Pittsburgh Walk
See skyscrapers. Soak up stories. Scarf down a sandwich.
Take our one-hour walking tour, and you'll hear tales from Pittsburgh's frontier past, see architectural marvels built by Gilded Age fortunes, and learn the details of a fierce rivalry between two tycoons.
Then have a coffee roasted in the building where you drink it, or eat one of Pittsburgh's famed fries-inside sandwiches.
We speak your language! Just click below to listen to the audio files for your phone or MP3 player.
Audio Files
- Arabic
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- Chinese
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- English
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- French
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- German
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- Italian
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- Japanese
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- Portuguese
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- Russian
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- Spanish
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
- Turkish
-
1. Introduction
2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street
3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street
4. Grant Street to Fourth Avenue
5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street
6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street
7. PPG Place
8. Market Square
9. Liberty Avenue
10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street
11. Penn Avenue to Seventh Street
12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street
13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street
14. Sixth Avenue churches
15. Alcoa Building
Transcript
- Text Transcript
-
Part 1. Introduction.
The city is here because of the strategic location, where three rivers come together -- the Allegheny (al-a-GAY-nee) comes from the north, and the Monongahela (mo-non-ga-HAY-la) comes from the south, to make the Ohio, which flows to the Mississippi. The French were here first; they built Fort Duquesne (doo-KANE) in 1754, and made alliances with the local Indian tribes. Twice, the British tried to chase them out, and twice the French and Indians defeated them badly, and sent the British running for their lives. Finally, in 1758, a massive British force came here – including a young officer named George Washington. The French burned down their fort and abandoned the place. The British built a bigger fort and named it after William Pitt, the British secretary of state. “Fort Pitt” became “Pittsburgh.”
William Pitt was a big supporter of the colonies when they wanted their independence from Britain. In 1777, Pitt stood up in British Parliament and denounced the war against the colonies. These were his words: “You may ravage; you cannot conquer. It is impossible. You cannot conquer the Americans.” To this day, Pittsburgh uses Pitt’s family coat of arms as the city’s crest.
Most of Pittsburgh’s steel mills shut down decades ago, but the headquarters of U.S. Steel is still here. It’s the big, black skyscraper over you; the tallest building in Pittsburgh, at 64 stories, 256 meters. When it was built in 1970 this was the tallest skyscraper in the world outside of New York or Chicago. Now it’s not even in the top 100.
Grant Street is the showcase of Henry Clay Frick, an Industrial Age millionaire who grew up in the hills east of here where there are many coal mines. His company made coke, a purified form of coal, used for making steel. He paid for the three massive old buildings on Grant Street that are facing you now. The big red brick building is the William Penn Hotel, the city’s most luxurious. Next door on the left is the Union Trust Building, which is designed to look like a city hall in Belgium. The last one in the row is the Frick Building, which we’ll get back to soon.
Part 2. Fifth Avenue and Ross Street.
The big stone fortress in front of you is the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail, from 1888. It was designed by the first superstar American architect, Henry H. Richardson. The belfry was really Pittsburgh’s first skyscraper, and throughout the city you’ll find other buildings in this Romanesque style. They were copying this masterpiece, which is widely considered one of the best American buildings of the 19th century. Just like the Doge’s Palace in Venice, a “bridge of sighs” connects the courts to the jail. Actually, it’s not a jail anymore. Now it is for family and divorce courts.
The modern complex behind you is the offices of what used to be called Mellon Bank; it’s now merged with the Bank of New York. The Mellon family started their bank just when Pittsburgh’s industry got booming. They’re the ones who lent Henry Clay Frick the money to start his business. Andrew Mellon was U.S. Treasury Secretary under three presidents during the 1920s. A lot of people blamed him for the Great Depression. Andrew Mellon tried to make it up to the country by donating his European art collection. That’s where we got the National Gallery of Art, in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Part 3. Fifth Avenue and Grant Street.
