Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-04-2008, 09:14 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 32,920,739 times
Reputation: 2910

Advertisements

Here are some things I recently found out about the name of our city, Pittsburgh. This project started when I noticed that some of the older maps I was looking at had the name spelled "Pittsburg" (with no "h" at the end).

It turns out the oldest version of the name, in a letter to William Pitt from General John Forbes in 1758, was "Pittsbourgh". As an aside, Forbes was the person who finally captured Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War, and as part of that effort he built a road from Fort Ligonier in the East--the origin of today's Forbes Avenue. Earlier, one General Edward Braddock had tried a similar strategy to take Fort Duquesne, coming up from Fort Necessity to the South. But Braddock's force was ambushed and routed by the French and Indian forces soon after he crossed the Monongahela, and Braddock himself was mortally wounded. Hence, today Forbes' road goes to the confluence, but Braddock's road does not.

Anyway, Forbes' spelling with the "bourgh" was a variant of the English "borough" and Scottish "burgh". By 1769, in a survey for the Penn family, the Scottish version was used, and the city became Pittsburgh. That was the version used in the city's official charter in 1816, although a printing error led to many copies of the charter reading "Pittsburg".

But Pittsburgh kept its Scottish "h" in common usage until 1891, when the newly-formed United States Board on Geographic Names (a federal agency tasked with solving name disputes) recommended it officially be changed to "Pittsburg", and its recommendation was passed into law. However, the new name proved unpopular with most of the city's residents (except some recent German immigrants, who found it familiar), and in 1911 the United States Geographic Board reversed its earlier decision, with Pittsburgh getting its "h" back.

But all that is why some of the maps I was looking at (from between 1891 and 1911) had no "h". It is also why the famous Honus Wagner baseball card from 1909 has no "h", and part of why that is the most valuable sports card of all time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-04-2008, 12:37 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
29,672 posts, read 34,190,182 times
Reputation: 76795
i Anyway, Forbes' spelling with the "bourgh" was a variant of the English "borough" and Scottish "burgh".

But it would have been pronounced "burra", like Edinburgh, Scotland is pronounced "edinburra".

There was a piece on NPR a year or so ago about it: An American Story: Give Me Back My 'H!' : NPR
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-04-2008, 12:50 PM
 
20,273 posts, read 32,920,739 times
Reputation: 2910
Quote:
Originally Posted by fleetiebelle View Post
But it would have been pronounced "burra", like Edinburgh, Scotland is pronounced "edinburra".
Indeed, or you could go with the English version and pronounce it like "boro".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-04-2008, 02:45 PM
 
237 posts, read 858,098 times
Reputation: 118
Does anyone else know why 1911 was when the switch back to the H came about?

The post office was going through a boom, due to WWI. Delivering more mail than ever. There was no zip code system yet - and nearly everything was hand-written and all hand sorted. So, Pittsburg, PA could easily be mistaken for Pittsburg, Kansas.

It was the support of the Post Office - to make it easier to differentiate - that helped bring the H back.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-04-2008, 07:44 PM
 
15,633 posts, read 26,159,772 times
Reputation: 30922
It's funny that the German immigrants were comfortable with no "H" -- I recently found an online land grant/land warrant of one of my ancestors, and he named his plot of land Cherryburgh -- with an "H". I'm 100% positive he's German.

However -- not positive about the person who logged the warrant....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-04-2008, 07:53 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,376,423 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallysmom View Post
It's funny that the German immigrants were comfortable with no "H" -- I recently found an online land grant/land warrant of one of my ancestors, and he named his plot of land Cherryburgh -- with an "H". I'm 100% positive he's German.

However -- not positive about the person who logged the warrant....
Maybe he was from Pittsburgh, LOL! Germany has places like Hamburg, so perhaps that is the preferred spelling in that country.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-04-2008, 09:05 PM
 
15,633 posts, read 26,159,772 times
Reputation: 30922
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
Maybe he was from Pittsburgh, LOL! Germany has places like Hamburg, so perhaps that is the preferred spelling in that country.
Can you call 302 acres a plot, by the way? Nah -- it was surveyed in 1775 -- isn't that BP (Before Pittsburgh)?

I'm so jazzed to the find the Three Hills -- which was SUPPOSED to be the original land grant....but it's in John Sailor's (son) name... Jacob has the 302 adjoining acres called Cherryburgh.... seems the more I find out the murkier the lineage gets.

And it's too late to call mom and crow!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-04-2008, 09:11 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,376,423 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallysmom View Post
Can you call 302 acres a plot, by the way? Nah -- it was surveyed in 1775 -- isn't that BP (Before Pittsburgh)?

I'm so jazzed to the find the Three Hills -- which was SUPPOSED to be the original land grant....but it's in John Sailor's (son) name... Jacob has the 302 adjoining acres called Cherryburgh.... seems the more I find out the murkier the lineage gets.

And it's too late to call mom and crow!
From good old Wiki:

Quote:
Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes in honor of the British statesman, Sir William Pitt. It was incorporated as a borough in 1794 and chartered as a city in 1816.[10]
So maybe, maybe not. Yes, some "plot" btw. Very cool to research the family history.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-05-2008, 01:17 AM
 
15,633 posts, read 26,159,772 times
Reputation: 30922
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
From good old Wiki:



So maybe, maybe not. Yes, some "plot" btw. Very cool to research the family history.
It is fun -- and frustrating... my mom's family was done years ago my aunt, who was actually my first cousin, twice removed . She did it to get into the Daughters of the American Colonists... and while there aren't holes, there is very little info. And my Dad's side -- Grandpa emigrated from Germany in 1910. He stowed away on a ship, was found and became part of the crew then jumped ship in Baltimore... and I can't find any information on that. So all I have is the family story.

And not a lot of time to really get into it -- and the money. This can be a VERY expensive hobby....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-05-2008, 09:53 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,376,423 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallysmom View Post
It is fun -- and frustrating... my mom's family was done years ago my aunt, who was actually my first cousin, twice removed . She did it to get into the Daughters of the American Colonists... and while there aren't holes, there is very little info. And my Dad's side -- Grandpa emigrated from Germany in 1910. He stowed away on a ship, was found and became part of the crew then jumped ship in Baltimore... and I can't find any information on that. So all I have is the family story.

And not a lot of time to really get into it -- and the money. This can be a VERY expensive hobby....
I hope you are recording these family stories. I have started to do that, even stuff my mom (may she rest in peace) told me, so that I can tell my kids.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:32 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top