I learned about the Gardener-Bailey house from this photo from Cam Miller (@CatLadyCam) on Instagram. Built in 1864, this building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Does anyone know the history of this grand old Victorian home?
Built in 1890, the Westinghouse Castle was designed by Frederick J. Osterling. Osterling is well known for his work around Pittsburgh. The most prominent Osterling building is probably the Union Trust Building. The Westinghouse Castle, was never actually a castle or a residence. This building served as an office building for the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. From 2006 until 2013, the Westinghouse Castle was used as a museum and could be rented for events. John Graf, who runs the Priory Hospitality group, purchased the Westinghouse Castle last summer. The Priory Hospitality group plans to redevelop the castle as a boutique hotel.
To kickoff the redevelopment of the Westinghouse Castle John Graf has launched a Kickstarter to raise the first $150,000 of the project. Watch the video and check out the Kickstarter page for the Westinghouse Castle to learn more about redevelopment plans for the hotel and the economic benefits that they hotel is projected to bring to the community.
With the Graf’s experience in remodeling and running hotels and event facilities in historic buildings, this has the potential to transform Wilmerding into a destination just outside of Pittsburgh.
For more on the history of the Westinghouse Castle, visit The George Westinghouse Legacy Facebook page.
Wilmerding is just about 20 miles east of Downtown Pittsburgh. Without traffic, that is about a 30 minute drive.
I posted a photo of this postcard on Instagram earlier this year and asked for some more information about just what “The Just Right” was back in the day. I knew this building had a long history as Gus Miller’s newsstand but I didn’t know what else was in the building. I liked the horse shoe on the top and “The Just Right” seems like a great name for a band or a podcast or the title of an essay for the New Yorker (the essay would of course be about someone who moved to Pittsburgh and found the city to be the just right place to be). For some reason I thought “The Just Right” might be a name for a brothel or other “interesting establishment.” There is a building on the Boulevard of the Allies, where the restaurant Papa J’s was located, that was a brothel, so it is not out of the realm of possibility. Before I had t-shirts printed for my future rock band “The Just Right” I wanted to make sure I knew just what “The Just Right” building housed back in the day.
Thanks to Darren Toth aka @Yinztergram on Instagram and Twitter, who left a comment on my photow with a detailed and colorful history of this corner shop in Oakland.
The building upstairs served as the Oakland Board of Trade, i.e. the local businessman’s organization around the turn of the 20th Century. In 1904 a guy named Edwin Edwards opened up a tobacco shop on the corner, and next door at 3803 was a Tailor Shop, which changed hand a few times before it became known as, “The Just Right Tailoring and Cleaning Company” under an owner named Goldberg. Gus Miller took over the corner shop sometime between 1910 and 1911, and ran the shop pretty much as it was until he retired in 1967, passing the business on to his daughter, Myrtle Mae Miller, who retired in 1985, and died shortly thereafter in 1987. Myrtle was the woman behind the idea of “The Green Weenie“, a sort of precursor to, “The Terrible Towel”, popularized by sports commentator, Bob Prince. It was a green plastic hot dog shaped rattle that was used by Pirate fans in the 1960s at Forbes Field to jinx the other team. Not sure how waving wieners would fly today, but I imagine if you could find an original green weenie in good shape, you could make a few bucs on it…get it? “Bucs”? Eh, anyway, hope that clears it up a bit.
From the Historic Society of Western Pennsylvania, here is a photo of the same building in the 1950s.
The caption notes that the Pitt Towers dorms were under construction. According to Wikipedia, the towers were completed in 1963, so this photo is probably early 1960s.
Photo credit: The Terrible Blogger.
You can read a whole lot more about the Green Weenie over on The Terrible Blogger. In case you were wondering, the original 1966 Green Wennies are selling for $20-25 on ebay.
Using the Google Street view history, it looks like the awnings were removed from the building in July 2014.
This post is part of our series on historic Pittsburgh buildings for preservation month. You might be interested in reading about some of the other historic buildings that are located in Oakland:
Interior of the Anaheim Train Station.
