Auto Row: (Baum Blvd. and Beatty St.)
Looking east from the corner of Baum and Beatty, this photo shows a 1937 street view of central East Liberty. In the early twentieth century, the neighborhood experienced a transformation into a booming commercial district. East Liberty’s population exploded as people were drawn by its many job opportunities. Automobile culture was on the rise, and by 1906, the East End had a total of twelve auto dealers selling thirty-two makes of cars. Baum Boulevard was known as "Automobile Row." In the early 1900s social clubs were popular, and this photograph shows that Pittsburgh’s AAA Auto Club was located right across the street from Motor Square Garden. Traffic became an increasing problem in the mid 1900s. East Liberty had developed as a streetcar suburb and its streets were not designed to accommodate a high volume of cars.Sources:Collins, John Fulton Stuart. Stringtown on the Pike: Tales and History of East Liberty and the East Liberty Valley of Pennsylvania. East Liberty Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh, 1966.U.S. Census Bureau. Population and Housing Reports, 1900-1930. Accessed April 18, 2019 at https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html
Motor Square Garden: (5900 Baum Boulevard)
The East Liberty Market House, now called Motor Square Garden, was built in 1898 by the Boston architectural firm Peabody & Stearns. Andrew Mellon commissioned it’s construction. Built at the end of the nineteenth century during a development boom in East Liberty, this grand structure reflects the local business leaders' vision of the neighborhood as a commercial center for the elite East End. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Originally constructed as Pittsburgh’s largest market house, the building only functioned as a market for about fifteen years. Over the past century, the structure has had many uses. In 1913 it was converted into an auto showroom when it was purchased by the Pittsburgh Auto Association. Through the years it’s also been used as beer garden, exhibition hall and a sports arena. For a few years in the 1920s the University of Pittsburgh’s basketball team played their games here. During the 1980s, an unsuccessful attempt was made to convert it into an upscale shopping mall.Sources:“Allegheny County Survey of East Liberty.”Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. Prepared by Peta Creque, Eliza Smith and Steve Kibert. January 1980."Auto Enthroned in Renamed Palace." The Gazette Times, April 6, 1913.Schmidlapp, Ellis L. “Statement by the President of Landmarks Design Associates for Mayor’s Conference on Motor Square Garden.”May 5, 1986.“Up-town, Greater Pittsburgh’s Classic Section: East End, the World’s Most Beautiful Suburb.” Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh Board of Trade, 1907. Retrieved from Historic Pittsburgh Book Collection, University of Pittsburgh at https://www.historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A00aah6674m
Joy of Life Fountain: (Baum Square)
The Joy of Life fountain is a remnant from the second major phase of change in East Liberty. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) commissioned it in the 1960s to act as a centerpiece for a new outdoor pedestrian mall. Like many other American cities, Pittsburgh suffered population loss and disinvestment after World War II due to suburbanization and deindustrialization. As a commercial district, East Liberty especially struggled as fewer people did their shopping within the city. Local business leaders asked the URA to conduct an urban renewal project to revitalize the commercial district. Beginning in 1965, the URA demolished nearly one third of East Liberty's commercial core in order to install a pedestrian mall and a traffic circle. Unfortunately, the well-intentioned project hastened the decline of the business district. By the 1970s a majority of the businesses had closed or left the neighborhood, and the city acknowledged that the project had failed.In the 1980s, the city took steps to dismantle the pedestrian mall and reopen the streets to traffic. The Joy of Life fountain was moved to its present location behind the East Liberty Presbyterian Church. The community wanted to keep the fountain in the neighborhood, but it’s original position made it a traffic impediment when Penn Avenue was reopened to cars.The fountain’s installation in 1969 coincided with Pittsburgh’s civil rights movement. After Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the African American community in East Liberty and other parts of the city protested racial inequality. Students at the local Peabody High School demonstrated in 1968 over the exclusion of African American history in the curriculum. The fountain's artist, Virgil Cantini, wanted to express the idea of community and oneness with this work of art.Sources:Greenawalt, Justin P. “Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Project: Preserving the Artifacts of the Urban Renewal Era.” Master’s Thesis. Columbia University, New York City (May 2010). Accessed at http://www.eastlibertychamber.org/UserFiles/File/JGreenawalt_PittEastLibertyProject_Thesis.pdfJackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. Oxford University Press, 1987."Joy of Life by Virgil Cantini; Italo O. Falvo." Pittsburgh Murals and Public Art. Created January 16, 2016, updated May 2018. Accessed at http://pghmurals.blogspot.com/2016/01/joy-of-life-by-virgil-cantini.html Lowry, Patricia. “‘Joy of Life’ Fountain blocks city’s ‘unmalling’ of E. Liberty.” The Pittsburgh Press. February 3, 1985.Perlmutter, Ellen M. “Traffic comes back in Penn Mall.” The Pittsburgh Press. October 19, 1986Rosensweet, Alvin. “3 More City Schools Hit by Racial Unrest.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 6, 1968.
