Help save history in your community by restoring and reusing historic buildings.

“It is important to preserve historic buildings because then you can learn more about your community.” —student quote

1206 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Date and Style

Built around 1890

—Victorian style

Erected during the reign of Queen Victoria of England (1837 to 1901)

Facts and Stories Worth Knowing

• This picturesque building has housed a post office, shoe store, antiques store, and dentist's office.
• Notice the second-story semi-circular window, the two twin windows in the top floor, and the flower-like scroll work under the roof line.
• When the adjacent Jacob furniture store burned down on February 26, 1974 (see newspaper article below) and left 1206 East Carson Street with a scarred brick wall, architect John Martine designed a trompe-l'oeil mural in the style of the main street façade.
• On October 16, 1981, the Birmingham mural was dedicated and a parklet was later created in the corner lot. Arlington School students helped the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy plant the parklet garden in May 2005.

• Birmingham was the original name of the area between S. 6th and S. 17th Streets, laid out in 1811 by Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, Pittsburgh's first physician and a son-in-law of John Ormsby, who was the “father” of the South Side.
• Dr. Nathaniel Bedford chose the name "Birmingham" for the south side area in honor of his birthplace, Birmingham England, a noted iron and coal producing center at the time. The name was appropriately given, since this area would eventually surpass its namesake in iron and coal production.

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