Category Archives: Free

Astronomy on Tap: Happy Hour That Brings Science Down to Earth

Hello, I heart PGH readers! You may have noticed that there haven’t been many posts here on the blog in recent months. I am excited to tell you that I am actually publishing even more stories about Pittsburgh over on a new website. I hope you will take a moment to check out Pittsburgh.VeryLocal.com and follow along on the social channels (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram). You are all invited to come to the very first Very Local party on March 3rd – the $8 Skate Date is ice skating at the MassMutual Pittsburgh Ice Rink at PPG Place. Your ticket includes skating and hot chocolate. All of the tickets sales will be donated to 412 Food Rescue.

The IheartPGH website will stay online, and I will occasionally share stories from Very Local, and I am excited that I get to spend more time writing and sharing some of the best things that Pittsburgh has to offer. If you have a story that you think more Pittsburghers should know about (or you would be interested in doing some freelance writing or documentary films for Very Local), please send me an email: lindsay.patross@verylocal.com.

Astronomy on Tap Pittsburgh – Free science talks for the non-scientists

The next Astronomy on Tap event in Pittsburgh is on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, at Franktuary. See the whole story over at Very Local Pittsburgh here.

This Sunday Take an Urban Hike Around the Upper Hill & North Oakland

From the Sharpsburg Urban Hike

Urban Hike is another one of the best kept secrets in Pittsburgh. For over a decade a group of faithful volunteers have been mapping and researching routes around different Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

This Sunday, join the Urban Hike crew for a 2 hour walk around the Upper Hill and North Oakland. The hikes are usually on paved surfaces, but sometimes off road was well.

: North Oakland

: Upper Hill

Pop-up Urban Hike in the Upper Hill and North Oakland

Date: Sunday, July 16, 2017
Time: 10am-Noon
Location: TBD. Keep an eye on the Facebook event page for updates.
FREE
RSVP – not required but it is helpful to reply to the Facebook event.

Past Urban Hikes

Some of the previous Urban Hikes have traversed…

Millvale
Garfield
Hazelwood – The Hazelwood hike is how I learned about the John Woods House, the second oldest house in Pittsburgh.
Ambridge
South Oakland
Crafton
Sharpsburg – The Sharpsburg hike is where I learned about one of my favorite breakfast spots, Cafe on Main.

And those are just the Urban Hikes that we have posted about here on the blog. Visit the Urban Hike website to see a list of previous hikes.

The best way to learn about upcoming hikes is to follow Urban Hike on Facebook.

If you are headed to the hike or out for a stroll in your neighborhood, keep an eye out for some neighborhood bars and share them with the #NeighBARhood hashtag. We are working on building a list of the best neighborhood watering holes.

Old Allegheny County Jail Museum – Free Tours Offered Every Monday

Photo credit: PHLF

The old Allegheny County Jail building sits are the corner of 5th and Ross Streets was designed by architect H. H. Richardson. This jail and was part of a larger complex designed by Richardson and built between 1884 and 1886. In 1995, Allegheny County built a new jail, (the one over by the Allegheny River that you have probably biked past on the Eliza Furnace trail, which most Pittsburghers refer to as “the jail trail”). After the new jail was built, the old Allegheny County jail was converted to house the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Family Division.

I know that this building is a great example of H.H. Richardson’s work and a great example of the Romanesque Revival style that Richardson was know for, but what I didn’t know is that there is an Old Allegheny County Jail Musuem in the building that is open for tours. (If you have been following some of my posts about the historic designation for the Albright United Methodist Church building, that church which was built in 1906 is also a Romanesque Revival style building.)

Visiting the Old Allegheny County Jail Museum

The Old Allegheny County Jail Museum is open on Mondays from 11:30am-1pm. Docents from Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation are on hand to tell you about the place and get you started on the self-guided tour.

Open: Most Mondays from 11:30am-1pm (No tours on memorial day, check the PHLF Calendar before you go to confirm they are open.)
Location: Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas-Family Division, 440 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, 15219
Enter on Ross Street or through the great courtyard arch on Fifth Avenue.