Facing the courthouse is the Frick Building. It was built in 1901 by Daniel Burnham, a legendary Chicago architect and city planner. For such supposedly great structures, both the Frick Building and the courthouse have ugly, thick bottoms. They weren’t designed that way. But where you are standing now used to be underground. Grant Street went over a hill right here, but the hill was inconvenient for traffic, so in 1913 it was excavated. Everything else got torn down, but these buildings were too important. So workers had to add new walls to them both, only by building them down around what used to be the basements.
People were angry at Frick for building something taller than the belfry of their beautiful new courthouse. But that wasn’t really his motivation. Frick was trying to outdo another building, one on the other side, that’s no longer standing -- one owned by Andrew Carnegie. I’ll tell you that story in a minute. First, the courthouse and all three Frick buildings have incredibly ornate lobbies. If you only have time for one, go inside the Union Trust Building; that’s the middle one in the Flemish Gothic style. Go in one of the side entrances and walk to the center, and when you get there, look up.
Part 4. Walking down Grant Street towards Fourth Avenue.
Things started off brilliantly -- the two men built the world’s biggest steel company and became fantastically rich. But then came 1892. That summer the company tried to reduce wages at its mill in Homestead, a factory town just up the river from here. The workers went on strike and barricaded the factory. Carnegie was on vacation in Scotland, leaving Frick in charge. Frick decided to break the strike, so he hired 300 armed guards, called Pinkertons, to seize the factory. There was a gun battle, and 14 people died before the Pinkertons surrendered.
The governor of Pennsylvania sent the state militia into Homestead to seize the factory, and the strikers all lost their jobs. Henry Clay Frick became notorious as an enemy of the working class. An anarchist broke into his office, and shot and stabbed him. Frick survived, but things got worse. Andrew Carnegie blamed his partner for everything. He forced Frick to resign and sell his shares, and he cheated Frick out of tens of millions of dollars by underpaying him for his stake in the company.
And so Frick built the Frick Building, his first skyscraper, to block out the sun from the Carnegie Building, his rival’s skyscraper next door. Carnegie gave up this battle, and moved to New York, and his skyscraper eventually was torn down.
Both men were philanthropists, and gave away much of their fortunes. Carnegie paid for libraries, charities, his institute for peace in The Netherlands, and Carnegie Hall. Frick created a public museum in New York to show off his European art collection. Both men died in 1919. Carnegie sent a messenger to Frick that year, asking if they could reconcile. Frick’s response was: “Tell him I’ll see him in hell, which is where we are both going.”
Part 5. Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street.
Fourth Avenue is really narrow, and most people ignore it. But 100 years ago, this was the Wall Street of Pittsburgh. Even before the steel industry, the city’s iron foundries and glass factories, and the coal mines and oil wells in the region, produced a lot of wealth. Pittsburgh’s banks and stock exchange had offices along this street. These rich bankers wanted their own exciting skyscrapers like the ones that were being pioneered in Chicago, and they spent a lot of money to get the best materials and most ornate designs. Notice how the buildings mimic classical architectural columns. There’s a base, a shaft, and a capital; a bottom, middle, and top.
The brownstone building on the corner here, the one that looks like a temple with the lion statues in front, is Dollar Bank. It was built in 1870, before skyscrapers were invented.
Here is some practical information. According to Pennsylvania law, bottles of wine and spirits(liquor) can only be sold directly by the state in special stores. The state “wine and spirits store” on the corner here has the best selection in the city, so if you need to buy a bottle of something special, this is the place to find it.
Part 6. Fourth Avenue and Wood Street.
These 100-year-old skyscrapers were built to impress people – and not just on the outside, either. Go inside and you’ll be amazed at the extravagance. The Bank Tower, which is just behind you on Fourth, has a terrific staircase. Go inside and look. There’s another amazing lobby in the Arrott Building (the entrance next to Subway).
Part 7. The Plaza at PPG Place, on Fourth Avenue.