Carnegie Library - East Liberty Branch: (130 S Whitfield St)
Urban renewal had a major impact on the East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library. The original library was a 1905 Alden & Harlow building located on Station and Larimer. The library moved to its current spot in 1968 during urban renewal in order to be located within the center of the new East Liberty. The library was built out of steel and concrete with a glass enclosed first story. Today, the library bears little resemblance to how it appears in this 1973 photo. The library underwent a $5.6 million renovation and unveiled a modern, LEED-Certified Silver building in 2010. The building was stripped down to its internal supports and enclosed in a contemporary metallic exterior.The Children’s Room inside the library displays a wall-sized mural depicting the tales of King Arthur. During the Great Depression in 1935, the Works Progress Administration commissioned local artist Mary Shaw Marohnic to paint a mural for the original East Liberty library. When the library moved to its present location the mural was designated for storage, but two librarians launched a fundraising campaign to have it rehung in the new library.Sources:Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - East Liberty website. https://www.carnegielibrary.org/about-carnegie-library-of-pittsburgh-east-liberty/Prine, Carl. “Carnegie Library celebrates $5.6M rehab in East Liberty.” Triblive. August 29, 2010.Sachs, Sylvia. “East End Library Springs to Life.” The Pittsburgh Press. May 4, 1969.
Ace Hotel (120 S Whitfield St)
The Ace Hotel, located in the former YMCA building, reflects the latest phase of change in East Liberty. Currently, this neighborhood is experiencing extensive development. In the past twenty years $900 million in new investment has come to East Liberty, including retail and grocery chains, high-end restaurants, tech companies and luxury apartments.Before being repurposed as an Ace Hotel, this building housed the East Liberty YMCA, which was first organized in 1874. This 1910 building was built when the organization outgrew their previous home. YMCA’s usually build their facilities in urban downtowns in order to give youth an alternative to life on the streets. Building a new YMCA in East Liberty indicates the neighborhood’s status in the early twentieth century as Pittsburgh’s “second downtown.”In the 1950s, the East Liberty YMCA was a special place for the local youth, because it had an integrated swimming pool. This was during a time when most public swimming pools in Pittsburgh were segregated in practice.In 2015, the Ace Hotel purchased and restored the building as a boutique hotel with a trendy restaurant and cocktail bar. The marble staircase now doubles as a gallery space for neighborhood photos by Charles “Teenie” Harris, an African-American Pittsburgh native who documented the black experience in Pittsburgh from 1935 to 1975. A few of the photos feature lifeguards in training at the swimming pool.Sources:Harrell, Courtney. “Pittsburgh’s Ace Hotel Markets the City’s Past to its Future.” Belt Magazine, April 12, 2016. Accessed at https://beltmag.com/pittsburghs-ace-hotel-markets-the-citys-past-to-its-future/ McAvey, Maureen, Tom Murphy and Bridget Lane. “East Liberty: A Pittsburgh Neighborhood.” in Reaching for the Future: Creative Finance for Smaller Communities. Washington, DC: Urban Land Institute, 2016. Accessed at http://1rpdxl3vt3c61pdenf9k5xom-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/ULI-Documents/Creative-Finance-for-Smaller-Communities.pdf Wiltse, Jeff. “Swimming against segregation: The struggle to desegregate.” Pennsylvania Legacies, vol. 10, No. 2 (November 2010), pp. 12-17.
