges currently or formerly located in the South Side area:>
- Wabash BridgeWabash Bridge (Pittsburgh)The Wabash Bridge was a railroad bridge across the Monongahela River at Pittsburgh. Constructed between 1902 and 1904 by railroad magnate George J. Gould for his Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway.-History:...
(Demolished in 1948) - Panhandle BridgePanhandle BridgeThe Panhandle Bridge carries two rail lines of the Port Authority "T" line across the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The name comes from Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St...
(Demolished) - South Tenth Street BridgeSouth Tenth Street BridgeSouth Tenth Street Bridge, most often called the Tenth Street Bridge, but officially dubbed the Philip Murray Bridge, is a suspension bridge spanning the Monongahela River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
- Birmingham BridgeBirmingham BridgeThe Birmingham Bridge is a tied arch bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which crosses over the Monongahela River. The bridge connects East Carson Street on the South Side with Fifth and Forbes Avenues going to Uptown, Oakland, and the Hill District.-History:The Birmingham Bridge was built in 1976...
- Hot Metal Bridge
Inclines
Before cars or other ways of transportation were invented, horse-drawn trolleys were the only means of transportation in South Side. After the horse-drawn trolleysHorsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
, then came the cable traction cars, and then finally the electric trolley. Horse cars operated in South Side until 1923. In 1915, the horse-drawn trolleys and the electric trolley met at the corner of Eighteenth and Sarah Streets. The electric cars turned into what were called street cars. They were the most common means of travel around Pittsburgh and South Side, until the first incline was opened. In 1877, The Duquesne Incline
Duquesne Incline
The Duquesne Incline is a inclined plane railroad, or funicular, located near Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood and scaling Mt. Washington. Designed by Samuel Diescher, the incline was completed in 1877 and is long, in height, and is inclined at a 30 degree angle...
opened and ran from West Carson Street to Mount Washington
Mount Washington (Pittsburgh)
Mount Washington is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211 and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 3 and District 2 .It is known for its steep hill overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline, which was...
. In 1870, the Monongahela Incline
Monongahela Incline
The Monongahela Incline, built by John Endres in 1870, islocated near the Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. It is the oldest continuously operating funicular in the USA. It is also one of two surviving inclines from the original 17 passenger-carrying inclines built in Pittsburgh starting...
was built and it connected West Carson Street with Grandview Avenue. The Duquesne and Monongahela inclines are still in operation today. Some inclines that are not in operation today are: The Castle Shannon Incline
Castle Shannon Incline
The Castle Shannon Incline was a funicular railroad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally built in 1890 as part of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad as a means of transporting passenger traffic over Mt. Washington, rather than using the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Tunnel...
No.1, The Knoxville Incline, The Mount Oliver Incline
Mount Oliver Incline
The Mount Oliver Incline was a funicular in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was designed in 1871 by the Prussian engineer John Endres and his daughter Caroline Endres. Its track was 1600 feet long, and rose to an elevation of 377 feet. It ran from South Twelfth Street at Bardford at its lower...
, and The St. Clair Incline
St. Clair Incline
The St.. Clair Incline was built in 1886 and operated by St. Clair Incline Plane Company, and was also known as the South Twenty-second Street Incline. It was a double track...
. Inclines were also called Funiculars or Inclined Planes