This postcard of the GAR Home is available for sale on Ebay.
This spring the Post-Gazette published an article about the Ladies’ GAR Home in Swissvale. (“Diana Nelson Jones’ Walkabout: Swissvale home has history on its side, but little else” Post-Gazette, March 13, 2017). The online version of the article doesn’t have a photo, but I knew that if this building was visible from the train, it was worth learning more about.
It is so oddly obscure that a very observant and history-loving Barry Alfonso, a writer who lives in Swissvale, saw it for the first time on an Amtrak train. The tracks pass along what used to be the front gate.
The Ladies’ GAR Home — GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic — was built for indigent female family members of Union Army veterans. The original structure was a 12-room home built in 1890 that burned down in 1900. A 53-room facility was built to replace it. In 1937, a 30-room extension was built.
Mr. Alfonso contacted the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hoping to give it some exposure in case someone with extremely deep pockets might consider a future for it. That’s unlikely, though. Borough manager Clyde Wilhelm said liens go back to 2003.
Photo credit: Love Place Photography
More photos of the GAR Home in Swissvale are available from Love Place Photography here.
Ever since I read the article about this building, I have been thinking that there has to be use for this historic building. Before the LGAR moved to a new facility in Turtle Creek in 1996, this building was home to some 80+women.
Could this become offices? Artists studios? Micro apartments? A hotel? If it could be saved, what would you like to see in this building in the future?