Random Pittsburgh History (Philadelphia, Harrisburg, York: how much, lawyer, homes)
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So, periodically I research some Pittsburgh history just for my own amusement, and it occurred to me it might be fun to share some of the results. Of course this is purely amateur stuff and potentially unreliable.
Today, I will write a bit about the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and how it helped to shape the development of Pittsburgh's East End and nearby suburbs.
The PRR was originally chartered in 1846 to build a railroad from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, which would allow rail travel across the entire state of Pennsylvania. It completed this project in 1854, and in 1857 it acquired the rest of the "Main Line" leading into Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company continue to expand and acquire other railroads throughout the country, which is part of why "Penn Station" was such a common name for major train stations in cities such as New York and Baltimore (the Union Stations in DC and Chicago were also built by the PRR in combination with other railroads). At its peak, the PRR system had the most rail traffic and revenue in the United States, with a larger budget than the federal government, and its holding company was the largest publicly traded corporation in the world.
During the railroad era (lasting until roughly WWII, after which automobiles and trucks started to take over as the dominant mode of transport), stops along the main line of the PRR as it approached a city center often became prosperous commercial centers in their own right, and the upper and upper-middle class people of the time often converted local farms into estates and eventually suburbs (often connected by streetcar lines). Indeed, the reknowned "Main Line" suburbs of Philadelphia are named after the Main Line of the PRR (the same one leading from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh).
In Pittsburgh, the PRR eventually had several branches leading into the confluence, including along the south side of the Monongahela and both sides of the Allegheny. But the "Main Line" of the PRR ran through Pittsburgh's East End, with stops (as of 1911) at Shadyside, Roup (which would serve Friendship), East Liberty, Homewood (which would also serve what we today call Point Breeze), Wilkinsburg, and Edgewood. Note the East Busway follows this same path today (indeed, it is using the same right of way).
So, that is part why you can still see late-19th and early-20th century mansions and other upscale homes in this string of neighborhoods (even though many of these neighborhoods have subsequently fallen on harder times). That is also part of why many of the East End's major commercial centers are located along this line. Indeed, at one time East Liberty was apparently the third-most important retail center in Pennsylvania, after Downtown Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh.
Many of place names you see today reflect this history. The farmers whose land was later used to build these neighborhoods included the Winebiddles, Negleys, Kellys, and Wilkinses. During the early 19th century, an ambitious young lawyer named Thomas Mellon married Sarah Jane Negley, and the Mellon family eventually became one of the most prominent in Pittsburgh. Henry Clay Frick borrowed money from his friend Andrew Mellon to build his coal company, and Frick met Andrew Carnegie during his honeymoon in New York City, leading to the partnership that created Carnegie Steel and eventually U.S. Steel.
Unfortunately, the rise of the automobile era after WWII caused significant economic disruption in many of these neighborhoods (as, for example, some businesses and people moved away from the rail lines and into modern suburbs accessible by highways). Subsequently, a combination of poor urban planning plus the mass contraction of the manufacturing sector in the region between 1970 and 1990 led to further economic disruption and often dramatic population loss, with ripple effects still being seen today.
However, on a purely personal note, I think this "Main Line" of Pittsburgh still has enormous potential for many reasons, including the legacy of historic homes/buildings, convenient locations, and public transit options (particularly in an era of high energy prices). Indeed that potential is already being realized: Shadyside, Point Breeze, and Edgewood never really lost their status as prominent neighborhoods, and now people are renovating and redeveloping the neighborhoods in between (Friendship, East Liberty, and Wilkinsburg).
So, again my personal view is that the long term prospects for these neighborhoods are bright. And that is in large part thanks to the legacy of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which fostered the development of this "Main Line" in Pittsburgh.
Very interesting and well-researched piece, BrianTH! Just think of how much gasoline we would all be saving if those commuter passenger trains still ran into downtown Pittsburgh from all the towns in the area! At least the East Busway is a viable option for East Enders and the eastern suburbs, with many convenient stations along the route.
Very interesting and well-researched piece, BrianTH! Just think of how much gasoline we would all be saving if those commuter passenger trains still ran into downtown Pittsburgh from all the towns in the area! At least the East Busway is a viable option for East Enders and the eastern suburbs, with many convenient stations along the route.
Interestingly, there is a lot of interest around the country these days in something which is sometimes called "Bus Rapid Transit". The basic idea is to combine the flexibility and lower sunk costs of bus systems with measures to improve their speed, convenience, and energy-efficiency, such as dedicated bus lanes, priority signal-switching, restricted-access prepay stops (saving on boarding times), electrified portions, and so on. In that sense, bus rapid transit occupies a sort of middle ground between conventional bus service and light rail, although when done well, it may actually have certain advantages over light rail.
