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George Washington writes a letter.
During the 1750's both the French and English wanted to posses the land at the Forks of the Ohio. They knew that whoever owned this land would have easy access to the north and west. George Washington, a major in the Virginia militia, described the advantages of the land in letter to the Virginian governor Robert Dinwiddie. He explained that the land would be great to build a fort upon and the rivers were a quater of a mile long across. -
Retreat!
George Washington led two companies to fight off the French and Native Americans in the Great Meadows. They were constantly fired upon and rain filled their trenches. These condition were to bad to stay in fight in so they had to retreat. -
William Pitt the Elder comes to Power!
In 1757 William Pitt became the prime minister of England. He was such a good leader, his leadership resulted in British victories in Europ and the French and Indian War. -
Marquis Duquesne's Forts
Marquis had the plan to build forts from the St. Lawrence river to the Mississppi river. The supply lines failed and he was forced to stop on the third fort, Fort Duquesne. The French Destroyed this Fort in 1758. -
John Forbes
Once the British took control of the forks, John Forbes named the land at the confluence Pittsborough. This of course was in honor of William Pitt. -
Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt is the largest of five other forts and the last to be built by the British and French, as they fought for control over the forks of the Ohio river. By 1796 however, the fort was in ruins. As it was weathering away some of it's bricks were salvaged to build some of Pittsburgh earliest houses. -
Pittsburghs oldest building
The blockhouse, an outlying redoubt of Fort Pitt still stands as the oldest building in Pittsburgh. -
Founder
John Scull founded the Pittsburgh Gazette in 1786. He established the first printing press west of the Alleghenies. -
Slavery Outlawed
Pennsylvania was the first state to outlaw slavery. This was for children born after that day, whoever that was already a slave remained a slave. -
First Sold!
Isaac Craig and Stephan Bayard, bought the first real estate sold by the Penn family at the forks -
Editor
Neville B. Craig was born in the blockhouse in 1787. He was an inflluentail publisher and editor of the Pittsburgh Gazette. He also published the city's first history. -
New streets
Col. George Woods and his assistant Thomas victory added the streets Penn and Liberty, which are parallel to the Alleghany river. They also added a public square , as a gift from the Penn Family, which hel a market and a courthouse. -
Saved!
Pittsburgh was was once viewed by rebels rebels as supporters of the federal excise tax on whisky. These rebels planned to burn down the town and would have done so if Lawyer Hugh Henry wasnt there to stop them. He talked them out of doing so. -
Eagle Volunteer Fire Company
This was Pittsburgh's first frie brigade. By 1815 it was competing with the Vigilant and Neptune companies. -
Pittsburgh Growth
By 1796 Pittsburgh has 230 house and 800 citizens living there. -
The Old Drury
The Pittsburgh Theater, was located on 5th Avenue near Wood Street. Touring theatrical companies would come and stage plays here. -
Elevated
One this day Pittsburgh changed from a borough to a city. Maj. Ebenezer Denny was appointed first mayor of Pittsburgh by the select and common councils. -
Stephen Collins Foster
Born in Lawrenceville, Stephen became America's first professional songwriter. He wrote 189 songs. His inspiration came from slaves songs, minstral songs, and the African American dialect he heard while working as a clerk on the Cincinnati wharf for his brothers steamboat company. -
Oldest Office Building
Pittsburgh's oldest office building, Burke's building is built. It was designed by Pittsburgh's first professional architect, John Chislett. -
The Pittsburgh Sanitary Commision
This was organized early in the Civil War to sen medical aid the the front lines. -
John Roebling
He developed the first wire rope on his farm in Saxonburg. Hat adapted it to be used on the canal aqueduct across the alleghany river. From 1845 to 1847 he used it in the design of the worlds first cable suspension bridge across the Monongahela river. -
The Great Fire
Started by a washerwomans fire. About 1,000 buildings were destroyed and around 12,000 people were left homeless. Only two people died. -
Jane Grey Swisshelm
She was a great abolishonist. She published the Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter. This was mainly to protest against slaver and get women's rights. Through her Pennsylvania passed a law allowing women to own land. -
First East Train
On this day, the first train to travel from the East had arrived in East Liberty. In 1854, after a tunnel had been built it would take 15 hours to go from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. -
T. Mellon and Sons Bank
Opened by Thomas Mellon on Smithfeild street. It back much of Pittsburghs industrial growth. -
St. Paul Cathedral
St. Pual Cathedral was consecrated in 1855. It was acclaimed as one of the finest churches in the United States. -
David N. White
He was a Gazette editor that published the first call for formation of a Pennsylvania Republican Party. He was founder of the national party, which completed organization in Pittsburgh at the first national convention held in February of 1856. It was held at lafayette Hall. -
Pittsburgh Dollar Savings Institution
This building is located on 4th Avenue. It was designed by Isaac Hobbs of Philadelphia. It has a classical style with pilasters lining the walls and a giant medallian in the ceiling. -
Grant's Hill
This hill was named after British major James Grant, after he was defeated by the Frence. It turned into a much loved vantage point where pinics would be held. It later became known as just the hump as it withered away year after year. In the early 1900's that was removed to make way for new buildings. -
Iron Boom
