Joseph M. Barr served as Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1959 to 1970.

Early life

Barr was born in Pittsburgh to a large family. He started his career as a salesman in the city. In 1940 he became the state's youngest state senator

Pennsylvania State Senate

The Pennsylvania State Senate has been meeting since 1791. It is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such...

 serving the region in Harrisburg. His career in Harrisburg roughly coincided with David L. Lawrence

David L. Lawrence

David Leo Lawrence was an American politician who served as the 37th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1963. He is to date the only mayor of Pittsburgh to be elected Governor of Pennsylvania. Previously, he had been the mayor of Pittsburgh from 1946 through 1959...

's reign as Pittsburgh mayor. He was instrumental in being Pittsburgh's advocate and used his tenure to push through many of the local reforms needing state help.

Pittsburgh politics

In 1959 Barr the consummate Harrisburg insider and Lawrence the seasoned Pittsburgh chief swapped roles, with Barr coming "home" and running for Mayor and Lawrence becoming Governor of Pennsylvania. He was instrumental as mayor in completing many of the Lawrence programs, while at the same time having the city's infrastructure catch up to all the progress that Lawrence instituted. Expanded and modernized street lights, water services and the stadiums were all hallmarks of Barr's leadership. He oversaw the completion of both Three Rivers Stadium

Three Rivers Stadium

Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball franchise and National Football League franchise respectively.Built as a replacement to...

 and the Pittsburgh Civic Arena

Mellon Arena

Civic Arena is an indoor arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is currently undergoing demolition. It was the first retractable roof major sports venue in the world, covering 170,000 sq. feet and constructed with just shy of 3,000 tons of Pittsburgh steel...

, both having bogged down in heated political disputes during Lawrence's tenure.

As a well-connected leader of the Commonwealth, Barr was among the founders of the Finnegan Foundation

Finnegan Foundation

The James A. Finnegan Foundation was founded in 1960 and incorporated under Pennsylvania law as a 501 non-profit educational organization. It is governed by an independent Board of Directors, many of whom are Finnegan Alumni.-Founding:...

 memorializing Pennsylvania Secretary of State James A. Finnegan

James A. Finnegan

James A. Finnegan was a Democratic politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1931, and then served the United States Air Force as Lieutenant Colonel in the Troop Carrier Command in the United States, England, and France from...

.

Later life

Mayor Barr left public life after 1970 and died on August 26, 1982. He is buried in Pittsburgh's St. Mary Cemetery

St. Mary Cemetery, Pittsburgh

St. Mary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic burial ground located at 45th and Penn Avenues in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is adjacent to the city's slightly older and much larger Allegheny Cemetery....

.