This assignment looks at industrial era Pittsburg. Discuss industry, environment, housing, transportation and anything else you think is relevant. 
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All the bairns o' Adam 
By the early twentieth century, when the dominate manufacturing took a place in the Pittsburgh area, the huge amount of capital, production plants were under corporately organized firms replaced the craft factories and the small traditional partnerships. With this transformation of the region’s industry the urban form began in the 1870s.
Pittsburgh changed from a compact urban region of about 100 000 people in 1850 into a metropolitan area of over 1 000 000 people. By 1920 the metropolitan region included between 1·3 and 1·5 million people, extended 30 to 40 miles from downtown into six counties. Pittsburgh has become an industrial metropolis reached along the rivers, and followed the course of all the railroads of thirty or forty miles. The manufacturing industry had enormous growth and the demand for industrial sites increased due to the change of technology which led to a success in the Bessemer steel production, new Presented blast furnace output in that time , Pittsburgh had a significant role in the industries and the production. Also, there was gathering of several industry function at one location, and that was clear in the steel industry.
‘’The renown Bessemer engineer Alexander L. Holley designed the works to fit the railroad so as to achieve a high-volume throughput, and within months of beginning production in 1875 the Edgar Thomson Works at Braddock. Dravo (boat-building), Pressed Steel Car (railroad cars), Armstrong Cork, or Pittsburgh Equitable Meter employed a thousand or more workers at their plants. The adoption of mass production, integrated works, and modern management led many Pittsburgh manufacturers to search for large sites with railroad and often river accessibility’’. The situation exacerbated; by the 1890s, companies and developers was buying flat sites and that in anticipation of continuous industrial suburbanization. In Pittsburgh, the transportation was important in determine the location of the factories, so industrial companies had locations along transportation corridors of railroad service and rivers as same as the industrial patterns of other cities. The development of various resources such as coal, clay and natural gas supported a thriving industry and confirmed the importance of transportation between these resources and industrial foundations. Some companies such as Jones & Laughlin Steel, Carnegie Steel,and George Westinghouse’s Air Brake and Electric companies, found new locations out of the city for expand their operations. These companies bought lands that were usually a
floodplain near a waterway, and built factories designed for modern production standards. Also, some of them built adjacent towns for laborers’ houses. In the year of 1890, for example, ”Westinghouse moved his railroad air brake factory from Pittsburgh to a site 12 miles away in the Turtle Creek Valley, a tributary to the Monongahela River through which the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad ran. Next to his modern factory and his company headquarters he built a town for the workers, named Wilmerding. Four years later, Westinghouse moved his electrical manufacturing company from Pittsburgh into an enormous factory at a site a few miles downstream from the air brake plant”. The rapid growth of the city caused environmental problem. The factories were a reason of air pollution, and sewage of the city caused problem in the rivers.
Reference:
Muller, E. K. (2001). Industrial suburbs and the growth of metropolitan Pittsburgh, 1870–1920. Journal of Historical Geography, 27(1), 58-73.
http://0-www.sciencedirect.com.library.uark.edu/science/article/pii/S030574880090269X
Very nice
Located in the convergence of three major waterways — The Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela rivers— which connected the settlement to both east and west, Pittsburgh grew to be a large ‘steel manufacturing hub’ during the 1850’s. As the nation was experiencing westward expansion in population raw materials like steel and coal were necessary to facilitate such enterprise. The city location —near the coal fields in Ohio and as mentioned earlier, by the convergence of 3 major waterways— aided the consolidation of Pittsburgh as a industrial power between New York and Chicago. Easy transport of materials by water and by railroad into the city also provided an easy export of products that could be utilized in the development of new cities or in the expansion of already established ones.
With easy access for raw material to flow into the city there was also easy access for a large work force to settle in Pittsburgh. Large groups of immigrants moved in to the city. Amongst them Andrew Carnegie, who later became one of the most powerful names in the steel industry itself and have a great leverage later on in American politics.
Pittsburgh grew as scores of workers moved in. With workers settling in the area, entrepreneurs followed suit to obtain revenue from the increasing demand and supply of good necessary to accommodate the labor force.
Like any other industrial city at that time, Pittsburgh was overcrowded, filthy and lacked the necessary infrastructure to support those moving in — or at least those moving in belonging to the poor lower working class. Pollution was rampant as the air was pumped with noxious and toxic gases byproduct of the steel production process. I imagine that the rivers were polluted as well as they were used to dispose human as well as industrial waste.
New neighborhoods sprung overnight housing workers and located near the industrial areas. The topography of Pittsburgh created some transportation challenges when situating this new clusters. Downtown Pittsburgh sits in a small peninsula and it surrounded by 2 of 3 rivers. Iron mills were built in the flat lands next to the waterways so they could take advantage of the accessible waterfront. Houses were built above the river floodplain in the ‘mesa’ or plateau that overlooks the rivers. To traverse to and from locations required a system of trolleys, trams and stairs that aided the workers to mobilized in a more efficient way. Not without effort though. I have been to Pittsburgh. The difference in elevation between the floodplain and the plateau is quite drastic. Today, visitors can still ride the tram up and down the cliff wall as a tourist attraction. I had the opportunity to do so an it was quite the experience.