Things to know before you go:

This is a courthouse, which means you will have to go through the security screening to enter the building.
There is no photography allowed in the building.

Learn more about the Old Allegheny County Jail

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Allegheny County Jail

Pittsburgh Press photographer Michael Chikiris via The Digs, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail – extensive website created by an economics student. Site has not been updated recently, but contains several posts and many photos of the building.
“10 Things You Might Not Know About The Old Allegheny County Jail“, Pittsburgh Magazine, July 26, 2016
“PSO rocks the jailhouse“, Post-Gazette, The Digs – one of the only interior photos I could find was this story on the Post-Gazette’s archive site, The Digs, about the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra playing a concert in the jailhouse in 1979.
Record # 5 – Allegheny County Courthouse & Jail Presentation Drawings, Pitt Archives Service Center blog – architectural drawings and photos of the courthouse.

Get a Birds Eye View of East Liberty, Steeple Tour of East Liberty Presbyterian Church

The East Liberty Presbyterian Church tower (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another one of Pittsburgh’s best kept secrets. I happened to be at East Liberty Presbyterian Church one Sunday morning and I always read the bulletin because each Sunday they put in fun trivia facts about the music and things that happened on this day in history. I noticed they were offering a tour of the building after the service. It was one of those gray summer Sunday’s where I didn’t have anything else planned, so I stuck around and joined a handful of folks for a tour of the building from top to bottom, well it was actually from bottom to top. The tour ended with a hike, well really a climb, up a stunning stair case to the top of the steeple, with an incredible view of East Liberty and surrounding neighborhoods.

You will have to excuse the quality of the photo in this tweet, since it is from 2012, that was several years before I had an iphone and it was likely posted from my little Blackberry pearl phone.

Guess where I took this photo of East Liberty from? pic.twitter.com/KqKPmRwz

— I heart PGH (@iheartpgh) June 24, 2012

I have posted about past tours at East Liberty Presbyterian Church here before and received many thanks for the tip. The next steeple tour is Sunday, June 11, 2017, details here. Wear pants and closed toe shoes.

English: Ralph Adams Cram, American architect (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

East Liberty Presbyterian Church is an architectural gem, designed by famed architect Ralph Adams Cram. The tour gives you a chance to go “behind the scenes” actually, over the ceiling, to see some the interesting structural features. You can read more about Ralph Adams Cram and his work on East Liberty Presbyterian Church in this 2008 City Paper article here.

Urban Hike Heads to Allegheny Center & Deutschtown (Jane’s Walk Pittsburgh)

Urban Hike is a free guided walk around one (or several) of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. The guided hike is led by a group of volunteers who carefully research each route and invite experts from the neighborhood to come speak to the group on local history and neighborhood development. If you like history, exploring or you are looking for a way to learn more about Pittsburgh, then Urban Hike is for you.

I have attended many of the past Urban Hikes, which has led to discovering all kinds of secrets about Pittsburgh. The John Woods House, aka the 2nd oldest house in Pittsburgh which I posted about earlier this week was a find from the Urban Hike in Hazelwood two years ago.

The first Urban Hike of the 2017 season will be exploring Allegheny Center & Deutschtown. If you aren’t familiar with these neighborhoods, they are on the Northside, just North of the area where PNC Park is located.

Urban Hike = Jane’s Walk Pittsburgh

English: Mrs. Jane Jacobs, chairman of the Comm. to save the West Village holds up documentary evidence at press conference at Lions Head Restaurant at Hudson & Charles Sts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This Saturday’s Urban Hike coincides with Jane’s Walk. Jane’s Walk is an annual event in celebration of Jane Jacobs, author of the book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Amazon affiliate link), which many consider this book to be the bible of urban planning. Jane’s Walks are free walking tours talking place in cities across the globe to support walkable neighborhoods and to encourage people to learn more about their communities. Pittsburgh has hosted several Jane’s Walks over the past decade and this weeks Urban Hike is currently the only Jane’s Walk scheduled for Pittsburgh.

Interested in learning more about Jane Jacobs? Pittsburgh Filmmakers will be showing the documentary Citizen Jane: Battle for the City from May 12-May 18, 2017.