SPECIAL TOUR: Duquesne University’s Historic Campus

Saturday, October 31
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 October 30.

Join us for a brand-new tour of the historic buildings at Duquesne University—the most dramatically sited campus in Allegheny County, built on a bluff that provides views up, down, and across the Monongahela River.

Pittsburgh Catholic College, as Duquesne University was originally called, opened its doors to 40 students in rented space above a bakery in the City’s Hill District in 1878. It moved to the Bluff (also called Uptown) in 1885 and constructed its first and perhaps most iconic building: Old Main. Designed by architect William Kaufman of eastern Indiana, it was built from bricks handmade in the college-owned brickyard by brothers in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, which had founded the College.

The school’s name was changed to Duquesne University of the Holy Ghost in 1911, and it now comprises nearly 50 buildings dispersed over almost as many acres across the Bluff and along Forbes Avenue. Like many college campuses, Duquesne’s features a cross-section of architectural styles popular during its various periods of growth. In addition to lovely historically inspired buildings in brick and stone, the tour will include exemplary structures by the internationally known Modernist, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, and Paul Schweikher, who was dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s school of architecture in the 1960s.

Come with us to see buildings that are rarely open to the public and to learn about the intertwined histories of the University, the neighborhood it occupies, and the built environment it has created. PHLF is grateful to Duquesne University for its partnership on this program.

Tour meeting point: Outside Gormley Student Union, 1243-1219 Locust Street, Pittsburgh 15282. Be sure to meet at this side of the Student Union (where the Starbucks is located), and not the side facing the Academic Walk.

Tour ending point:  By Forbes Parking Garage

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

Parking: Street parking on campus is very limited. The Forbes Parking Garage (1180 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh 15219) is your best bet; the weekend rate is $6.00 for the duration of your stay. Look for signs for the exit to Locust Street, which leads to the tour meeting point.

Accessibility: Duquesne University’s campus is very hilly. While we will do our best to use paths on level ground, some ramps and hills are unavoidable, creating challenges for those using mobility aids. One building on the tour is not accessible to people in wheelchairs.

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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.