Best Historic Sites To See In Pittsburgh
Point State Park
(recalling 1750s time period and beyond; park was designed and developed between 1945-74)
101 Commonwealth Place
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
Point State Park Website
"History happened here––and then some," says Pittsburgh native and celebrated author/lecturer David McCullough. Although undergoing renovation, Point State Park includes the Fort Pitt Museum (a reconstructed bastion of Fort Pitt) and the Fort Pitt Blockhouse of 1764––Pittsburgh's oldest surviving building and oldest museum open to the public––that help tell the story of the founding of Pittsburgh through the American Revolutionary War and yes, George Washington was here.
Woodville Plantation, c. 1780
1375 Washington Pike
Bridgeville, PA 15017-2821
(412) 221-0348
http://woodvilleplantation.org/
Woodville, the home of John and Presley Neville, is Southwestern Pennsylvania's principal link to the late 18th Century. Through programs and tours, the nonprofit Neville House Associates (NHA) interprets the time period of 1780 to 1820 and documents the lives of the three families that resided at Woodville: the Nevilles (1775-1815), the Cowans (1815-35), and the Wrenshalls (1835-1975). PH&LF acquired the house in 1976 to save it from demolition and transferred ownership of the house to the NHA in 2007.
Old Economy Village (1825-1830)
270 Sixteenth Street
Ambridge, Pa. 15003-2298
(724) 266-4500
http://www.oldeconomyvillage.org
Old Economy Village was the home of the Harmony Society, a 19th-c 270 Sixteenth Street Ambridge, Pa. 15003-2298 Century Christian communal group. Established in 1824, Economy was known worldwide for its piety and industrial prosperity. The Village includes the Bishop John Boyer House, the Harmony Museum, the Wagner House Museum Annex, and the Mennonite Meetinghouse and Cemetery. In 2009, PH&LF accepted easements (a voluntary legal agreement) on eight historic properties in Harmony, Pa., thus protecting them in perpetuity.
Station Square (P & LE RR 1879-1992; PH&LF 1976-1994)
125 West Station Square Drive
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219
(412) 261-2811
http://www.stationsquare.com
Five historic buildings adapted for new uses and a still-functioning main line help visitors to Station Square imagine this site as a thriving headquarters of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad. Between 1976 and 1994 and thanks to funding support from the Allegheny Foundation, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation served as the prime developer of the 52-acre, mixed-use riverfront revitalization. Go inside the Grand Concourse Restaurant to see the spectacular stained glass skylight and interior of the former passenger station. Visit PH&LF's offices on the fourth floor, in The Landmarks Building (housing the Grand Concourse).
Kennywood, West Mifflin, 1898
4800 Kennywood Blvd
West Mifflin, Pa. 15122
(412) 461-0500
Developed by the Monongahela Street Railway Company beginning in 1898, Kennywood is the outstanding––and only survivor––of 13 amusement parks intended as trolley or railroad destinations in Southwestern Pennsylvania in the early part of the 20th century.
