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“A dentist worked in this building. His name was Herman Louis Reinecke. One of his sons, Paul, wrote the West Point Alma Mater.” —student quote

1813 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Date and Style

Built in the 1870s

—Victorian style

Erected during the reign of Queen Victoria of England (1837-1901), this Victorian building is typical of the homes and offices built for many South Side families.

Facade improvements funded through the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Streetface Program

Facts and Stories Worth Knowing

• The people who lived in this building more than 100 years ago were related to John Henry Sorg, the man who built the building in which Fat Head's Saloon is located.
• John Henry Sorg's oldest daughter, Ottilie, married Dr. Herman Louis Reinecke in 1887. They lived in this house with their three children (and various relatives, from time to time) from about 1888 until 1933.
• Dr. Reinecke was a dentist and his office was here on the first floor. He became a dentist because a phrenologist (see magazine pages below) felt the bumps on his head and determined, as a result, that Herman was destined to be a dentist. So, Herman attended dental school at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 1885 or 1886. Once back on the South Side, he became well known for making false teeth.
• The family lived in the second floor. The children did not have spacious bedrooms of their own. Rather, daughter Louise slept in an alcove of the living room, and the two boys, Paul and Herman, slept up in the attic. (Paul Sorg Reinecke, born in 1888--the pretzel year--wrote the West Point Alma Mater.)
• Several photographs below show daughter Louise (1896-1984) as a student at Humboldt School,on Sarah Street on the South Side; in cooking class at Humboldt School; and getting married in 1922 at the Sorg family mountain home in Uniontown.

• Dr. Reinecke's granddaughter, Carol Thorne King, remembers watching him push a pedal on the floor to operate the dentist drill.
• Carol also recalls walking with her grandfather to hear “the big noise”--the noise of a dam that once crossed the Monongahela River. Old Lock No. 1 stood between today's Tenth Street Bridge and Birmingham Bridge.
• Mrs. King also remembers listening to “Little Orphan Annie” on the radio in her grandfather's house.
• There used to be a horse stable behind the building.
• In subsequent years, Dr. Wagert and Dr. Gross also had dental practices in this building.
• Since 1974, Dr. Olah, a chiropractor, has had a medical office on the main floor of the building. Dr. Olah inherited the chiropractic business from his father. The upstairs is rented out as apartments.

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