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Squirrel Hill Bus Tour: The Presence of the Past
July 29, 2017 @ 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Saturday, July 29, 2017
1:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
Advance paid reservations required by Friday, July 21: marylu@phlf.org; 412-471-5808, ext. 527
Members of PHLF, Squirrel Hill Historical Society, and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy: $30.00 per person
Non-members: $50.00 per person (includes one-year membership in PHLF)
The bus tour is limited to 25 people.
Bring a snack to eat on the bus if you like, wear comfortable walking shoes, and dress for the weather. Participants will be getting off the bus from time to time to walk and tour.
Meeting location: Frick Environmental Center, 2005 Beechwood Boulevard, Pittsburgh PA 15217. (Please arrive by 12:45 P.M. The tour will begin promptly at 1:00 P.M.) You can park in the lot or along the street.
Ending location: same.
Join Louise Sturgess, PHLF’s executive director, and Helen Wilson, editor and one of the authors of Squirrel Hill: A Neighborhood History, written by members of the Squirrel Hill Historical Society and published by The History Press (June 2017). You’ll see the presence of the past in Squirrel Hill today and hear how one of Pittsburgh’s most popular neighborhoods developed. Participants will:
––peek inside the Frick Environmental Center, visit the restored gatehouse, and hear a brief history of Frick Park;
––admire the exterior of the former St. Philomena’s Church (now Community Day School), designed by John T. Comes, Pittsburgh’s leading architect of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical buildings, and see the Keeping Tabs on the Holocaust sculpture, by Gary and Nancy Tuckfelt;
––enjoy a view along Beechwood Boulevard of the Monongahela River valley, including the Summerset development;
––tour several rooms in the Arts & Crafts home that John T. Comes designed in 1906-10 for his family;
––see the beautiful stained glass windows in the historic Mary S. Brown-Ames UM Church and stroll through Turner Cemetery, the second oldest in Pittsburgh;
––drive through Squirrel Hill’s vibrant commercial district, through several historic neighborhoods, and into Schenley Park, where the carousel and zoo once were and where the Grand Prix is held, passing by the Westinghouse Memorial, Carnegie Mellon University, and the public golf course; and
––travel along Murray Hill Avenue, Squirrel Hill’s only City-designated Historic District, famous for its connections with author Willa Cather.