Kelly Strayhorn Theater (5941 Penn Ave)
The Kelly Strayhorn Theater is a rarity in East Liberty, because it is still serves the original function it had over a century ago when it was the Regent Theatre. In the early 1900s, East Liberty was an entertainment center as well as a commercial district. At one time there were a total of seven movie houses along Penn and Highland Avenues. Pittsburgh was at the forefront of the emerging film industry in the early 1900s—America’s first nickelodeon was downtown on Smithfield Street. As the film industry expanded downtown, it spilled over into East Liberty. The Regent Theatre was a part of that wave when it opened as a silent film house in 1914. As East Liberty’s commercial district declined, every theater has been demolished except the Regent.Over the past century the Regent closed and reopened multiple times as the community struggled to save it. The most recent reopening occurred in 2001 when it opened as a community performing arts center and was renamed the Kelly Strayhorn. The renaming reflects the community focus of the venue—actor/dancer Gene Kelly lived in East Liberty and jazz pianist/composer Billy Strayhorn lived in neighboring Homewood. Both artists had strong roots in the area. Kelly went to Peabody High School and Strayhorn attended Westinghouse High.The theater’s rebirth reflects the economic revitalization of the neighborhood since the early 2000s. However, this renewal has a negative side in that rising property prices threaten to displace residents who have lived here for years. As a community-focused center, the KST has worked to bring attention to gentrification. In 2016, it hosted a screening event for local filmmaker Chris Ivey’s documentary “East of Liberty”, which addresses the growing concerns over the displacement of the neighborhood’s African American community.Sources:Abels, Caroline. "A Church Will Be the Salvation of East Liberty's Regent Theater." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 June 2000. Aronson, Michael. Nickelodeon City: Pittsburgh at the Movies, 1905-1929. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh, Pa, 2008.“Clark’s Regent to be a Fine One.” Pittsburgh Moving Picture Bulletin 1, no 1. April 15, 1914. Historic Pittsburgh Text Collection. University of Pittsburgh. Accesed at https://www.historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735066981923 McAvey, Maureen, Tom Murphy and Bridget Lane. “East Liberty: A Pittsburgh Neighborhood.” in Reaching for the Future: Creative Finance for Smaller Communities. Washington, DC: Urban Land Institute, 2016. Accessed at http://1rpdxl3vt3c61pdenf9k5xom-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/ULI-Documents/Creative-Finance-for-Smaller-Communities.pdfO'Toole, Christine H. "A Theater by Any Other Name." H Magazine. Heinz Endowments Summer 2002: n. pag. Accessed at http://www.heinz.org/userfiles/library/h-su02-kellystrayhorn.pdfRawson, Christopher. “Renaming honors Kelly, Strayhorn.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 14, 2000.
Penn and Highland Avenue
Stand on the northeast corner of Penn and Highland and look west. This photo shows the same street view in June 1971 when this area was a pedestrian mall. Note the original location of the Joy of Life fountain at the left. To the right you can see the old marquee for the Regent Theatre, now the Kelly Strayhorn. At the end of the street was the affordable housing complex, Penn Mall Apartments, which was built by Tasso Katselas Associates during urban renewal in the 1960s. Penn Mall spanned Penn Avenue, allowing cars to drive underneath.Sources:Greenawalt, Justin P. “Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Project: Preserving the Artifacts of the Urban Renewal Era.” Master’s Thesis. Columbia University, New York City (May 2010). Accessed at http://www.eastlibertychamber.org/UserFiles/File/JGreenawalt_PittEastLibertyProject_Thesis.pdf
Facadism on south side of Penn Avenue: (6016 and 6018 Penn Ave)
Stand on the northwest corner of Penn and Sheridan and look across to the south side of Penn Avenue. Take note of the modern, luxury apartments that hover above the restored terracotta facades of early twentieth century structures. Holding your mobile device up to view the same street scene in November 1937, can you pick out which two building facades remain? Facadism is a preservation technique that retains the original street scene without preserving the actual buildings. These historic facades over modern apartments shows the tension between historic preservation and private development in an urban neighborhood.Sources:Belko, Mark. “Walnut Capital will preserve two historic East Liberty storefronts.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 4, 2015.“East Liberty Commercial Historic District: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.” Prepared by Michael Eversmeyer and Angelique Bamberg. National Park Service. November 3, 2010