This month long journey of historic Pittsburgh places is moving right along from planes (see yesterday’s post about the art deco style of the Allegheny County Airport) to trains. I am writing this post while riding Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner in from Anaheim to just north of Los Angeles to meet a friend for dinner. I just sent a photo of the Anaheim Train Station to a friend and commented on how this transit hub really creates a great public space.
This was my first visit to the Anaheim Train Station, which is know as ARTIC, (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center). ARTIC opened in 2014 and is just a block from the Angels stadium and the Honda Center, which is where the Anaheim Ducks hockey team plays. ARTIC is also close to both Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center.
The Wilkinsburg train station, which no longer sits next to train tracks, but it conveniently located right next to the busway, is being restored and this building has the potential to be a great public space for connecting Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg.
Rendering of proposed renovations to the Wilkinsburg Train Station.
This is one of those projects that has been chugging along for quite some time and is just now picking up steam. The train station has not been used for train passengers since 1975. I would imagine that if it was possible to get on the train in Wilkinsburg today, it would be a popular stop. It is interesting to see how our transportation habits have changed overtime.
According to a 2007 Tribune Review article, the first studies on repurposing the train station were done in 2004. Last year, the Wilkinsburg CDC has officially kicked off the fundraising for the restoration. After recieving a $1,000,000 grant from the Robert King Mellon Foundation, the Wilkinsburg CDC is working to raise the rest of the $3,000,000 for the renovation from private donations.
The total projected cost for renovating the Wilkinsburg train station building is $3,000,000. The Richard King Mellon Foundation donated the first $1 million and the Wilkinsburg CDC is looking to raise the rest of the money from individuals and other private foundations. Several fundraising events have already been held and I am sure there will be more opportunities to support this project.
It was the arrival of the train to Wilkinsburg that led to the expansion of the area as a suburb to the City of Pittsburgh. For more post cards of the current and previous Wilkinsburg train stations visit this page on the Wilkinsburg Historical Society website. For more photos and newsclippings about the Wilkinsburg train station, see the album, “A History of Wilkinsburg Station,” on the Wilkinsburg Train Station Facebook page.
Postmarked 10/13/1917. Credit Wilkinsburg Historical Society Website.
Clock on the wall of the Wilkinsburg Train Station. Interior photos from the Wilkinsburg Train Station Facebook page.
1971 – Amtrak took over the passenger service. 3 of the 4 passenger train routes that made stops in Wilkinsburg were discontinued.
More information on the WIlkinsburg Train Station and Wilkinsburg history is available here:
Today’s historic preservation post is inspired by airport architecture. I am writing this while I watch the sun set over Phoenix from the Sky Harbor airport. The design of the D terminal offers windows that let you look out over the mountain range and there is even a set of binoculars so you can get a better view.
Most of the the flights to Pittsburgh arrive at the Pittsburgh International Airport, but on the other side of town, there is a smaller airport that is still in service but mostly for private planes – The Allegehny County Airport. The Allegheny County Airport is located in West Mifflin, pretty close to Century Three Chevrolet (Lebanon Church Road Pittsburgh… minutes from the mall).
The Pittsburgh airport will likely be known as a prime example of 80’s architecture (which in someways is an architectural style that sums up Pittsburgh, practical, sensible, not too fancy). The Allegheny County Airport is an art deco gem.
Photo credit: Father Pitt.
The Allegheny County Airport was built on an old slag heap, the building opened in 1931. The airport building was expanded with an addition by architect Henry Hornbostel in 1936 and served as the primary airport for the city until 1952 when the Greater Pittsburgh Airport opened.
The interior still has an art deco design as well. Visit the blog of author Robert Matzen to see several photos of the inside of the terminal.
Allegheny County Airport, October 2016. Fountain was died pink for breast cancer awareness month.
The Allegheny County Airport …
While the airport is now only used for smaller, private aircraft, last week a Southwest flight was forced to land at the Allegheny County Airport and passengers were then taken by bus to the Pittsburgh airport.