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You Can Now Legally Drink at the Speakeasy in the William Penn

This is one of this historic things about Pittsburgh that I think is so fascinating that I assume everyone knows. But I am amazed how many people don’t know that the new(ish) bar in the basement of the William Penn Hotel which is named Speakeasy, really was a speakeasy back in the day. I love old hotels. I love visiting old hotels. I love the book “Eloise,” which is about a girl who grew up in the Plaza hotel in New York city. I love the stories about the New Yorkers who lived in the Plaza hotel for years. (Check… Read the rest

The Alcoa Headquarters and US Steel Building

I had dinner at the restaurant Talia Cucina & Rosticerra this evening. Talia is located at the corner of 6th and William Penn Place on the first floor of the Regional Enterprise Building, which used to the Alcoa headquarters. The following photo and history of the Alcoa building is from Darren Toth’s Instagram account @Yinztergram. Darren was kind enough to meet me for coffee last year to talk Pittsburgh history when I was working on a historic designation. I have really enjoyed following Darren’s posts of fascinating photos of Pittsburgh people and places accompanied by some unique local facts. While… Read the rest

East Liberty History & Upcoming Lectures on George Washington & Frederick Scheibler, Jr.

The East Liberty Valley Historic Society is a nonprofit that exists to document and share the history of the East Liberty neighborhood and surrounding areas. East Liberty is a particularly interesting area of Pittsburgh when it comes to development as it has many buildings from the time East Liberty became a fashionable suburb for some of Pittsburgh’s wealthiest families who were looking to escape the congestion of Downtown Pittsburgh in the 1850s. East Liberty is also the site of a massive Urban Renewal project in the 1950s. The East Liberty Valley Historic Society has been documenting and sharing information about… Read the rest

Big Heart Trivia! Free Trivia Night at Wigle Whiskey

Most Monday nights, Wigle Whiskey hosts Batnam Nights, where they open their tasting room to a different Pittsburgh area non-profit and donate a portion of the proceeds to the organization.  This Monday night the Batnam night will be a Valentine’s trivia night to benefit a local historic preservation effort. On Monday, February 13, 2017, Friends of Albright is hosting a special trivia night at Wigle Whiskey in the strip district – Big Heart Trivia.  Friends of Albright, which I helped to establish in 2014, is a group of community members that has been working to preserve and re-purpose the Albright… Read the rest

Mon 7/25 – Final Public Hearing on Historic Designation for 110 Year Old Church

If you have been reading the blog or following IheartPGH on Twitter and Instagram over the past year, you have noticed more than a few posts about the Albright United Methodist Church building. On Monday afternoon, I will address the Pittsburgh City Council at the final public hearing on the historic designation for this building. I am asking for your help in making sure that this building receives a historic designation in the City of Pittsburgh.  A year ago, I helped to organized a community block party to bring together neighbors and community members to think about the future of… Read the rest

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