Located along Smallman Street in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, the Heinz History Center includes 275,000 square feet of exhibits and archives devoted to the study of western Pennsylvania’s history. The center opened for visitors in 1996 in the former Chautauqua Lake Ice Company building after ten years of fundraising and renovations and added a Smithsonian wing eight years later after becoming a Smithsonian Institution affiliate in 2000. Operated by the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, the center is named for the noted politician and philanthropist Senator John Heinz. Since its inception, the Heinz History Center has become Pennsylvania’s largest history museum, with over 40,000 artifacts throughout six floors of exhibition space and satellite museums at the Fort Pitt site and the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. The Heinz History Center is open from 10 AM to 5 PM daily.
This building, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, was built in 1892. Its name derives from a former tenant, bakery supplier Byrnes & Kiefer. In 1902, E. C. Byrnes left his job with the National Biscuit Company and began selling flour, molasses, milk powder and other baking supplies throughout the Pittsburgh area. He teamed with Mr. Kiefer, an accountant who sold his shares in 1908. His business is now operated by his great-grandson.
The federal building that sits on downtown Pittsburgh’s Grant Street still serves as the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. However, its postal services have since relocated. The massive Stripped Classical building opened in 1934 and occupies an entire city block. The staid and stable design came from the architectural firm of Trowbridge and Livingston which created a building befitting the federal government. It is part of the larger Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic District, which was created in 1985, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center on Liberty Avenue is dedicated to housing and celebrating the creative work of western Pennsylvania’s African American community. Plans to open such a center began as early as 1996 but were not realized until 2009. The center is named for August Wilson, a playwright from Pittsburgh who won two Pulitzer Prizes and two Tony Awards. Honoring his legacy, the August Wilson Center has become a premier site for the commemoration of African American arts and culture in the region. The center presents performances, visual arts programs, rotating exhibits, and special events, and features galleries, classrooms, a 500-seat theater, gift shop, and a café. It is open from 11 AM to 6 PM Wednesday and Thursday, 11 AM to 8 PM Friday and Saturday, and 11 AM to 5 PM on Sunday.
This small museum located in downtown Pittsburgh includes exhibits that present the history of comics. The museum has over 100 pieces of art on display at a time and features different exhibits every few months. The museum also serves as an independent art venue and is one of only a few cartoon-oriented museums in the country. In addition to exhibits of cartoon art, the organization also offers a variety of workshops and educational programs.
When the Ewart Building was completed in Pittsburgh in 1891, the nine-story building was one of the tallest in the city. This office building was constructed by wholesale grocer, Samuel Ewart, along Liberty Avenue and is now squarely in the heart of the city’s cultural district which sprang up around it. Designed in the Richardson Romanesque architectural style, the building served as the headquarters for Samuel Ewart and Company and was owned by the family until 1969. Today, it still serves its original purpose as an office building and retail space and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.
Constructed in 1928, the Stanley Theater (later renamed the Benedum Theater) was once the largest movie palace and music hall in Western Pennsylvania. The building was designed by Hoffman-Henon of Philadelphia, one of the nation's leading architectural firms specializing in the design and construction of theaters during the twentieth-century. The Art-Deco design of the Stanley Theater was designed to complement the adjacent Clark Building. This office tower was named in honor of James Bly Clark, a vice-president of the Stanley-Clark Motion Picture Company and the founder of the Pittsburgh branch of the firm. Numerous musical acts performed at the Stanley Theater including Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, the Andrew Sisters, Frank Zappa, the Clash, Prince, and Journey. In 1985, the Stanley Theater and Clark Building were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as some of the earliest buildings to utilize the Art-Deco design in the region, as well as their significance in the history of Pittsburg. In 1987, renovations were made by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and the building became the Benedum Center for Performing Arts. Today, the Benedum Center holds musicals hosted by the Pittsburgh Civic Live Opera and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater Company.
The historical marker here commemorates the signing of a document known as the “Pittsburgh Agreement” that described the government of a potential Czechoslovakian state should the Czechs and Slovaks achieve independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Signed on May 31, 1918, the Pittsburgh Agreement was the result of decades of resistance to Austro-Hungarian rule in what became Czechoslovakia that culminated after the empire’s defeat in the First World War. The most notable signatory to the document, Czech politician Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, became president of an independent Czechoslovakia shortly thereafter and receives much of the credit for the Pittsburgh Agreement, but it would not have been possible without the cooperation of Slovak activists in the United States like Jozef Hušek as well. Regardless the Pittsburgh Agreement was a foundational document guaranteeing the rights of the Slovak minority in the union with their Czech neighbors and, when those guarantees were not upheld, later became a justification for a division of Czechoslovakia. The historical marker commemorating this event is open to the public twenty-four hours a day.
Pittsburgh’s twelve-story Century Building was constructed in 1907 by the Century Land Company, hence, its name. Located in the city’s central business and cultural districts, it served as an office building for the vast majority of its life. At the time, the Beaux Arts building was one of the taller structures in the city, but as the age of steel dawned, it would soon be dwarfed by buildings around it. Today, the building houses a first-floor restaurant, two floors of office space and 61 affordable residential lofts. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Located in downtown Pittsburgh, the historic Fulton Building was completed in 1906 and is currently home to the Renaissance Hotel and serves as the entrance to the Byham Theater. The 13-story building was designed by well-known Pittsburgh architect, Grosvenor Atterbury in a Renaissance Revival style, and funded by prominent industrialist Henry Phipps. It is named after steam boat inventor Robert Fulton and went through a $45 million renovation prior to the opening of the hotel in 2001. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Centered in downtown Pittsburgh, Heinz Hall is the city’s prime performing arts center and is home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Symphony, Inc., the hall was dedicated in 1971 and was remodeled to its current condition in 1995. This concert hall has 2,661 seats and hosts several events, in addition to the Pittsburgh Symphony. Heinz Hall has helped foster economic and cultural growth in the downtown Pittsburgh area
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This short walking tour begins at downtown Pittsburgh's Heinz Center and makes its way to several of the city's leading museums with brief stops at numerous historical buildings along the way. Highlights of the tour include the Fulton Building, Heinz History Center, and the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.
