SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF PITTSBURGH'S GOLDEN TRIANGLE (PART 3) - Pittsburgh Purple Travel Guide

This is Part 3 of our self-guided walking tour of Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle, which covers the highlights of Pittsburgh's architecture, history and culture.

The information on this webiste and much more: google maps locations, reviews and attraction websites can be found in the Pittsburgh Travel Guide that you can preview and purchase at the Backpack and Snorkel Travel Store.

Go to the beginning of the tour here.

21. ALLEGHENY COUNTY COURTHOUSE

On the next city block to the north and also to your right is the Allegheny County Courthouse. You can visit the Allegheny County Courthouse, but you must go through a metal detector and purses, backpacks and luggage are subject to search.

The building was designed by H. H. Richardson who was one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture" and who referred to the building as his "great achievement". It is built in the "Romanesque Revival style" and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

The building has an interior courtyard which is surrounded by four stories on three sides and the 4th side has a five story tower. All roofs are steep and have dormers at the corners. The use of large granite blocks for the walls and wide arches over entrance ways and windows give the building a dignified appearance.

Across the street at the back of the building is the "Bridge of Sighs" which connects the courthouse to the prison. The design of the bridge is based on the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

In 1912, the street level in front of the Allegheny County Courthouse was lowered when Grant’s Hill was leveled. Richardson had accounted for that and buried finished masonry underground which was now brought back to daylight. To allow people to access the now elevated grand entrance, a stairway was built. In the 1930s, however, streets were widened and the stairway had to be removed. The solution that was found left the grand entrance in the 2nd floor and extended the lower doorways in the basement to the street level. That means that you now enter the building through what used to be the basement.
In 1937, five murals were painted on the first floor. They are: "Fort Duquesne", "Industry", "Justice", "Peace", and "The Battle of Grant's Hill".

More information about the Allegheny County Courthouse can be found here.

22. FRICK BUILDING

Across Grant St lies the Frick Building. Henry Clay Frick, an industrialist and union buster, and Andrew Carnegie were business partners, but eventually their relationship soured. Frick intentionally chose this site (where the former Saint Peter Episcopal Church used to stand) as the location for the Frick Building, because it was located directly adjacent to a building that Carnegie owned. By building a taller skyscraper than Carnegie’s building, he could "encompass it in constant shadow".

Opened in 1902, the building had 20 floors and a basement. When Grant’s Hill was leveled and the street level lowered, the basement became the main entrance and now you will sometimes see the building listed as having 21 stories.

Other interesting pieces of information are:

Frick used the top floor as his office. It has a balcony around the entire perimeter, a high handcrafted ceiling and heavy brass door fixtures

There are still many bronze door fixtures with a stamped “F” in the whole building

Frick's personal shower is on the 19th floor. It is still there, but does not work anymore. This shower is special as the pump technology at that time had difficulty pumping water up that high

The lobby features an elegant stained glass window from 1902 by John LaFarge called "Fortune and Her Wheel", and two bronze sentinel lions which were created in 1904 by Alexander Proctor. After Frick’s death a bust of Frick, made by Malvina Hoffman, was added 1923

The building used to house the headquarters of Frick's whiskey business called "Old Overholt"

23. UNION TRUST BUILDING

On the same side of Grant St in the next city block to the north is the Union Trust Building. This Flemish-Gothic building was built by Henry Clay Frick 1916. It was originally designed to be a shopping arcade and called "Union Arcade" with 240 stores and galleries. The mansard roof has terra cotta dormers and two chapel-like mechanical towers on the top. The interior features an 11 story atrium with a stained glass skylight. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is currently under renovation.
I particularly love the architectural details of the ornate roof structure.

24. BNY MELLON CENTER

Across Grant St to the east lies BNY Mellon Center. BNY Mellon Center, finished in 1984, is Pittsburgh’s second tallest building at 725ft (221m). It used to be called One Mellon Center when it was the headquarters of Mellon Financial Corporation. After the 2007 merger with Bank of New York, the building was renamed BNY Mellon Center and the headquarters moved to New York City.
BNY Mellon Center appears in these movies: Flashdance (1983), Striking Distance (1993), Sudden Death (1995), Desperate Measures (1998), and the rap video "Black and Yellow" (2010).

