Pittsburgh's History

Few cities in the world can be summed up, in both historic and visual terms, as neatly as Pittsburgh. Here, in one well defined era, a small group of men, a wealth of minerals and a new reliance on machines combined to shape both the land and people. In the process Pittsburgh's success forever changed the face of the industrialized world.

Pittsburgh's growth from an outcropping visited by traders to an industrial center to its position today as a center for technology, medicine and tourism charts a path through many of the most important events in U.S. history.

A Timeline of Pittsburgh's History

1754

February 17

Captain William Trent arrives at the fork of the Ohio to begin construction of the tiny Fort Prince George for Virginia.

April 17

Ensign Edward Ward and 43 workers surrender the tiny fort to a force of French and Indians under the command of Captain Contrecoeur. The French begin to build a log fortification named Fort Duquesne in honor of the French colonial governor.

Learn more about the French + Indian War

1758: The French + Indian War

March 4

Brigadier General John Forbes is placed in command of the proposed expedition against Fort Duquesne.

July

Colonel Henry Bouquet, Forbes' second in command, gathers a force of 6,500 British and colonial troops and establishes an advance base at Raystown (modern Bedford).

November 24

The French, deserted by their Indian allies and outnumbered by the British, blow up the already-crumbling Fort Duquesne.

November 27

Forbes writes to William Pitt, naming his recent conquest "Pittsburgh" in honor of the British leader.

1759

September 3

Work begins on Fort Pitt, the largest of the British frontier fortifications. Wood is supplied by a mill on Saw Dust Run, brick fired from local clay, and stone comes from quarries in the area. Other material must be hauled over the mountains from the east.

1763

May 30

Indians, taking part in Pontiac's rebellion, attack settlers in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. Captain Simon Ecuyer, commandant of Fort Pitt, burns the surrounding houses and orders villagers into the fort for protection.

June 22

Indians begin a lengthy siege of Fort Pitt.

August 5-6

Colonel Henry bouquet, in charge of a relief column, defeats the Indians at the Battle of Bushy Run. The victory lifts the siege at Fort Pitt, but Indian unrest continues.

October

A brick redoubt, now commonly referred to as the "Blockhouse," is completed outside the walls of Fort Pitt. It still stands today as the oldest building in Western Pennsylvania.

1778

August 31

Representatives of Pennsylvania and Virginia meet in Baltimore and agree to extend the Mason-Dixon line five degrees west. The decision places Pittsburgh within the borders of Pennsylvania and ends the long-standing boundary dispute.

1787

February 28

Pennsylvania grants a charter incorporating the Pittsburgh Academy, later to become the University of Pittsburgh. H. H. Brackenridge is one of the school's founders.

1788

September 24

Pittsburgh becomes county seat of the new Allegheny County, formed from portions of Westmoreland and Washington Counties.

1789

November

William Turnbull and Peter Marmie produce the first iron west of the Alleghenies at their Alliance Furnace on Jacob's Creek in Fayette County.

1791

March 1

The first United States census (1790) shows Pittsburgh's population as 376. Allegheny County has 10,309 people.

1816

March 18

Pittsburgh is incorporated as a city.

1845

April 10

Fifty-six acres and 1,000 buildings in the heart of the city are destroyed by the Great Fire. Total damages amount to between $10 and $20 million. The city loses such landmarks as the Monongahela House, Bank of Pittsburgh, Western University and the Monongahela Bridge.

1848

May

The Sisters of Mercy open Pittsburgh's first permanent hospital on Stevenson Street. It has 60 beds. Andrew Carnegie, age 13, arrives in Allegheny County from Scotland.

1856

February 22

The first national convention of the Republican party is called to order in Pittsburgh.

1858

November 26

The Western Pennsylvania Historical Society is organized. The Sons of Vulcan, an association of iron puddlers and boilers, is formed in Pittsburgh. Anthony and Andrew Kloman open a small forge in Millvale. The Kloman's shop later forms the basis for Carnegie's iron and steel empire.

1859

March 2

Allegheny Observatory is founded when 25 donors pay $100 each to buy a telescope. A year later the state legislature incorporates the observatory.

1859

March 2

Allegheny Observatory is founded when 25 donors pay $100 each to buy a telescope. A year later the state legislature incorporates the observatory.

August 27

Edwin L. Drake strikes oil at his well near Titusville, located an hour and a half northeast of Pittsburgh. Drake is the first to drill specifically for oil; his achievement marks the beginning of the petroleum industry in America.