To meet the demands of the rapidly growing railroads, rails were being rolled in large sums to meet the demands. Big mills included the Kloman Brothers, Lauth and Company, Jones, and Laughlin and Company. -
The Rodman Gun
This Gun was produced by the C. Knapp Foundry during the Civil War. It was named after Lt. Thomas J. Rodman, commander of the Alleghany Arsenal. -
Rotary Steam Engine
George Westinghouse obtained his first patent for this invention. -
Air Brake
George Westinghouse introduced this invention at the age of 22. This was the first effective thing used for stopping trains. -
Monongahela Incline
This was the first incline built in Pittsburgh. There were 17 now only two remain, this is one of them -
Bessemer steel
Carnegie opend the first plant to produce bessemer's steel on a large scale in Braddocks's Field. The first order was 2000 steel rails for Pennslyvania Railroad president J. Edgar Thompson -
Duquesne Incline
This incline is still in Pittsburgh. It cost 47,000 dollars to build. It attracted 500,000 passengers by 1880. -
Smithfield Street Bridge
It was designed by Gustav Lindenthal. It separated carriage and wagon traffic from horse drwn trollys. It was modernized in1915 -
Slammer
The Alleghany Co. Courthouse Jail was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. the style was so well admired that it was immediatly copied throughout America. It replaced John Chislett's courthouse that burned down in the fire of 1842 -
No H
Pittsburgh lost the h in it's name. The U.S. board on Geographic names chose to go with the majority way of spelling for towns that end in burgh/burg. -
Homestead Strike
Henry Clay Frick sealed off the Homestead Works and hired 300 pinkertons to protect it. It resulted in a bloody battle thhat left three pinkerton and eleven steal workers dead. After it all Frick hired new workers. -
Carnegie International
Andrew Carnegie founded this in 1896. The intent of this want not meant to be for educated people. The collection of art was made through a purchas of the "Old Masters of Tomarrow". It brought contemporary art to Pittsburgh. -
Andrew Carnegie
In his industry he believed in one man rule so he was the head of everything. He also believed in the competitive system. He left lasting cultural places in the city of Pittsburgh -
Henry Clay Frick
He believed in corporate interdependance rule by a board of directors. His and Carnegies different philosophies led to a long fued. He as well as Carnegie left lasting cultural places in Pittsburgh -
U.S. Steel. Formation
the night before U.S. Steel eas made, 89 executives of Carnegie companies met at the Schenly Hotel. One of them, Charles Schwab thought it would be best to have peace through consolidation of the different companies. J.P. Morgan bought Carnegies companies and eight other steel firms. -
New Skyscrapers
Pittsburghs Farmers bank building and Frick building opened. The Farmers bank building was the tallest in the city at the time, and was 14 story's high. These buildings are located on Wood St. They were both featured in Frank Leslie's Weekly. -
A Pittsburgh Survey
In 1902 researchers gathered info on people, places, and things all throughout the city. It was the first and most complete analysis of the United States urban conditions. It mainly focused on workers and their families. Lewis Hine, a Photographer and Joseph Stella, anartist helped with the publication. -
Luna Park
Luna Park was built on the Aspinwall estates. There were nightly crowds of about 35,500 people. There were also arial acts, bands, and rides. A woman was killed here when she was attacked by a lion. Two years later there eas a fire and the park burnt down and was never rebuilt. -
George W. Guthrie
He was elected mayor of Pittsburgh on a democratic anticorruption platform. He served four years as the mayor. President Woodrow Wilson made him ambassador to Japan. He dies four years later. -
Charles Lindbergh Visit
Famous Pilott Charles Lindbergh came to Pittsburgh. He visited Pitt stadium to see thousands of admirers. -
1909 Pirates
Under Fred Clarke, the Pirates won 110 games in the World Series. -
Homestead Greys
One of the founders of the Pittsburgh Courier, organized a baseball team of homestead steelworkers. They eventually won eight of nine National Negro League titles -
Pittsburgh with H
Pittsburgh got the historic spelling of it's name back. -
Gulf Oil
On Baum Boulevard Gulf Oil opened the first drive-in service gas station. Before this gas pumps were located at curbs and cars had to park on the street to get serviced. -
KDKA
A Westinghouse engineer, Dr. Frank Conrad began experimenting with the "wireless telephone" in 1916. He made an amateur radio station in a garage behind his Wilkinsburgh home. -
Cathedral of Learning
It is a skyscraper built by Charles Klauder. It has a neo-gothic style to it. It is located on Frick acres in Oakland as a gift from the Mellons, and is the center of the Pitt campus -
Liberty Tubes / liberty Bridge
The Liberty Tubes prodject cost six million dollars. Four years later on March 27, 1928 the companion Liberty Bridge was opened, -
King Tuts Tomb
A year after the actual King Tut's Tomb was opened Kennywood opened this ride. Kennywood changed the theme of the ride from the Bug House dark ride. -
William McNair
He was Pittsburghs first Democratic mayor. He resigned in 1936 -
Prohibition ends
At 12;01 Pittsburghers began drinking again. They drank legalized 3.2 beer and drank great quantities of it. -
Frank Vittor
Miss America posed in a bathing suit, and Vittor made the sculpture nude. She protested but the jury said it was a work of art. Vittor designed more than 50 fountains and memorials in western PA. -
Triangle Flood
On St. Patricks Day the three rivers had risen to the flood stage. Some places had as high as 20 feets of water. Transportation was done by rowboat or canoe. -
Atom-Smasher
Westinghouse announced an experiment. the following year the worlds first industrial ato smasher was made in Forrest Hills. Dr. William E. Shoupp headed research leading to the discovery of photofission and first use of gamma rays to split uranium atoms. -
F.D.R.
