These notes focus on the south bridges at the Point. The north bridges have their own notes.
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Seven of Pittsburgh's bridges, 1912. Can you identify them? I'll start us off with the Point Bridge, bottom right. (Detroit Publishing/Shorpy) https://www.shorpy.com/node/22445?size=_original#caption |
Construction has yet to begin on the Manchester (North Point) Bridge.
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| Brian Hutton Jr. WTAE posted Look at this! Old photo of the Point, and the original Point Bridge, in 1911. You didn't worry about a heart attack from the Steelers offense....because the team didn't exist yet! My eyes are burning, and I can smell this picture! Photo from John Schalcosky (Library of Congress) Cheryl Lynn Kahle: I grew up about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh & I remember my dad telling stories about the soot & smog that settled around the 3 rivers. Couldn’t see the city from the top of the hill as you started down into Pittsburgh. Men that wore white dress shirts to work would have an extra one to change into in the afternoon. |
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| Heinz History Center posted Today's #throwbackthursday photo is featured in #Pixburgh: A Photographic Experience and is from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs. Dennis DeBruler shared #TBT to 1896: A view of the Point from Mount Washington. Today's #throwbackthursday photo is featured in #Pixburgh: A Photographic Experience and is from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 posted |
Another view with the covered bridge.
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| 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 posted Pittsburgh in 1902! Lithograph by Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler. John Petrone: I doubt the authenticity of this photo. Between 1891 and 1911, there was no “h”. Any official maps or renderings of the name would have been without it. Also, the bridges and point buildings indicate it was most likely earlier than 1902. Joe Maskew: According to current records, residents of the city ignored the Feds mandate and continued to use Pittsburgh. Good for them! |
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| Jackson-Township historical preservation posted Overlooking Pittsburgh, the old Point Bridge (1876-1927) and the old covered Union Bridge (1874-1907) and Exposition Hall stand where Point State Park is today. (Photo from https://www.facebook.com/OddPittsburgh/) |
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| Jackson-Township historical preservation posted Union Bridge located near "The Point" in Pittsburgh. The Union Bridge was Pittsburgh's last wooden constructed bridge, built in 1874 and later demolished in 1907 due to fire damage and being declared a hazard to navigation by the Secretary of War. (Photo from Joe Lillion via https://www.facebook.com/groups/132768683480072/) Bridges Now and Then shared |
These notes focus on the south side bridges. See the Manchester Bridge for the north side.
The 1877 bridge was removed soon after it was replaced by the 1927 bridge. The 1927 bridge was replaced by the Fort Pitt Bridge in 1959, but it was not removed until 1970.
1877
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| LC-D4-13890 [P&P] Photo by the Detroit Publishing Co. via BridgeHunter-1877 The Point Bridge, Pittsburgh, Pa. |
Evidently someone enhanced the above LoC photo. This source has some additional photos.
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| BrooklineConnection The original Point Bridge in 1900. |
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| David Gulden posted [The comment is wrong.] Mike Runyon: That is the Mon Wharf in Pittsburgh. |
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| point-bridge Engineering News – July 8, 1876 reported,“The center span is 800 feet center to center of towers, and the side spans are 145 each in the clear. The height of the towers above low water is 180 feet, and the deflection of the chain is 88 feet. The roadway is 20 feet wide with double tramways and one track for a narrow gauge railway; outside of the roadway are sidewalks six feet wide each. The piers and anchorages are founded upon timber platforms sunk to a gravel bed. The masonry is of the best quality Baden sandstone. The superstructure will be the first example of a stiffened chain suspension bridge of long span and will differ considerably from others in existence.” |
This photo clearly shows the amount of redundancy in the tie-bar chains.
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| point-bridge |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted The northern (downtown) entrance to Pittsburgh's Point Bridge in 1916. (Brookline Connection) Bridges Now and Then posted again David Denenberg: Longest main span (800 feet [244m]) of any eyebar suspension bridge ever built in the US. The ill-fated Silver Bridge, and its identical companion at Saint Marys were tied for second with 700-foot [213m] main spans. The Hercilio Luz Bridge (Florianopolis, Brazil) has the longest main span of any eyebar suspension bridge ever built. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercilio_Luz_Bridge |
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| Dennis DeBruler posted While researching the Point Bridges that were in Pittsburgh, I came across this Detroit Publishing Co. photo, circa 1900-15. It shows the importance that riverboats, railroads and street cars once had in that area. LC-D4-15633 [P&P] Robert Swenson: Awesome photo…. Waiting for the creeks to rise.Dennis DeBruler: Robert Swenson So they are waiting for the wet season so that there is enough water in the Ohio River to provide the needed draft. I remembered that this was well before the 9-foot channel project was built. But I never realized how they queued up waiting for the rains to come. Dale Zubik: Largest Inland Port at one Time [That has to be the Duquesne Incline in the foreground. And the Wabash Bridge in the background.] |
1927
HAER describes this as "a cantilever, arch-truss" bridge.
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| HAER PA,2-PITBU,38--4 4. Charles W. Shane, Photographer, April 1970. VIEW FROM THE NORTHWEST. - Point Bridge, Spanning Monongahela River at Point of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA |
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| 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 posted Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle • 1955! Theo Geary: Wow look at the early stages of the fort pitt bridge. Holland Jancaitis: So, which railroad company was it that had the terminal that ran along the Allegheny almost right up to the point? And did they go out of business or did the city force the removal of the terminal? Remarkable transformation for a city that continues to transform. Phil Scholze: Holland Jancaitis I believe you're referring to The Pennsylvania Station. I remember traveling from Wilkinsburg to downtown and back...probably 1953. I think it is still a "railroad station" but has been restored. Holland Jancaitis: Phil Scholze no, i’m familiar with that station. In earlier pictures of the point there’s a railroad yard next to a gigantic warehouse right on the Allegheny where the Ft Duquesne Bridge is now. I assume it was for transferring railroad cargo to barges to float down the Ohio River. I’m curious how it came to pass that all that infrastructure got leveled. TWO MEN AND A JUNK TRUCK (Pittsburgh, PA): Such amazing changes. I just learned there was a roller coaster at the point in 1900 - 1910. Wild |
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| Mindy Klimas commented on the comment by TWO MEN AND A JUNK TRUCK [Is this the freight terminal that Holland was asking about?] |
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| Dan Kuhn posted Pretty cool shot of Three Rivers being built. Also a few of those bridges no longer exist. |
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| View Pittsburgh posted On the left, notice the boring into the bottom of the Monongahela River to prepare for the creation of the Fort Pitt Bridge. |
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| BrooklineConnection The two Point Bridges side-by-side in 1927. The old suspension bridge would soon be dismantled. |
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| Jackson-Township historical preservation posted Steamboat Race between the William Larimer Jones and the Homestead, along a 3.1 mile course on the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers in Pittsburgh on June 3, 1951. Part of a city celebration called "Welcome Week", the festivities attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators. The last steamboat race in the city's history ended in a dead-heat. This photo is by Edward Frank. (Photo and text from https://historicpittsburgh.org/) |
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