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Firstside Area Walking Tour
October 18, 2018 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Thursday, October 18
10:00 a.m. to Noon
One of five National-Register Historic Districts in Downtown Pittsburgh, Firstside includes a handsome mix of architecturally significant buildings from the 1850s through the 1930s. We’ll visit the Distrikt Hotel in the former Salvation Army building, several locally owned businesses on Market Street and First Avenue, and the Waterfront Building and Fort Pitt Commons, both with dramatic interiors. You’ll hear how this area was rebuilt after Pittsburgh’s Great Fire of 1845 and how the steeply sloped, cobblestone Monongahela Wharf gave way to the Parkway. The historic street grid persists, despite the widening of Fort Pitt Boulevard and the Boulevard of the Allies. To walk along First Avenue––a narrow, quiet, one-way street––is a pleasure indeed on a weekday in downtown Pittsburgh.
Meeting location: 453 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (Distrikt Hotel Pittsburgh, near the sign for “or, The Whale,” at the corner of Grant Street and Boulevard of the Allies)
Ending location: 400 block, First Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (outside the First Avenue entrance to the Fort Pitt Commons building)
Advance paid reservations are required: marylu@phlf.org or 412-471-5808, ext. 527
Paid reservation deadline: Friday, October 12, 2018
Fee: $15 for PHLF members; $40 for non-members (includes a one-year complimentary membership in PHLF)
Registration is limited to 30 people.
Please note: Please arrive 10 minutes before the tour time. The walk is on flat land, although the sidewalks are uneven at times. Please dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. Before the tour begins, each participant will be asked to sign his/her name on a form indicating that he/she is “fully able to participate in this PHLF tour and assumes all risk of participation.” This tour is handicap accessible, although we appreciate knowing your needs 48 hours in advance. Please contact Mary Lu Denny: 412-471-5808, ext. 527; marylu@phlf.org
Parking: Parking in downtown Pittsburgh will be difficult. We recommend arriving by bus or T (First Avenue Station) or parking in the Station Square Parking Garage and then walking over the Smithfield Street Bridge to the meeting location. (Allow 20 minutes to walk from the parking garage to the tour meeting location.)
Port Authority bus lines stop near the meeting and ending points. Call PAT for fares and schedules: 412-442-2000.