The president came to town to inspect the Homestead Works and Mesta Machine Plant. He also dedicated Terrace Village, which at the time was the nations second largest public housing complex. -
Pittsburgh Heroes
192,000 people from Allegheny County joined the armed forces during the war. 5,800 had given their lives. Pittsburgh produced 19 billion worth of war goods and munitions and produced 95 million tons of steel for the war. which is one fourth of the nations total. -
Lower Hill
The Lower Hill was a mix of well kept homes , churches, businesses, and crowded slums filled with rats before the redevelopement. In the next few years it would be cleared of 1,300 structures, housing 8,000. The space cleared would be made for a sports area and luxury hotels. -
Hill Garden
A vegetable garden was kept by John H. Moreland on a vacant lot at the corner of Shimin and Hazel Streets. The site later held St. Francis Central Hospital. This was demolished in 2008 for a new Penguins arena. -
"Snow Flurries"
30.5 of snow had fallen in Pittsburgh. This is the most ever recorded in local history. Five thousand cars had blocked the trolly routes and Nationa Guardsmen came to patrol the streest. -
Perfect 12
Harvey Haddix, of the Pittsburgh Pirates made history. He was the first pitcher in baseball history to throw 12 perfect innings. -
Soviet Predictions
The Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev said that in a dozen years the Soviet industry would surpass the U.S. this was three days after he came to stay in Pittsburgh to visit the Mesta machine plant. -
J.F.K.
John F. Kennedy made the last of his 6 political visits here. He addressed about 8,300 people at the Pitt field house. Around 300.000 people saw him pass in an open car route from the airport a year before he was assassinated. -
Riots in the Hill
After Dr. Martin Luther King's death riots took place. There were 505 fires, and one death of a women in Homestead. There were millions in thefts, trade losses, police, and National Guaurd costs, 620,000 in property damage. There were also 926 arrests. -
New home
Loew's Penn Theatre was converted into Heinz Hall. It was used for the preforming arts. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra plays here. It has crystal chandeliers and gold-leafed columns. -
Roberto Clemente
At Three Rivers Stadium, he had become the 11th player to make have 3,000 hits. Sadly, less than a year later, at age 38, he died. He died in a plane crash while on a trip to deliver supplies to victoms of an earthquake in Nicaragua. -
Point Fountain
The fountain, sprays water 150 feet in the air.It was the final part of Point State Park. It is next to the fort Pitt museum. -
Superbowl '75
The Steelers went to the Superbowl in 1975. They played the Vikings. The Steelers won 16-6. -
legal lottery
The lottery became legal in 1977. The states new lottery game was called the Daily Number -
6 Towers
Six skyscrapers were added downtown. This includes PPG Place. They are set up in a neo-gothic scene. It has austere plaza inbetween them. -
Woman in Charge.
The first female mayor of Pittsburgh was Sophie Masloff. She privatized the avairy, zoo, conservatory, and Schenley Park's golf course. She also suggested an old-fashioned ballpark for the Pirates. -
1/4 Warhol
This museum is one of four museums but this one is special. This is tha Andy Warhol Museum. This is located on the North side and is dedicated to him. It show much of his work and others. -
History Center
This was opened in a former ice company warehouse, in the strip district in 1996. To this day the center celebrates the history of Pittsburgh and allows people to examine its past. -
Goodbye, Hello
The Three Rivers Stadium was taken down. In its place came the new Pnc Park and Heinz field. -
A Great Meeting
A statue of George Washington and Guyasuta was installed on Mt. Washington. Shows the reunion of these two men.