Liberty Building: (6101 Penn Ave)
The Liberty Building represents the beginning of East Liberty’s construction boom around the same time that the electric streetcar system was introduced. Built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, this building demonstrates how the completion of H.H. Richardson's County Courthouse in 1888 popularized Romanesque Revival architecture.This building initially housed the Liberty National Bank, which had several prominent East End investors sitting as the board of directors. The other floors of the six-story structure housed a range of professional tenants such as physicians, dentists and real estate agents. It’s stature and grand style suggests the optimism of the period when it was constructed and represents the role of East Liberty as a center for professional services as well as retail. Few other neighborhoods in the area provided services like East Liberty did.Sources:“East Liberty Commercial Historic District: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.” Prepared by Michael Eversmeyer and Angelique Bamberg. National Park Service. November 3, 2010“Up-town, Greater Pittsburgh’s Classic Section: East End, the World’s Most Beautiful Suburb.” Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh Board of Trade, 1907. Retrieved from Historic Pittsburgh Book Collection, University of Pittsburgh at https://www.historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A00aah6674m
Missionary Temple Church of God - former St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran: (6378 Centre Ave)
German Protestants founded the St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1839. The present structure was built in 1888. The Missionary Temple Church of God began holding dual services here in the early 1980s and purchased the building in 1997.In the past two centuries East Liberty has been home to a diverse range of races and ethnicities who established their own different places of worship. Anglo and German settlers laid out the village in the early 1800s. St. Peter’s served East Liberty’s German Protestants. After the Pennsylvania Railroad opened the East Liberty Station in the 1850s, an influx of European immigrants and African American migrants came to the area. By the late nineteenth century East Liberty had separate churches for German and Italian Protestants, Irish, Italian and German Catholics, as well as a Presbyterian church for Anglo-Americans and an AME church for African Americans.Sources:Collins, John Fulton Stuart. Stringtown on the Pike: Tales and History of East Liberty and the East Liberty Valley of Pennsylvania. East Liberty Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh, 1966.Jean E. Snyder. Steel Industry Heritage Corporation Ethnographic Survey 1993 Final Report: Homewood, Point Breeze, East Liberty and Highland Park. October 28, 1993. 36. Accessed April 19, 2019 at https://www.riversofsteel.com/_uploads/files/homewood-east-liberty-point-breeze-highland-park-final-report.pdfSt. Peter's Evangelical and Reformed Church Records, 1839-1964, AIS.1977.29, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh.
Rodman Street Baptist Church: (6111 Rodman St)
Originally founded as Salome Baptist Church in 1885, Rodman Street Baptist Church is one of the earliest black churches in the East End. Before constructing a permanent home for the congregation on this site in 1892, the church held meetings in the home of one of their members, Melvina Dent.The original church building, partially seen in this 1964 photograph, was destroyed by a fire in May 1970. The members raised funds to rebuild a modern church and parsonage on the same site. The 1892 datestone from the original church can still be seen near the sign on the corner of Centre and East Liberty Boulevard. Unlike many of the other churches in the neighborhood, the Rodman Street Baptist congregation has continuously operated out of this location for over a century.Sources:Brown, Eliza Smith, Daniel Holland, Laurence A. glasco, Ronald C. Carlisle, Arthur B. Fox and Diane C. DeNardo. African American Historic Sites Survey of Allegheny County. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 1994.Greenawalt, Justin P. “Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Project: Preserving the Artifacts of the Urban Renewal Era.” Master’s Thesis. Columbia University, New York City (May 2010). Accessed at http://www.eastlibertychamber.org/UserFiles/File/JGreenawalt_PittEastLibertyProject_Thesis.pdf 1898 Pittsburg Press Almanac and Cyclopedia of useful information. Pittsburgh, PA: Press Publishing Company. Retrieved from Historic Pittsburgh Book Collection, University of Pittsburgh at https://www.historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056289188
East End Cooperative Ministry: (6140 Station St)
