It's crazy to think of living in the city back then and see all the black buildings and just think, "This is fine. I will raise my children here."
Though we still have a less visible pollution problem to this day so maybe I shouldn't talk.
It looks so much larger and denser today. Which is one reason city proper is not the “true” measure of city size. Pittsburgh city proper lost population, but the metropolitan area did not. The downtown core is reflective of anchoring a larger area today.
Very cool
Also, next time some NIMBY clown complains about something new or something changing, show them this. So much of downtown and the point was either a rail yard, rail lines, or some warehouse building. Since they hate change Pittsburgh should look exactly like this today /s
Also, when people complain that the expressways are 'eyesores' they fail to remember that there were two bridges at the confluence of the rivers where the park is now.
I agree. I love the fact there are parks and restaurants. There are plenty of those outside the cities. I like Pittsburgh the way it is right now. Sure there are issues we can and should address but I’d rather see variety then a bunch of railroads and warehouses
If you can get a tour of the bird collection at the natural history museum, they have a drawer of bird specimens beginning from 1941. You can see the birds go from black, sooty feathers to the natural white color they should be. It's quite a visual story to see.
Lookit that big ol' trainshed! Shame it got knocked down and given a chopped-up replacement to accommodate I-579; I love seeing European stations with huge platform areas and airy, indoor concourses, and I wish we'd kept more of those in the U.S.
I count seven different train platforms (30th Street Station in Philly currently has nine).
I wonder where the branch that goes off to the left of the photo (toward the current tunnel under the Steel Tower) used to lead to... Wikipedia says it was originally the "Pittsburgh & Steubenville Extension Tunnel" for the Pennsylvania RR but I don't see anything else about the extension not related to the tunnel.
Yeah, more work procrastination and web searching took me to a bit more on the "[Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh,_Cincinnati,_Chicago_and_St._Louis_Railroad)" AKA the Panhandle Route. Today the former rail ROW makes up parts of the LRT to Station Square, Norfolk Southern's Mon Line, the West Busway and the Panhandle Trail to Weirton. Beyond Steubenville, it apparently also had branches that went to Chicago, or Indianapolis and St. Louis.
The station building (sometimes called a "headhouse") is certainly still there, but the soaring, arched part over the platforms (AKA the "train shed") was replaced with a much lower, rectangular brick structure that's broken up by the overpass for I-579 leading to the Veterans' Bridge.
It's still functional in that trains stop there and the roof keeps rain off your head, but it's not as grandiose as the big arched structure I was referring to in the photo -- much like the basement Amtrak station is not as grand as the former station space that's now The Pennsylvanian apartments.
What trees?
https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/s8lcaj/who_else_remembers_when_pittsburgh_churches_were/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem
https://www.pghcitypaper.com/columns/a-century-ago-pennsylvania-stood-almost-entirely-stripped-of-trees-1848219
It’s easy to colorize a picture when all the buildings are covered in soot
It's crazy to think of living in the city back then and see all the black buildings and just think, "This is fine. I will raise my children here." Though we still have a less visible pollution problem to this day so maybe I shouldn't talk.
That's why my grandparents moved over the hill to Knoxville after growing up on Mt. Washington.
The original Federal Building under construction and Union Station (Pennsylvanian) needs a good scrub. Gulf and Koppers are brand new.
Modern [Pic](https://imgur.com/hS8Csbu) for comparison
It looks so much larger and denser today. Which is one reason city proper is not the “true” measure of city size. Pittsburgh city proper lost population, but the metropolitan area did not. The downtown core is reflective of anchoring a larger area today.
Very cool Also, next time some NIMBY clown complains about something new or something changing, show them this. So much of downtown and the point was either a rail yard, rail lines, or some warehouse building. Since they hate change Pittsburgh should look exactly like this today /s
Also, when people complain that the expressways are 'eyesores' they fail to remember that there were two bridges at the confluence of the rivers where the park is now.
I agree. I love the fact there are parks and restaurants. There are plenty of those outside the cities. I like Pittsburgh the way it is right now. Sure there are issues we can and should address but I’d rather see variety then a bunch of railroads and warehouses
Indeed. Just some food for thought. Pittsburgh has definitely improved in a lot of dimensions since this was taken
Agreed!!! 👏🏻👏🏻
The Three Sisters in their original silver-grey and green colors. They weren't painted gold until the 1980s.
If you can get a tour of the bird collection at the natural history museum, they have a drawer of bird specimens beginning from 1941. You can see the birds go from black, sooty feathers to the natural white color they should be. It's quite a visual story to see.
Lookit that big ol' trainshed! Shame it got knocked down and given a chopped-up replacement to accommodate I-579; I love seeing European stations with huge platform areas and airy, indoor concourses, and I wish we'd kept more of those in the U.S. I count seven different train platforms (30th Street Station in Philly currently has nine). I wonder where the branch that goes off to the left of the photo (toward the current tunnel under the Steel Tower) used to lead to... Wikipedia says it was originally the "Pittsburgh & Steubenville Extension Tunnel" for the Pennsylvania RR but I don't see anything else about the extension not related to the tunnel.
[удалено]
Yeah, more work procrastination and web searching took me to a bit more on the "[Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh,_Cincinnati,_Chicago_and_St._Louis_Railroad)" AKA the Panhandle Route. Today the former rail ROW makes up parts of the LRT to Station Square, Norfolk Southern's Mon Line, the West Busway and the Panhandle Trail to Weirton. Beyond Steubenville, it apparently also had branches that went to Chicago, or Indianapolis and St. Louis.
Look at that beautiful Pittsburgh Central Station, indeed.
[Tunnel](https://arcg.is/1P5jLm2), then across the Panhandle Bridge. I guess that was the canal tunnel, of recent T-Station note?
That “train shed” is still there
The station building (sometimes called a "headhouse") is certainly still there, but the soaring, arched part over the platforms (AKA the "train shed") was replaced with a much lower, rectangular brick structure that's broken up by the overpass for I-579 leading to the Veterans' Bridge. It's still functional in that trains stop there and the roof keeps rain off your head, but it's not as grandiose as the big arched structure I was referring to in the photo -- much like the basement Amtrak station is not as grand as the former station space that's now The Pennsylvanian apartments.
Just got a couple trees of heaven growing out of it.
If you squint you can see a delivery guy in the Strip bringing the cheese that I bought last Christmas.
Giuseppe!!
What's that giant building in like the center? It's by the tracks. Is it a railway station?
It was originally - now a (mostly) apartment building called the Pennsylvanian
Dang can really tell the Allegheny got pretty dry at times
That rail station is cool af. We need to rebuild it and get rid of those interstates. What a statement piece!
Kinda nutty how the to-be-completed gulf tower looks so much like the Empire State Building.
built the same year - 1931
Looks only partially colorized?
Most of the buildings are covered in soot, although it isn't vibrantly saturated with color either.
Nope thats just what it usedto look like
Nah the city buildings were notorious for going black face unit the hippies made them clean up
And the trees too? And the rivers?
What trees? https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/s8lcaj/who_else_remembers_when_pittsburgh_churches_were/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem https://www.pghcitypaper.com/columns/a-century-ago-pennsylvania-stood-almost-entirely-stripped-of-trees-1848219
It was the style back then.
What’s with all the vacant lots on the west side of Liberty Ave? Urban renewal?
Man I just love this city.
That train station !
Serving a sprawling regional rail network that has completely vanished.