25. BNY MELLON GREEN

Walk north to the next block on Grant St and you will see BNY Mellon Green to the right. Be advised that this is a private park that is open Monday through Friday during office hours. This green oasis between Pittsburgh’s two tallest skyscrapers is a popular lunchtime destination that would almost not have been. Originally scheduled to become another high rise office tower, the recession that lasted through 1994, catalyzed the metamorphosis of the park, which existed since 1985, into the Mellon Green that you see today. The finishing touches were laid with the completion of the fountain in 2001.

26. OMNI WILLIAM PENN HOTEL

Across Grant St you will see the Omni William Penn Hotel. Built in 1916, the 23 story Omni William Penn Hotel was called "the Grandest Hotel in the nation". During a major extension in 1929, the eastern part of the block was filled and the room total was brought to 1,600 which made it the second largest hotel in the world.
The hotel underwent several owner changes and renovations over time and is known as the Omni William Penn hotel since 2001. The room total is now less than 700. The grand entrance hall is worth seeing, so step into the hotel to take a look.
More information about the Omni William Penn Hotel can be found here.

27. MELLON SQUARE

On the backside of the Omni William Penn Hotel to the west lies Mellon Square, Pittsburgh’s first Modernist park. Opened in 1954, it is another popular lunchtime destination that is built above a parking garage. It has a distinctive black, white and green geometric pavement. The park is at street level only at William Penn Pl and raised along the other three streets that border it, allowing retail stores underneath it on Smthfield St.

The park was financed and built by the Mellon Family Foundations as one of several incentives to keep the ALCOA headquarters in Pittsburgh instead of letting them move to New York City. Banker Richard King Mellon donated the park to the city of Pittsburgh, which named it in honor of Mellon’s father and his uncle. A commemorative plaque reads: "Mellon Square is dedicated to the memory of two brothers, Andrew W. Mellon and Richard B. Mellon, their leadership, civic spirit and philanthropy advanced immeasurably the welfare of this community". When the park opened, it was said to have more than 25,000 trees, shrubs and flowers.

The square is part of the "Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic District" and, as of 1985, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The "Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions", what is now the AFL (part of AFL-CIO), was founded at this site in 1881. It was the world's first labor union and a historical marker in the square commemorates this.

The southern section of the block used to be occupied by the Davis Theater from which, on March 10, 1921, KDKA-AM broadcast the world's first live opera.

To the north of the plaza you can see the Alcoa Building, a.k.a. the Regional Enterprise Tower. This first all-aluminum façade building was built in 1953 and has windows that rotate 360 degrees so that they can all be washed from the inside of the building. In 2001, ALCOA moved its headquarters to the North Side.

28. TRINITY CATHEDRAL

Within a block of Mellon Square are three churches. Go north of the park to Sixth Ave (where the ALCOA Building is) and walk left (west) on Sixth Ave for one block until you see two churches next to each other. Don’t worry, the churches are there. You just cannot see them right now.
In case you wonder, the tall building with the strange looking red roof that you see in the distance next to EQT Plaza are the Midtown Towers, an apartment building.

The first church is Trinity Cathedral. This Gothic church with the red doors, which was completed in 1872, sits on a burial ground that is sacred to Native Americans. This burial ground was deeded to the congregation's founders by heirs of Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn and replaced by a hilltop cemetery. The churchyard has the oldest marked graves of Native American leaders and colonists west of the Atlantic coast.

29. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Exit Trinity Cathedral and go left (west) to adjacent First Presbyterian Church.
The church was completed in 1905 in neo-Gothic or Gothic-revival style and 13 of the 253 stained-glass windows are hand-painted.
While the exact date for the formation of the congregation is unknown, there is evidence dating back as far as 1783.

30. SMITHFIELD UNITED CHURCH

When you exit First Presbyterian Church, cross Sixth Ave and go right (east), then make a left (north) on Smithfield St and after a half block you will see Smithfield United Church to your right.
Built in 1925, Smithfield United Church is the oldest organized congregation in the city of Pittsburgh which has served the Pittsburgh community for more than 200 years.
Its Gothic design showcases an aluminum spire, which represents the first use of aluminum for a large-scale architectural piece. Go inside and look at the stained glass windows.

The tour continues here.

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