This is PPG Place, by Philip Johnson, inspired by the Palace of Westminster in London. PPG stands for Pittsburgh Plate Glass, and you can see how the building is a commercial for the company’s product. Pittsburgh was a major producer of glass for decades, though the steel industry is more famous. Some other well known businesses you may not have known were from Pittsburgh: Heinz, the ketchup company. Westinghouse, a maker of nuclear power plants; Alcoa, the aluminum company. Gulf Oil was started here. Pittsburgh had the first commercial radio station, the first baseball stadium, the first cable suspension bridge…
I could go on, but it is time for a break. First, do you see the old building across the street, next to PPG Building 3? That’s the second-oldest building in the city. The oldest is part of the original Fort Pitt. This building was erected in 1836 for two brothers who were lawyers. Because they were wealthy enough to pay for a stone building, it survived a huge fire 9 years later that destroyed the wooden buildings in this part of the city.
Part 8. Market Square.
This is Market Square, and it’s been the city’s central meeting place for almost 250 years. The first courthouse, city hall, and newspaper were all right here. Now it’s a place to eat and drink, to listen to public concerts, and to hold political and sports rallies.
Part 9. Walking up Liberty Avenue to Sixth Street.
Part 10. Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street.
This private park is the entrance to the city’s Cultural District, where you find most of the downtown theaters, concert halls, and art galleries. Starting with the biggest one, Heinz Hall, right next to this park. , Heinz Hall is named after the ketchup company family. It’s the home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra now, but it wasn’t originally built for that. Back in 1927, this was a movie theater. Go down Sixth Street to the front of Heinz Hall, and peek in the tall arched window. It’s incredible. It’s hard to believe this was built for showing films.
Part 11. Walking up Penn Avenue to Seventh Street.
You are going to keep going around Heinz Hall, so keep walking down to the corner and make a right on Penn Avenue. On Penn, you’ll pass the new O’Reilly Theater, The actors there often perform plays by August Wilson. He’s a prize-winning playwright from Pittsburgh, and most of his plays are set in the black neighborhood where he grew up, called the Hill District.
Part 12. Penn Avenue and Sixth Street.
As you can see, I was serious about the eyeballs. Artists are strange creatures. One of the strangest was from Pittsburgh, Andy Warhol. If you go left on Seventh Street and cross the bridge, you will come to the Andy Warhol Museum. It is full of his paintings and other works.
Our tour goes in the opposite direction. We turn right on Seventh Street and walk past the Benedum Center, another grand former cinema which is now the home of the opera and the ballet. For a long time, it was a rock concert hall. Bob Marley, the reggae star, played his last concert here.
Part 13. Sixth Avenue and Wood Street.
You should recognize the style of the big gray stone building on the corner. It looks a lot like the courthouse, with the rough stone and Roman arches. It was built to look like the courthouse back in Part 2. This was a bank set up by Germans for German immigrants, as a place where they could do business speaking German.
Look down Wood Street to the right. You’ll see a big window above the entrance to the building. If you go closer, you’ll see it’s a colored glass mural of a steelworker, from the 1930s. Come back at night and it will be lit up.
Part 14. The churches on Sixth Avenue.
Trinity Cathedral, on the left, is the older building, from 1870. It is Episcopalian (e-pis-co-PAIL-yin), which is the American name of the Church of England. First Presbyterian (press-ba-TEER-ian) on the right is from 1903.
Most wealthy and powerful families in early America were members of the Church of England. Then from Northern Ireland came the Scots-Irish, who were Presbyterians. Since most of the good land on the East Coast was taken already, they traveled west over the Appalachian Mountains to the frontier lands, to places like Pittsburgh. It’s easy to imagine that these two churches are competing with each other.
Between the churches is the oldest place in Pittsburgh. It’s a graveyard that the Indians were using when first French settlers came to build Fort Duquesne in 1754. An Indian chief named Miu-Qua-Coo-Na-Cam is buried there, and you can go up the steps and look around if you want to see his gravestone.
Part 15. The Alcoa Building
This building, the former headquarters of Alcoa, opened in 1953 as the first aluminum skyscraper. That was impressive then, though it looks odd and dated now. But when TV was the most amazing and wonderful new invention, having a skyscraper that looked like it was made of TVs was very modern. When Alcoa moved to its new headquarters on the Allegheny River several years ago, it donated this building. Now many of the city’s nonprofit organizations have their offices here.