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Rust Belt Riviera: 1912
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, circa 1912. "A group of skyscrapers." Behind the sapling, the Wabash Bridge over the Monongahela River; in the distance, the Sixth Street Bridge over the Allegheny. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Another angle
The view across the Monongahela River to the Henry W. Oliver building at 535 Smithfield St. is still unobstructed. And, along the riverfront, a block of small buildings from c1912 are extant.
click to embiggen
In 1912
Pittsburgh wasn't the Rust Belt, it was the heart of steel production for a growing country.
Keenan Building
At the center of the photo is my favorite building in Pittsburgh, the Keenan Building. The old postcard shows the dome covered with its original gold-colored tiles and topped with a large globe and eagle. The dome is now painted red and the globe and eagle are long gone.
I worked across the street on the 23rd floor of the former FreeMarkets Building, and had a nice view of the Keenan.
Six years old
We love Pittsburgh. The lovely yellow bridges! The Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines! PNC Park! Our last visit was in May, to see our Cubs play the Pirates. It was a dramatic weather day with typical blustery Pittsburgh skies (rain delay at the ball park later), and I took a walk across the Sixth Street (Roberto Clemente) Bridge and met a meandering goose and took pictures of everything on both sides. I'm trying so hard to get oriented in this picture but it's difficult because I can't pick out the Renaissance Hotel, where all of the baseball players stay, and which would have been a youngster in this photo.
Taken from the P.J. McArdle Roadway?
The fence and general position look about right.
Three track mind
How many passenger stations can you spot? I see three: Pennsylvania/Union, Federal Street and the Wabash (the destination for the bridge in the foreground). The photo, I think, is a little later than 1912, since Kaufmann's Annex -- opened in late 1913 -- is completed, but it's still bright and clean looking (and how long would that last in Steel City's smoky skies?), so probably not too long after that; and before 1915, since Rosenbaum's isn't in evidence.
Incline to the right
I'm pretty much drawn to the incline in the upper right that looks like it comes from the Strip District into the Hill District or thereabouts.
Only two survive in Pittsburgh now and that is not one of them.
[It's the Penn (17th Street) Incline over Bigelow Boulevard, dismantled in 1956. - Dave]
I grew up in Brookline. The site with that link to the picture is a great site for all things Pittsburgh and a lot of great pictures.
Reach for the sky, 1912 style
Immigrants and visitors must have been impressed about all those skyscrapers.
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