[PRCo] Re: P-r-w, housing, cities, etc.

[John Swindler]

What is the basis for Pittsburgh being Indian country in 1800???  1770, maybe, but Indians gone by 1800s.  Need to check historical records.
 
John
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net> Subject: [PRCo] P-r-w, housing, cities, etc.> Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:06:38 -0500> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > Uh huh. That's because the city was unsettled then.> > In 1700 the frontier was Philadelphia, Williamsburg, Boston, > Charleston, Baltimore.> > In 1750 the frontier was Lancaster or Charlottesville.> > In 1800 Pittsburgh was indian territory.> > In the 1880s people were beginning to move up into what is now Perry > Hilltop. My grandmothers neighborhood by Riverview Park off of > Perrysville Avenue was a Watson land development from the teens of > 1920s.> > West View Park was built in 1906. The land around it was developed > in that period. Nothing was there.> > The older homes in Brookline and Mount Lebanon and Dormont are > largely teens, twenties, a few thirties, forties.> > Penn Hills? After World War II Levittown in Bucks County was the > fastest growing part of Pennsylvania and Penn Hills (Penn Township, > Allegheny County) was second. My parents bought two adjoining 1/4 > acre lots in Crescent Hills in 1937 and built a house on one of > them. Meadow Gold Dairy gave customers an aerial photograph of the > neighborhood ... about one lot in six or seven was filled in by > 1940. The rest didn't fill in until the 1960s. It's solid > today. But in the 1940s only the area around Black Ridge above > Wilkinsburg was really filled in.> > Those perfectly symmetrical square brick houses that you see all over > Allegheny County ... walk in the front door and the living room is > either to the right or left, the dining room is on the other side > with the kitchen behind it. The stair case goes up from the front > door. with three bedrooms and bath upstairs with the bath over the > kitchen. The basement had a single car garage under the > kitchen. They are purely late 1940s. Memorize the design and you > can see what filled in after the war. Go up the hill from Linden > Grove on the interurban and you will find that area filled with > them. That's where John Swindler's parents moved after leaving > Edgewood. A lot of homes in Penn Hills are like that ... the post > war ones.> > If you local hysterical society has a person qualified to teach the > basics of architectural history of housing, I would suggest that it > is something any railfan interested in something more than just the > trolley cars should attend. Once you know the housing styles and > when they were built, then you can tell what houses were there when > the streetcar lines were there. You tell which homes were there > before the trolleys, which were build because of the convenience of > the trolleys, which post dated the trolleys. You will come to > recognize trolley suburbs, bus suburbs. You can take such a course > in European universities but unfortunately it is very uncommon in the > U. S. A. However, I did find one offered by the Lancaster County > Historical Society and you may equally lucky in your area.> > You can also, with greater effort, do some of it on your own just by > working with maps. If this street appears first on a 1922 map then > none of the houses could be earlier than that. If you have enough > maps and enough street references and you look long and hard enough, > you will become the expert. Sears Roebuck used to sell houses in > their catalogs. Bear in mind that they were never ahead of the > curve, always a little behind it. So if you saw something in a 1915 > catalog, it was probably at the peak of its popularity a few years > earlier.> > > > > On Dec 10, 2008, at 4:37 PM, Barry, Matthew R wrote:> > > A lot more private right of way that I had previously thought. > > Note where the line comes off of Woodlawn Ave, crosses Forbes and > > goes into what is most probably private right of way. It moves on > > in to areas that I don't think any other carline really ever replaced.> >> > -----Original Message-----> > From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org > > [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of > > Derrick J Brashear> > Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 4:07 PM> > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > Subject: [PRCo] old maps of Pittsburgh and elsewhere reveal...> >> > http://lnk.nu/images.library.pitt.edu/r8v> >> > note the location of the trolley line through Schenley Park (also the> > inclines at the foot of S 21st St and the J&L Coal incline by S > > 30th St.> >> >> >> >> > 
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