The East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) was collaboratively founded in 1970 by eighteen different churches in the East End. Between 1950 and 1970 when Pittsburgh was suffering from industrial decline and suburbanization, East Liberty lost thirty-seven percent of its population and experienced a demographic shift. White residents who could afford to leave did so, and African Americans moved into the vacated spaces. East Liberty's white population dropped from 90% in 1940 to 51% in 1980.For over forty years the EECM served the area's homeless adults and at-risk youth out of a number of locations provided by its member congregations. With the assistance of East Liberty Development Inc, the EECM built this modern facility in 2013. Today, the ministry provides a wide range of community services, including a food pantry and community kitchen, emergency shelter and recovering housing, youth outreach and career development programs.Sources:East End Cooperative Ministry website. “EECM: Creating a Community of Opportunity in Pittsburgh.” Accessed April 17, 2019 at http://www.eecm.org/about-eecm/Niederberger, Mary. “East End Cooperative Ministry shows off its new facility.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 25, 2013.“Remembering the past: history of the merging congregations and their buildings.” Pittsburgh, PA: First United Methodist Church, 1993. Retrieved from Historic Pittsburgh Book collection, University of Pittsburgh at https://www.historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A00d085600mTrotter, Joe W. and Jared N. Day. Race and Renaissance: African Americans in Pittsburgh since World War II. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010.U.S. Census Bureau. Population and Housing Reports and Racial Distribution Maps, 1940-2010. Prepared by Social Explorer. Accessed Nov. 5, 2018 at https://www.socialexplorer.com/
East Liberty Transit Center: (Spirit St. and Busway Pedestrian Bridge)
The development of transit has shaped East Liberty during the past two centuries. From the opening of the Pennsylvania Railroad station in the 1850s and the electrification of the streetcar system in the 1890s, to the proliferation of automobile ownership in the twentieth century and the attempts to solve traffic problems with Penn Circle during urban renewal. Today, transit development is still affecting the neighborhood.Completed in 2015, the East Liberty Transit Center aims at transit oriented development (TOD). TOD places residents and retail in close proximity to mass transit in order to encourage urban density (rather than sprawl) and discourage automobile use. The transit center increases accessibility to the MLK Jr. East Busway that runs along the ravine in which the Pennsylvania Railroad once ran.This 2015 project was a catalyst for heated debates about the need for affordable housing in East Liberty. The tax abatement program in the East Liberty transit district has given public funds to private developers who have constructed luxury apartments and upscale commercial establishments. The public controversy centered around the 2015 demolition of the affordable housing complex, Penn Plaza, which displaced 200 tenants. While the displaced residents have been given affordable housing vouchers, none of those units are located in East Liberty. Critics argue that just as the neighborhood and transit system is being improved, many long time residents will no longer be able to live in the neighborhood.Sources:Deto, Ryan. “Pittsburgh affordable-housing advocates rally in East Liberty; decry public subsidies to luxury development.” Pittsburgh City Paper. March 9, 2017. Available at https://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archives/2017/03/09/pittsburgh-affordable-housing-advocates-rally-in-east-liberty-decry-public-subsidies-to-luxury-developmentDeto, Ryan. “Recent Penn Plaza evictions highlight East Liberty's severe lack of affordable housing.” Pittsburgh City Paper. July 22, 2015. Available at https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/recent-penn-plaza-evictions-highlight-east-libertys-severe-lack-of-affordable-housing/Content?oid=1841883 EAST LIBERTY STATION: REALIZING THE POTENTIAL Transit Revitalization Investment District Planning Study. Pittsburgh City Planning. Published May 2012. Accessed April 19, 2019 http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/elTRID.pdf
6014 Centre Avenue
Standing on the north side of Centre, look across the street to see the oldest building in the Historic Commercial District, a circa 1870 Italianate style building. Note the remnant of the urban renewal-era traffic circle—the address still reads 6014 Penn Circle South.Sources:“East Liberty Commercial Historic District: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.” Prepared by Michael Eversmeyer and Angelique Bamberg. National Park Service. November 3, 2010.
