Penn Avenue is a major arterial street in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

. Its western terminus lies at Gateway Center

Gateway Center (Pittsburgh)

The Gateway Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a high-rise building complex with of office space in four buildings. Gateway Center was purchased in 2004 by Hertz Investment Group, a Los Angeles, California based real estate investment company, for US$55 million...

 in downtown Pittsburgh

Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle and officially the Central Business District, is the urban Downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose joining forms the Ohio River. The "triangle" is...

. For its westernmost ten blocks it serves as the core of the Cultural District

Cultural District, Pittsburgh

The Cultural District is a fourteen-square block area in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth Street on the east, Stanwix Street on the west, and Liberty Avenue on the south....

 with such attractions as Heinz Hall, the Benedum Center

Benedum Center

The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts is a theater and concert hall located at 719 Liberty Avenue in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

 and the Byham Theater

Byham Theater

The Byham Theater is a landmark building at 101 Sixth Street in the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally built in 1903 as The Gayety Theater, the former vaudeville house was renovated and reopened as The Byham Theater in 1990.Built in 1903 and opened...

 as well as the David L. Lawrence Convention Center

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center is a convention, conference and exhibition building in downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The initial David L...

 and the Heinz History Center

Heinz History Center

The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Named after the late U.S. Senator H...

 bordering it. Exiting downtown it is the major route through the city's Strip District, Lawrenceville

Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh)

Lawrenceville is one of the largest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located northeast of downtown, and like many of Pittsburgh's riverfront neighborhoods, it has an industrial past. Lawrenceville is bordered by the Allegheny River, Polish Hill, Bloomfield, the Strip District and...

, Little Italy

Bloomfield (Pittsburgh)

Bloomfield is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh; it is located three miles from the Golden Triangle, which is the city's center, and is represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Patrick Dowd and Bill Peduto. Bloomfield is referred to as Pittsburgh's Little Italy...

, Garfield

Garfield (Pittsburgh)

Garfield is a neighborhood in the east end of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Garfield lies about three miles as the crow flies from the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers at the City's heart. It sits on a bluff above the Allegheny River...

 and East Liberty

East Liberty (Pittsburgh)

East Liberty is a culturally diverse neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's East End. It is bordered by Highland Park, Morningside, Stanton Heights, Garfield, Friendship, Shadyside and Larimer, and is represented on by Patrick Dowd...

 neighborhoods. Its eastern portion exits the city at Wilkinsburg

Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania

Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States adjacent to the city of Pittsburgh. The population was 15,930 at the 2010 census, having lost more than 13,000 in the 70 years since 1940, when 29,853 people were enumerated...

 where it continues to exist as Penn Avenue with a numbering system that begins anew using small numbers as it approaches Interstate 376

Interstate 376

Interstate 376 is a major auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, located entirely within the Allegheny Plateau. It runs from I-80 near Sharon south and east to a junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Monroeville, after having crossed the Turnpike...

 the "Parkway East". Penn Avenue is about 8.7 miles (14 km) long.

From downtown, Penn Avenue travels in the same general direction as the Allegheny River

Allegheny River

The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, thus it passes close by a number of the bridges of the city that cross that river. In the downtown area, Penn Avenue is the main bisecting street of the Three Sister Bridges that form the Roberto Clemente Bridge

Roberto Clemente Bridge

The Roberto Clemente Bridge, also known as the Sixth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, Andy Warhol Bridge

Andy Warhol Bridge

Andy Warhol Bridge, also known as the Seventh Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is the only bridge in the United States named for a visual artist....

 and Rachel Carson Bridge

Rachel Carson Bridge

Rachel Carson Bridge, also known as the Ninth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Named for the naturalist Rachel Carson, a Pittsburgh native, it is one of three parallel bridges called The Three Sisters, the others being the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the...

. It passes the 16th Street Bridge, and goes straight through the Strip District.

History

In the 18th century, settlers entered the area from the eastern part of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 via a road which came to be called the Greensburg Pike early in the 19th century. The road passed through a tiny settlement which grew to become Greensburg, Pa.

Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...

In Pittsburgh, Greensburg Pike became Penn Avenue, therefore, Penn Avenue is the oldest and most historically-significant street in Pittsburgh.