November 16

Graff, Bennett and Co.'s Clinton furnace produces pig iron using coke for fuel. The furnace is the first in Allegheny County since that of George Anshutz in 1793.

October

A brick redoubt, now commonly referred to as the "Blockhouse," is completed outside the walls of Fort Pitt. It still stands today as the oldest building in Western Pennsylvania.

1865

February

The Sons of Vulcan sign the first labor agreement with the iron industry.

1869

July

Westinghouse founds the Westinghouse Air Brake Co. The first H.J. Heinz plant opens in Sharpsburg, a small town north of Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River.

1870

January 2

T. Mellon and Sons opens its banking business in a rented store on Smithfield Street.

May 28

At 3:00pm the Monongahela Incline opens. Black males vote for the first time since 1838. In 1870 Pittsburgh has 86,076 people; Allegheny County: 262,204.

1875

August 22

Carnegie's Edgar Thomson Works roll the first Bessemer process steel rails west of the Alleghenies.

1880

Immigrants from southeastern Europe begin to arrive in large numbers, changing the complexion of the urban population and enriching Pittsburgh's ethnic culture. Population of Pittsburgh is 156,389: Allegheny County, 355,869.

1883

George Westinghouse organizes Union Switch and Signal Co. Penn Fuel Gas Co. (later Peoples Natural Gas Co.) pipes the first natural gas into the city.

1885

October 7

The city celebrates the completion of the Davis Island Dam, the first on the Ohio River.

1886

January 8

George Westinghouse founds the Westinghouse Electric Co. In a progressive change he later grants Saturday half-holiday to his workers.

July 31

Charles M. Hall, Alfred E. Hunt and others join to form the Pittsburgh Reduction Co. at Hunt's home, 272 Shady Lane. The company later is known as the Aluminum Company of America or Alcoa.

November 29

Pittsburgh Reduction Co. produces the first commercial aluminum ingot at its pilot plant on Smallman Street.

Learn more about the Homestead Steelworkers' Strike

1892: The Battle of Homestead

Pittsburgh's National League Baseball team becomes known as the Pirates for stealing an infielder from the American Association.

July 1

All Homestead's steel workers walk off their jobs and are locked out in a dispute with Henry Clay Frick over wage schedules.

July 6

Strikers at Homestead battle strike-breaking Pinkertons dispatched in barges from Pittsburgh under orders from Frick.

July 11

Eight thousand National Guard troops march into Homestead and take over the steel works. The end of the strike breaks the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers in the Pittsburgh area.

1905

June 19

The world's first all-motion picture theater, the Nickelodeon, opens in Pittsburgh.

1909

June 30

Forbes Field opens in Oakland.

October 16

The Pirates clinch their first world championship, defeating the Tigers four games to one.

1910

January 15

Robert L. Vann publishes the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation's finest black newspapers.

1913

December 1

Gulf announces the opening of the world's first drive-in service station at the corner of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street.

1920

November 2

KDKA broadcasts the Harding-Cox election returns.

1937

April

The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania proposes setting aside The Point as a national historical park.

1950s

April

Pittsburgh begins its transformation into a modern city with the start of the nation's first urban Renaissance. Pittsburgh's Renaissance I results in the reclamation of Pittsburgh's legendary Point. Heavy industry and railroad tracks are banished and work on Point State Park is begun. In addition, the city builds a new airport, Mellon Square, a parkway linking the city with the new Pennsylvania Turnpike, and develops the Gateway Center complex. Conceived in 1947, One, Two and Three Gateway were among the most talked-about buildings after World War II.

1953

March 26

The University of Pittsburgh's Jonas Salk announces the world's first polio vaccine.

September 15

Alcoa's new all-aluminum skyscraper is dedicated.

1954

April 1

WQED, one of the first educational television stations in the United States, begins broadcasting.

1957

December 23

The nation's first nuclear power plant for the commercial production of electricity goes into operation at Shippingport.

1974

August 30

Point State Park is officially dedicated with the completion of the Point fountain.

1980s

August 30

Another upgrade of the Golden Triangle (a term describing Pittsburgh's downtown, which first achieved national notoriety in the Saturday Evening Post in 1914) begins with Renaissance II. The results of the second Renaissance are as extraordinary as the first: the subway, the rebuilding of Grant Street, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Liberty Center, Oxford Centre, Mellon Bank Center, PPG Place, Chatham Center II, Fifth Avenue Place and the Consolidated Natural Gas tower.