[PRCo] Re: Allegheny City Book

[Fred Schneider]

Ah, but that's legitimate.


On Jul 14, 2008, at 10:38 AM, Edward H. Lybarger wrote:

> And then there is the intersection of Pittsburgh's 5th and 6th  
> Avenues...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
> [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of  
> Fred
> Schneider
> Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 10:15 AM
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: [PRCo] Allegheny City Book
>
> Those of you truly interested in history might like to buy the book
> "RESURRECTING ALLEGHENY CITY: THE LAND, STRUCTURES & PEOPLE OF
> PITTSBURGH'S NORTH SIDE" by Lisa A. Miles, ISBN 978-0-9798236-0-2.
> This is a second printing issued in 2007.   I bought my copy in the
> PTM store.  While the last chapter or two describes what happened  
> after the
> enforced merger with Pittsburgh in 1907, the bulk of the book deals  
> with old
> Allegheny.
>
> Like all books, even in the second printing we don't get it all
> right.   I'm amused when she talks about a house at the intersection
> of Federal and North Diamond St.  That's Diamond Street in Allegheny,
> not Diamond St. in Pittsburgh.   Come on, Lisa, parallel streets do
> not intersect each other.   Diamond ran parallel to Federal between
> Federal and Arch!
>
> But I also learned a lot ... a lot about sewers and plumbing, a lot  
> about
> the University of Western Pennsylvania (the predecessor of the  
> University of
> Pittsburgh) which deeply involved a man named
> Brashear.   I learned how the state brow-beat Allegheny into merging
> with Pittsburgh and the U. S. Supreme Court approved the
> confiscation.   I learned that Observatory Hill was not where the
> observatory is today out in Riverview Park and hence I finally know  
> where
> the original Observatory Hill Passenger Railway ended.
>
> While his name isn't indexed, I found a statement on page 168  
> interesting.
> It reads, "In 1886, Perrysville Avenue got perhaps its most famous
> homeowner.  William Thaw would sponsor John Brashear's move to  
> Allegheny
> City, in order to have him close to the Observatory.  He posed the  
> offer to
> the world renowned lens maker,
> and Brashear accepted.   On land that belonged to Thaw, and that was
> directly across Perrysville Avenue from the entrance to McClintock  
> Street, a
> beautiful mansard home was built for Brashear at 1954 Perrysville  
> Avenue.
> Shortly thereafter, a factory building was completed behind the  
> house."
>
> It did not see any mention of the legendary Harry Zubik and his  
> boat junk
> yard on the North Side but, as I pointed out, this is largely a
> history of Allegheny and not a history of the North Side.   It would
> be for people like my grandmother who never in her life would be
> accused of calling that part of the city Pittsburgh.   To her, it was
> always Allegheny.
>
> Just heard a television announcer tell me the rain "continues to  
> end."  Is
> that any more possible than parallel streets intersecting?
>
>
>
>