WEST END BYPASS
LEFT: By 1950 the West End Bypass, seen at the foot of the hill being excavated, was nearing completion. The bypass would avoid traveling on narrow Woodville Street (left) and lead
directly to the West End Bridge. In the lower left is one of two railroad trestles crossing Banksville Road. The area at the right of the picture would become the entrance to the Fort Pitt
Tunnels.
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Pittsburgh
1950's
ALL THINGS PITTSBURGH
SOUTHSIDE
Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood (background) was originally known as Birmingham. The land was given to John Ormsby by the
Queen of England for service in the French and Indian War. The town was created by Ormsby’s son-in-law who named it Birmingham.
Today, the South Side is one of Pittsburgh’s most popular residential and cultural districts. The Brady Street Bridge (background), or the
South Twenty-Second Street Bridge, opened to traffic in March 1896, was demolished on May 29, 1978.
SEE SOUTHSIDE TODAY
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
PHOTO RESTORATION DONE BY THE STEELCACTUS FOUNDATION

ADDITIONAL VERBIAGE BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
RACCOON STATE PARK
This view above the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail in downtown Pittsburgh (lower right foreground) shows the Duquesne
University campus before the redevelopment that would eventually change the appearance of the entire area. In the 1950s demolition
began on the “Bluff.” To the right of this area are temporary buildings built during World War II and just behind them to the right is the
administration building of the university. This landmark structure is still in existence today. Eventually all the buildings in the center of the
photo would be razed to make way for a central mall and new university buildings.
Dravo Corporation’s Engineering Works Division at Neville Island, Pennsylvania, operates one of the largest inland waterway shipyards in
the United States. This location also includes a side-haul marine repair facility. Some of the products manufactured at this facility include
hopper, tank, and deck barges (pictured here under construction), towboats, tugs, dredges, and special-purpose vessels. Dravo
Corporation has launched more than 6,000 hulls since it entered the shipbuilding business in 1915.
Saw Mill Run Creek originates in Bethel Park and flows north for 9.6 miles where it enters the Ohio River less than a mile south of the
Point in downtown Pittsburgh. Lots of tributaries feed into Saw Mill Run, including Little Saw Mill Run, which runs through the Banksville
Road corridor until it intersects the main stream near the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Water samples taken from the steam in 2000 have determined
that high concentrations of fecal coliform are still present in the stream, showing that water pollution still plagues Pittsburgh decades
after this photograph was taken.
RIGHT: The First National Bank Building at Wood Street and Penn Avenue in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania,
undergoing outside surface cleaning of soot and grime caused by air pollution.
PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY
The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (PPG) began as the New York City Plate
Glass Company when it was founded in 1880 by Captain John B. Ford, an
entrepreneur, and John Pitcairn, a railroad official. The first plant was located
northeast of Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River in Creighton, Pennsylvania. By 1883
the company headquarters were moved to Pittsburgh and the plants were
producing 20 million square feet of plate glass per year. PPG quickly moved into
research and development, building its first research center in 1910. As a result of
this dedication to research, the company made new innovations in glass, including
the development of Herculite tempered glass in 1938, which is more resistant to
shatter than plate glass, and Twindow double-panned insulating glass in 1945.
This type of glass became very popular during the housing boom of the 1950s.
During the 1990s the company began producing Sungate 500 Low-E Glass, an
energy saving form of glass.