Views of Pittsburgh, PA

In recent years there are new and exciting additions coming online for researchers.  One that is especially fabulous are the collections of photographs of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 20th century. True, this will have a limited audience of researchers with ancestors from that city, but if you did have any relatives from that western Pennsylvania location this site is magnificent.

The Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections is a massive collection of many sources of photographic images all across the city of Pittsburgh. Represented are some 54 separate major photographic collections for a total of over 25,000 images. One of the most interesting of the collection is the Pittsburgh City Photographer with over 12,000 images ranging from the city’s buildings, street scenes, daily life, public sporting events and political life.  The dates for this series alone run from 1890 to 1979.


With the railroad system so important for the heart of the city, many images reflect the railroad cars, its operations, the stations and even the travels into the neighboring states of West Virginia and Ohio.  Some of those images go back to the 1860s.


The manufacturing of Pittsburgh steel was the center life for many ancestors from the region. Between 1886 and 1970 there are some 560 photos showing the Homestead Steel Mill, its workers and production.


Another category has portraits of citizens of Pittsburgh, along with street scenes, aerial shot of the downtown area and many of the local industries.  That section has 752 images.


Between 1920 and 1970 is a collection of 542 images of the black citizens of Pittsburgh in their daily lives.  There are images of weddings, funerals, portraits, churches and businesses.


A separate collection has images from Chatham University archives covering 1869 to 2001.  Student life on campus, the university grounds, buildings and social activities are covered in some 355 photos.


Many neighborhoods across the city are shown in a photo collection from 1903 to 1931. Not only is the local neighborhood pictured, but also its people, where they lived and worked.


Pittsburgh public schools are well represented from 1911 to 1978 with some 685 images.  Those shots cover the school buildings, faculties, students and school events.


There are so many more categories to investigate.  Each image can be enlarged, saved and they include a brief description. This online site is one any researcher with Pittsburgh relatives must check out.

< Return To Blog How horrible for James, he must have been cotansntly dehydrated. I read that chronic diarrhea claimed more than 27,000 lives during the war, one of the largest killers. I have to wonder if it was an infectious disease or just poor diet. Anyway, on a bright spot, his brother John lived in the best city in the world!

Katheri 20/08/11