And indeed if you look at that literature, Pittsburgh's Busway system is often cited as a model of what is possible with bus rapid transit. For example, such a dedicated busway system lets you do things like have express bus routes that make local stops throughout different residential neighborhoods, and then they can hop onto the busways for service to local employment and retail centers, all while saving energy and avoiding any congestion on the highways. Such an approach is also scalable and flexible, meaning you can increase service and modify routes in response to changes in demand.
That is about as close as you can get to the old networks of streetcars that used to serve cities like Pittsburgh before the automobile era. And in fact if you have a lot of existing streetcar suburbs (as we do in Pittsburgh), they are basically tailor-made for such an approach, although it turns out a lot of people these days are interested in living in new-built versions of such communities (a movement which is sometimes called "New Urbanism").
Anyway, in that sense I think the Busway is a sometimes-overlooked attraction in Pittsburgh--but again with rising energy costs, maybe not so overlooked in the future.
but again with rising energy costs, maybe not so overlooked in the future.
The industrialization of American built the railroads.
The suburbanization of America killed the railroads and built the highways.
Now, the globalization of America will bring the railroads back.
Basically, globalization is rebalancing the world ecomomy, resulting in a falling dollar and rising gas prices. Globalization is also outsourcing high paying jobs and replacing them with low paying jobs. This story can only end one way.....Poor people who can't afford to drive.
The demand for intra-regional passenger rail is only going to increase.
Aren't they already building a tunnel to the North Shore.....is that rail?
The industrialization of American built the railroads.
The suburbanization of America killed the railroads and built the highways.
Now, the globalization of America will bring the railroads back.
Basically, globalization is rebalancing the world ecomomy, resulting in a falling dollar and rising gas prices. Globalization is also outsourcing high paying jobs and replacing them with low paying jobs. This story can only end one way.....Poor people who can't afford to drive.
The demand for intra-regional passenger rail is only going to increase.
I agree, with the only caveat being that recent improvements have made regional bus service competitive with regional rail service in some circumstances ... although both have their place, and both benefit from the same developments you are describing.
Quote:
Aren't they already building a tunnel to the North Shore.....is that rail?
If we are thinking about the same thing, those tunnels are indeed being dug for an extension of the T, Pittsburgh's light rail. And that is just part of a long-term plan which would eventually do things like connect the airport by rail to the rest of this system. Similarly, they are looking at options for plugging Oakland into this system (possibly another rail extension, although bus rapid transit might also make sense), which is important because Oakland trails only Downtown as an employment center and destination for out-of-town visitors.
Hook this all up with a high speed intracity rail service (which could plausibly compete with air travel as far out as Chicago, DC, and perhaps New York), along perhaps with advanced regional bus service, and factoring in Pittsburgh's status as a top inland port, and you have Pittsburgh standing at the hub of a highly-efficient and convenient integrated transportation network, capable of accomodating the needs of everyone from local residents to freight shippers to international visitors.
Which, of course, is really why Pittsburgh exists in the first place (its ability to serve as a transportation hub between the East Coast and interior of the country), so Pittsburgh becoming an advanced version of the same thing really is not implausible.
A discussion came up among fellow, what someone has termed among us on Facebook, "Friends of the Valley" regarding the streetcars. Since I discovered your thread of 'Random Pgh History' , though dated, sorry... wondered if you might know how, or where I could find out...
When they actually disappeared, or when they last one ran? It's simply a trivia/historical discussion we're having, but a good one, I think...
The Fort Wayne Bridge in town crossing the Allegheny near 11th St. was also part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The bottom deck has been unused for decades.
I wonder why they didn't use that for the LRT extension to the North Side instead of the tunnel. It seems as if it wouldn't have been an insurmountable problem as the LRT tracks already link up with the East Busway.
Sounds a lot less inexpensive than the tunnel project.
I wonder why they didn't use that for the LRT extension to the North Side instead of the tunnel. It seems as if it wouldn't have been an insurmountable problem as the LRT tracks already link up with the East Busway. Sounds a lot less inexpensive than the tunnel project.
They looked at that option and claimed it wouldn't provide much, if any, of a cost saving.
Personally, I think it was more that it didn't fit as well with the routing the powers that be at the time preferred.
They looked at that option and claimed it wouldn't provide much, if any, of a cost saving.
Personally, I think it was more that it didn't fit as well with the routing the powers that be at the time preferred.
The good news is, that bridge can be used for plenty of other purposes as well. They'll have to build a connection between the North Shore Connector and the segment near Allegheny Center in order to utilize the setup to its fullest potential, but that bridge would help connect the North Shore and North Side to the Strip District, plus the Allegheny Valley commuter rail if it gets built. It also lends itself perfectly to a North Hills T extension. People commuting from the Strip District and the Allegheny Valley to the North Shore can use it to bypass downtown, and people commuting from the North Hills to downtown can use it to bypass the North Shore.
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