William J. Diehl served as Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1899 to 1901.

Early life

Mayor Diehl was born in 1845 and worked as a bookkeeper in his early career. He entered the public service as a Deputy Sheriff for four years followed by work in the city treasury office in the 1870s. His main fortune was in the oil and gas industries around the region. Diehl was also a thirty-third degree Mason

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

.

Pittsburgh politics

During his two years as mayor, Diehl oversaw a city growing to its full commercial and industrial potential. The ritzy and exclusive business forum Duquesne Club

Duquesne Club

The Duquesne Club is a private social club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, founded in 1873.-History:The Duquesne Club was founded in 1873. Its first president was John H. Ricketson...

 was founded in the city, as well as the amalgamation of Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

's vast industrial empire into U.S. Steel

U.S. Steel

The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...

 was completed. Mayor Diehl's administration successfully completed the rudimentary expressway Bigelow Boulevard to the east neighborhoods of the city.

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