The ‘State’ of Allegheny

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The ‘State’ of Allegheny One of the first centers of the organization of the Re­publican party and scene of its first national conven­tion in February, 1856, Allegheny County was strongly for Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860. As the vote count proceeded, one of the leaders kept sending telegrams to Lincoln’s home in Illinois, keeping him up on the news that “Allegheny gives a majority of …...
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Romancing the Stone: Benno Janssen, Architect of Elegance

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Romancing the Stone: Benno Janssen, Architect of Elegance Every community has its coming of age, when the style of its best buildings, both commercial and residential, speaks clearly, “This is the way it is going to be here for a long time.” Although Pittsburgh, the first American city to rejuvenate itself out of its dusky past – of steel and soot and smoke and smog – has employed many notable architects) from Henry H....
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1st Drive-In Filling Station

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on 1st Drive-In Filling Station Pittsburgh’s Mellon family owes much of its fortune to the oil industry. In 1902, William Larimer Mellon Sr. (1868–1949), with the help of his uncles, Andrew William Mellon (1855–1937) and Richard Beatty Mellon (1858–1933), was placed in charge of the J. M. Guffey Petroleum Company, with its rich Spindletop oil fields and a refinery at Port Arthur in Texas.Mellon guided Guffey Petroleum,...
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