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IheartPGH: a blog about Pittsburgh and people who love this city

The Ladies’ GAR Home in Swissvale: How would you repurpose this building with a Civil War history?

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This postcard of the GAR Home is available for sale on Ebay. This spring the Post-Gazette published an article about the Ladies’ GAR Home in Swissvale. (“Diana Nelson Jones’ Walkabout: Swissvale home has history on its side, but little else” Post-Gazette, March 13, 2017). The online version of the article doesn’t have a photo, but I knew that if this building was visible from the train, it was worth learning more about. It is so oddly ob­scure that a very ob­ser­vant and his­tory-lov­ing Barry Al­fonso, a writer who lives in Swiss­vale, saw it for the first time on an Am­trak… Read the rest

National Negro Opera Company House: The Most Historic House in Pittsburgh You Probably Have Never Heard Of

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National Negro Opera House in Homewood. Photo taken April 2016. If there is one house you learn about from our month long series for historic preservation month, the The National Negro Opera Company House in Homewood is the house to remember. This house needs some love and unlike the other properties that I have posted about this month, I don’t know what the future holds for this place. I believe there is a huge opportunity for this building, but it is also a huge challenge. The house, located at 7101 Apple Street in the Homewood Neighborhood, was built in 1908.… Read the rest

The Gardener-Bailey House in Edgewood

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I learned about the Gardener-Bailey house from this photo from Cam Miller (@CatLadyCam) on Instagram. Built in 1864, this building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Does anyone know the history of this grand old Victorian home? The Gardener-Bailey house, built in 1864, is hidden away on W. Swissvale Ave in Edgewood section of Pittsburgh. It was placed on the National Register in 1974. #housesofpgh #housestalker #archilovers #architecture #detailsmatter #historicpgh A post shared by Cam Miller (@catladycam) on Jan 11, 2017 at 1:07am PST… Read the rest

Help Kick-start the Redevelopment of the Westinghouse Castle

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Built in 1890, the Westinghouse Castle was designed by Frederick J. Osterling. Osterling is well known for his work around Pittsburgh. The most prominent Osterling building is probably the Union Trust Building. The Westinghouse Castle, was never actually a castle or a residence. This building served as an office building for the Westinghouse Air Brake Company.  From 2006 until 2013, the Westinghouse Castle was used as a museum and could be rented for events. John Graf, who runs the Priory Hospitality group, purchased the Westinghouse Castle last summer.  The Priory Hospitality group plans to redevelop the castle as a boutique… Read the rest

The Just Right Tailors, Gus Miller’s Newstand and The Green Weenie

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I posted a photo of this postcard on Instagram earlier this year and asked for some more information about just what “The Just Right” was back in the day. I knew this building had a long history as Gus Miller’s newsstand but I didn’t know what else was in the building. I liked the horse shoe on the top and “The Just Right” seems like a great name for a band or a podcast or the title of an essay for the New Yorker (the essay would of course be about someone who moved to Pittsburgh and found the city… Read the rest

Links of Interest