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

[John Swindler]

Might be surprised, just like I was.  Generally the parents arrived from eastern Pa or Virginia (in my case) during 1770s (at least for Fayette Co., Luzerne Twp. settlement) and their kids were already heading west to Dayton, eastern Indiana, and Bowling Green area by 1800-1810.  Another branch was south of Louisville by 1790s and south of Indianapolis by 1810.  By 1840s, the grandkids had moved onto Minnesota, Livingston, Ill., Des Moines, Iowa etc.  The great-grand kids had reached the rockies, San Antonio, Tex. by circa 1872 in their 20s, and onto Nevada/California later in life.  
 
There were a lot of large farm families with 10-15 in the household, or so it seemed from US census. 
 
 
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net> Subject: [PRCo] Re: P-r-w, housing, cities, etc.> Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:10:05 -0500> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > OK. Sparsely settled would have been a much better term.> > On Dec 10, 2008, at 8:13 PM, John Swindler wrote:> > >> >> > 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, > Alleghen!> > y 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 > > Swindle> > r'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.> > > >> >> >> >> >> > _________________________________________________________________> > You live life online. So we put Windows on the web.> > http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/127032869/direct/01/> >> > 
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