As depressed steel prices scattered across Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 1800s, corporations continued to grow in power. Working conditions diminished, forcing dedicated steelworkers to conform although they were extremely unsatisfied. The Homestead Strike, which lasted from June to November of 1892, is one of the many episodes of conflict concerning rights of labor during American History. The overt violence fabricated by this labor movement is immersed throughout the town.
The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers was one of the earliest steel worker labor organizations in Pittsburgh. This organization heavily used the Bost Building as a meeting place and as a watchtower over Homestead mill. During the Homestead Strike, the AAISW played a major role in acting against the Carnegie Steel Company.
Growing up in the era of industrial growth for steel in Pittsburgh, Edward Manning Bigelow had a vision for the city to be great. Known as the “Father of the Parks”, Bigelow partnered with steel magnate Andrew Carnegie to plan this urban trasformation. As Director of Public Works, he created beautiful parks, such as Schenley Park, and boulevards that would easily connect the city to the parks. As a dedication to his urbanization of Pittsburgh, he had a statue built in his honor outside of Schenley Park in 1895.
Forbes Field was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1909 to 1970. Thanks to the efforts of baseball fans and advocates of historical preservation, part of the former outfield wall remains and can be seen next to this building on Roberto Clemente Drive. Although the stadium was also home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh, Forbes Field is best known as the home of the Pirates.
In 1967, Pittsburgh’s United States Steel Corporation launched a project to build the tallest building in the United States. Although the U.S. Steel Tower fell short of that mark, it reaches a towering 841 feet high and is covered in distinctive Cor-Ten steel. The building represents the centrality of steel to the city of Pittsburgh and remains the signature high-rise building in the city. The Sun-Telegraph Building stood at this location prior to the construction of the U.S. Steel Tower.
As World War II contributed to the mass steel production of Pittsburgh, the city became a “commercial slum” throughout the 1940s. However, city leaders came together to modernize the area and make their city beautiful again. The creation of Point State Park in 1974 is one of the many projects during this period of urbanization that helped transform the city.
This was the former site of one of the three homes where Andrew Carnegie lived while he was in Pittsburgh. An industrialist whose fortune was formed from his businesses that produced steel throughout Pittsburgh and other communities, Carnegie became the wealthiest man in America. In the mid-1800s, Carnegie lived in Pittsburgh on what was known then as Rebecca Street. That estate was demolished in 1999 with the construction of Pittsburgh Steelers Heinz Field.
The people of Pittsburgh see the Three Sisters Bridges as a vital aspect of the city’s beauty and history. Built between 1924 and 1928, the three bridges are similarly designed and side-by-side which make them unique compared to other bridges in the United States. The Three Sisters Bridges are named after an athlete, an artist, and an environmentalist.
This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.
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Drive through Pittsburgh and explore the captivating steel history that built the city. Use your imagination to travel back in time to the 1800s, the peak of the steel industry, and marvel at the advances made by the now urbanized city.
