Explore Wilkinsburg’s Historic Central Business District

The historic Wilkinsburg Train Station building, completed in 1916 for the Pennsylvania Railroad, is one of the crown jewels of Wilkinsburg’s architectural landscape. Our organization was the historic preservation and tax credit consultant when the building was fully restored by the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation from 2015 to 2021. It will be a significant part of our tour as we explore the building’s meticulous restoration.

Friday, May 29
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

$25 per person
This tour is limited to 20 participants.

Purchase a ticket below. Tickets will not be available after 11:30 p.m. on May 28.

Long nicknamed the “city of churches,” because of its high number of religious organizations in an area that is roughly two square miles, the borough of Wilkinsburg is an historic first-ring suburb of Pittsburgh, which at its height was characterized by the economic affluence associated with its closeness to the thriving steel city in the early part of the twentieth century.

Incorporated as borough in 1887, Wilkinsburg saw its commercial district, particularly along Penn Avenue and Wood Street, flourish as smaller wood-frame buildings were replaced with larger brick commercial blocks, with larger, high-style architecture cropping up along its main thoroughfares. The sudden growth of its “downtown,” along with the addition of several passenger trains between Wilkinsburg and Pittsburgh, and the construction of an electric streetcar line, transformed the borough and its central business district into a commercial hub serving the areas of Penn Hills, Monroeville, Edgewood, Forest Hills, and the Borough of Churchill.

That is the background to the story of contemporary Wilkinsburg and its central business district, now undergoing a period of recovery since the collapse of the region’s steel industry, by extension led to the hollowing-out of the economic fortunes of the borough. Since 2009, the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation has been working to help revitalize the borough’s business district, while our organization created a comprehensive historic preservation initiative in the Hamnett Place Neighborhood that created 67 units of new housing in historic buildings.

This tour will focus on the business district, which is fully located within the boundaries of the Wilkinsburg Historic National Register-Listed Historic District, which was prepared and nominated by our organization.

The tour will start at end at:

Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation
729 Wood Street, 729uWilkinsburg, PA 15221

Please arrive 15 minutes before start time in order to ensure that the tour gets underway on time.

Accessibility: This toupur is accessible to people with disabilities.
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All tour participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Children under the age of 13 may attend tours free of charge. By purchasing a ticket for this tour, you acknowledge that you are physically able to undertake the tour, assume all personal risk during the tour, consent to being photographed during the tour, and permit PHLF to use your image in our communications.

All ticket sales are final.