[PRCo] When Did Water Street Become Ft. Pitt Blvd.?

[Bob Rathke]

The B&O (and other railroads) didn't want passengers to get lost looking for a railroad station on a street with a name that no longer existed, so its timetables were frequently updated, even the appendix section.  I checked my B&O timetables and found that in the 4/26/53 issue the Pittsburgh station was identified as being at Smithfield St. and Water St., while in the 9/27/53 timetable the station was shown at Smithfield St. and Ft. Pitt Blvd.  My guess is that the Ft. Blvd. street signs replaced the Water St. signs in the summer of 1953. 
  
I have a Gulf Oil map of Pittsburgh from 1952. I can't find it now, but I remember that the street at Wharf level (now the westbound lanes of the Parkway) west of Smithfield St. was identified as the "Depressed Roadway". Reconstruction of the wharf roadway started in 1957 after the old B&O station was demolished, and I believe it opened to westbound Parkway traffic in 1959 when the Ft. Pitt Bridge was completed. 
  

----- Original Message -----

From: "Edward H. Lybarger" <trams2 at comcast.net> 
To: "Western PA Trolley discussion" <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org> 
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 8:42:23 AM 
Subject: [PRCo] When Did Water Street Become Ft. Pitt Blvd.? 

A question has come up regarding the renaming of Water Street, which was 
rebuilt in 1940 to approximately its present configuration.  A local website 
suggests that the name changed then, yet shows the dedication plaque which 
does not include the new name.  Maps from the late 1940s continue to show it 
as Water Street. 

  

Is there a volunteer among the list who would research this in the Google 
newspaper archives?  My own sense is that the Fort Pitt Blvd. name became 
official in the 1950s, but I am unwilling to wager any amount on this! 

  

Thanks, 

Ed 




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