Old Pittsburgh Maps / Did anyone live in North Oakland or Lawrenceville pre-East Busway? (Carnegie: hair salon, amusement park)

[sparkbark]

I live in North Oakland and I am curious about the history of the city's layout. I always wonder what was in the area of the East Busway before it was put in, especially since there is a deteriorating dead-end road overgrown with weeds right next to the Neville Ramp which is labeled as North Neville St. on maps. I noticed there is also a North Neville Street in Lower Lawrenceville. Did these two streets used to meet before the East Busway came in and broke them in two? If you look at a map you can see how they could have met but now the busway is in the way. I find the dead-end part of North Neville to be very interesting because there are still houses that face out onto the street but it is no longer driveable. The people apparently enter to the back of their houses through a parking lot on Melwood Ave.

Did anyone live in Pittsburgh before/during the construction or even better, can anyone point me to old maps of Pittsburgh for me to look at (this stuff really interests me.) I tried to google for old maps but I just got really old historical ones. I'm looking more for something from the mid-twentieth century up to the time when the busway was put in.

[ExPit]

Don't have a link, but you can get old maps from Carnegie Library (Historic Pittsburgh)?... a couple years ago I wanted to find out where an old street that was demolished on the Lower Hill to make way for the Civic (Mellon Arena) was, and they were very helpful.

[sparkbark]

Originally Posted by ExPit

Don't have a link, but you can get old maps from Carnegie Library (Historic Pittsburgh)?... a couple years ago I wanted to find out where an old street that was demolished on the Lower Hill to make way for the Civic (Mellon Arena) was, and they were very helpful.

Cool, I will have to check that out. Thanks!

[sparkbark]

Hey just wanted to say that I checked out the Carnegie Library web site and found this: City of Pittsburgh Geodetic and Topographic Survey, 1923-1961 Home

which showed me that those two streets did in fact connect to each other in roughly the same area the Neville Ramp is now. Very interesting!

If anyone happens to know someone who lived on or around this street before it was demolished I would love to talk to them.

[nuwaver88]

I do know that there used to be an amusement park in North Oakland in the early 1900s. It was called Luna Park. I believe there is a bar in North Oakland called Luna Bar. The entrance to this park was at Center Avenue and North Craig Street. This park was only open from 1905 to 1909. Not to get off of subject from the Neville Street question. I just that that I would add this since we were talking about old North Oakland.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08245/908516-42.stm

[sparkbark]

Originally Posted by nuwaver88

I do know that there used to be an amusement park in North Oakland in the early 1900s. It was called Luna Park. I believe there is a bar in North Oakland called Luna Bar. The entrance to this park was at Center Avenue and North Craig Street. This park was only open from 1905 to 1909. Not to get off of subject from the Neville Street question. I just that that I would add this since we were talking about old North Oakland.
Luna Park's luminary: Entrepreneur/roller coaster designer deserves his due

Haha I live right near the Luna Bar. Had no idea about its namesake. Cool!

[nuwaver88]

Originally Posted by sparkbark

Haha I live right near the Luna Bar. Had no idea about its namesake. Cool!

Actually, the Luna Bar used to be on the corner where a Kinkos or some office supply store is now. That is where the Luna amusement Park entrance was. The Luna Bar moved a few doors down about 15 years ago. I used to frequent North Oakland quite a bit in the early 1990s. There where four bars, Chiefs, Mitchells, Luna, Thirsty's... that catered to mostly students living in the area. I had my car stolen and stereo ripped out of my dash while I was parked in the Giant Eagle parking lot on Center Avenue. That area has changed. I went by last year for old times sake. It seems like there are less students at these establishments and more residents of adjacent neighborhoods.

[sparkbark]

Originally Posted by nuwaver88

Actually, the Luna Bar used to be on the corner where a Kinkos or some office supply store is now. That is where the Luna amusement Park entrance was. The Luna Bar moved a few doors down about 15 years ago. I used to frequent North Oakland quite a bit in the early 1990s. There where four bars, Chiefs, Mitchells, Luna, Thirsty's... that catered to mostly students living in the area. I had my car stolen and stereo ripped out of my dash while I was parked in the Giant Eagle parking lot on Center Avenue. That area has changed. I went by last year for old times sake. It seems like there are less students at these establishments and more residents of adjacent neighborhoods.

There is no Kinkos anywhere in North Oakland these days. There is a dollar store at the corner of Centre and Craig, and an abandoned storefront that used to be a hardware store. On the other side of Craig is Logan's Pub which used to be Thirsty's. I was actually in there the other day looking at the old mural in the corner and wondering how accurate it was.

Luna is now on Craig St next to the dollar store and some kind of hair salon, and there's a phone store and a tattoo parlor also. I'm wondering where Luna's used to be-- on the corner where the dollar store is now?

I also wonder when there was a Kinko's here. It seems kind of funny because the neighborhood isn't one I would expect to see a Kinko's in. To me this does not feel like a college neighborhood, however if you go any further south (especially Dithridge St) it still is. In this area (Centre Ave, Craig St, in North Oakland) I see a lot more local residents than college students and there seems to be a general student consensus that it's "shady" but I don't really agree with that.

And yes, the Dirty Bird, I moved here just after it closed but have heard many stories.

[nuwaver88]

I was wrong. It was the dollar store that I was thinking of where the old Luna was. That is where the entrance to the amusement park was also. I remember seeing red so I was thinking of Kinkos or something. There used to be more students in that area than residents. Now it has flip flopped. I am hoping to see this area see a resurgence. Graffitti Night club was just down Dithridge on Baum. Anybody that was part of the Pittsburgh music scene in the 80s and 90s misses it greatly. So many great local and national acts played there. Some millionaire who owned the building now uses it to store his vintage cars. I miss those North Oakland days.

[fleetiebelle]

Don't have a link, but you can get old maps from Carnegie Library (Historic Pittsburgh)?...

Historic Pittsburgh - Map Collections