Werner Building: (124 S Highland Ave)
Oswald Werner opened the first dry cleaning establishment in Pittsburgh in 1864. The business had expanded by 1890 so his sons moved a pickup site to this building on Highland Avenue. The price of dry cleaning and pressing a sack suit in 1912 was $1 (about $25 today). The East Liberty Chamber of Commerce occupied the building for many decades.Between 2001 and 2013 this location was home to the Shadow Lounge, a performance and art space for local musicians. The Lounge was a rare inclusive space where people of diverse ages, race and backgrounds came together. This community performance space opened right at the beginning of East Liberty’s most recent phase of development in 2001. After closing the Lounge was replaced by a succession of high end restaurants. This highlights the downside of the most recent development phase. Much of the development is focused on high-end retail and luxury apartments, which doesn’t serve the existing community. In some cases it has come at a cost to some local businesses that were fixtures in the neighborhood.In 2018 a piece of public art above the Werner Building was removed. Since 2013 The Last Billboard was a rotating art installation where local artists would post messages on top of the building. But when one artist posted the message “There Are Black People In The Future” the building’s landlord had it removed. The removal of this art piece is symbolic of how the ownership of East Liberty is being contested on different levels, through commercial and residential spaces as well as through public art.Sources:Collins, John Fulton Stuart. Stringtown on the Pike: Tales and History of East Liberty and the East Liberty Valley of Pennsylvania. East Liberty Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh, 1966.Gordon, Alex. “Updated: “There Are Black People In The Future” text removed from East Liberty public-art project at behest of landlord.” Pittsburgh City Paper. April 5, 2018. Available at https://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archives/2018/04/05/there-are-black-people-in-the-future-text-removed-from-east-liberty-public-art-project-at-behest-of-landlord Magoc, Kate and Rory D. Webb. “Shadow Lounge prepares to close after over a decade in a changing neighborhood.” Pittsburgh City Paper. March 27, 2013. Available at https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/shadow-lounge-prepares-to-close-after-over-a-decade-in-a-changing-neighborhood/Content?oid=1632528“Up-town, Greater Pittsburgh’s Classic Section: East End, the World’s Most Beautiful Suburb.” Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh Board of Trade, 1907. Retrieved from Historic Pittsburgh Book Collection, University of Pittsburgh at https://www.historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A00aah6674m
Highland Building: (121 S Highland Ave)
Daniel Burnham designed the Highland Building, which was commissioned by Henry Clay Frick in the early twentieth century. Burnham is famous for designing the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Burnham designed four other buildings in Pittsburgh for Frick, including the Frick Building downtown on Grant Street. The Highland Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.In the early 1990s, East Liberty Development, Inc and several other community groups tried to work with the city in order to convert the then-vacant building into housing for the neighborhood’s low-income seniors. Local business owners opposed the plan arguing it would hurt the commercial interests of the struggling area. They preferred it to be kept as an office building, arguing that white collar workers would be better for local businesses than elderly residents on fixed incomes. The building instead sat vacant for twenty years and fell into disrepair. In 2012, a developer began renovations on the building and converted it into luxury apartments.Sources:Barnes, Tom. “Use of E. Liberty high-rise focus of feud.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 2, 1992.Belko, Mark. “New life planned for E. Liberty site.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 9, 2011.Tannler, Albert M. “D.H. Burnham & Company in Pittsburgh.” PHLF News, April 2009.
East Liberty Presbyterian Church: (116 S Highland Ave)
This Gothic-style structure designed by Ralph Adams Cram is the fifth church building to occupy this site. East Liberty pioneers founded the East Liberty Presbyterian Church on this spot in 1819 on donated land from Jacob and Barbara Negley. The construction dates of the four previous churches are inscribed in stone on the exterior corner of Penn and Whitefield (facing Whitefield). On the 100th anniversary of the church’s organization the brothers Andrew and Robert Beatty Mellon, who were the grandsons of the original property donors, donated the additional tract of land that borders Whitfield Street. This final land acquisition allowed the church to occupy an entire square block in the center of East Liberty. In 1969 the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation gave the church Historic Landmark status.The church is home to Hope Academy of Music and the Arts, an after-school community outreach program founded in 1999. Hope Academy partnered with the Kelly Strayhorn Theater across the street in 2001 by regularly using the historic theater as a venue for performances.Sources:Abels, Caroline. "A Church Will Be the Salvation of East Liberty's Regent Theater." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 June 2000.Cathedral of Hope. The Architecture of East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Accessed April 17, 2019 at http://cathedralofhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/HistoryAndArchitectureRevised.pdfCollins, John Fulton Stuart. Stringtown on the Pike: Tales and History of East Liberty and the East Liberty Valley of Pennsylvania. East Liberty Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh, 1966.Robshaw, Charles P. The Art and Architecture of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Pittsburgh, PA: The East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 1977.