Large amounts of workers meant cheap labor, low wages and large families cramped in small quarters. Tenant housing meant no running water or indoor pipes most of the time. There were no schools, clinics, or other health services available to those without the possibility to afford them. The mortality rate was higher than in non-industrial cities. All these issues set the need for workers unions to be organized. This movement allowed the laborers to gain access to education, healthcare, clean water, better housing, higher wages and better lives.
Patience, people!
Nice discussion Joe…
I noticed My posts are not showing. Anyone else having this issue?
Yes, me too.
Industry impacted city development in the United States after it had impacted European cities. According to the picture with factories along the waterfront, it is evident that sources of water were the basis of industrial growth. Big cities that existed along rivers, lakes, or other bodies of water grew because industrial developers knew they could be supported thanks to that natural resource. Bodies of water were also the source of transportation. Before the locomotion existed, cities were connected through water transportation, mostly rivers. Cities across the country were connected, and parts of individual cities themselves were able to transport people and materials short distances, and this allowed the sharing of resources, cultures, and innovative ideas.
Also along these transportation routes were other forms of growth. As industry develops, population increases, and the opportunity for businesses to profit increases. The middle-left image proves that growth revolved around transportation. There are multiple boats in these waterways, factories along the water, and a variety of businesses lining streets. Architecture also increased with these factors, which is obvious by the bridges in this image.
As the connection between cities for industrial purposes increased, city specialization increased. Cities connected by waterfronts were able to work together regularly, so specialization allowed the country’s consumer markets to expand, and they expanded further as the locomotion developed in years to come. For example, Cincinnati was a leader in raising hogs. These allowed the city to create leather goods such as shoes and belts, which could be sold in other markets around the country. This was a result of industry, transportation expansion, and the increase of dependence on coal, but it proves that the introduction of industry into the US has affected the country in countless ways.
As population increased, the need for housing did as well. Most individuals did not have cars or time for long commutes, so people lived within walking distance from their work places. They woke up every morning, walked to work, and got off work when they heard the factory whistle. The lower-left image shows a person walking toward an area of housing, likely after getting off work. While menial workers lived near the factories, those in higher-level, managerial positions lived further out of town. These individuals could afford to live away from the congested city and commute to work, a privilege that has become more common in the US with time.
Impacts of industrial development affected environmental as well as human health. The upper-right image proves that as industry developed, care for the environment was nonexistent. There were no laws or codes to protect the landscape because industry was new to the country. Emissions were uncontrolled, which polluted the environment with immeasurable effects. In the lower-right image, it is obvious that care for the landscape was also low. This large conveyor belt was created to transport materials, but in doing so, no care was given toward the possibility of erosion. In terms of human health, pollution hurt what little dignity individuals had. Living in work housing was bad enough, with poor sanitation, no codes, and low wages with no health care. Adding air pollution to that mix only caused more harm. Industry allowed the United States to develop in multiple fashions, though it had many negative affects to the overall health of individuals.
Good discussion of specific images.
Manufacturing brought a new perception of how the process of work was done. We see this nowhere better than in the industrial cities in United States that emerged in the Northeastern part of the country. The Industrial Revolution began in the second part of the 20th century, in this area where high concentration of steel and coal was found, also the infrastructure with rivers and boat transportation that these cities had caused an industrial boom. Thus, not only the Industrial Revolution changed the system of manufacturing, it also changed cities which transitioned from a rural to an urban system. Furthermore, this sets the basement for the development of new cities. A well-known city in this era is Pittsburgh. It is mostly known for their steel industry and the steel mills. Due to the high amount of steel and coal it developed fast and increased in population over a short period. Pittsburgh was the 3rd largest port in US after New York and New Orleans. It had the highest production of iron, tin and glass production. During this period, we notice the shift in transportation during the 2nd half of 20th century with the introduction of railroad that linked hinterlands with steamboat traffic.
Labor force was thriving during this period. A factor that caused high level of migration from rural to urban areas was the manufacturing process that challenged the production from farmers, which then moved to the cities for better job opportunities. Also, many immigrants that came from Europe and Asia found jobs in the manufacturing sector. However, this period had its dark side. Employees had lower wages, they had to work in terrible conditions. This was due to two reasons: the high number of employees available in the market and the low wages offered from the industrialists. Since employees had to live close to the factories they worked, their living conditions were terrible. They lived in tenement housing which often were also the centers of the communities. These housing projects did not offer much for their residents. They did not provide sewage and water system and were no more than 3 stories high. They were overcrowded and most of the time divided between families of more than 5. These areas served as a concentration for immigrants that came from Europe. They created their ethnic neighborhoods that can be spotted even nowadays in many parts of these Industrial Cities. Furthermore, this rapid development and settlement around factories caused high level of pollution, slums and for these neighborhoods to have health and sanitation problems. The high level of development in Industrial cities, the investment in factory building, the shift from wood to coal, the invention of steam engine and electricity harmed the environment. Only in Pittsburgh there were 939 factories running mostly on coal. They caused air pollution, water pollution, and health problems to the residents. Since these cities were developed around factories they did not had any proper urban planning. The creation of slums is a perfect example of high density and how that affected the environment around these areas where residents lived in very low conditions. Another major impact in the environment had the steam engine and railroad system that need to be build. It required high production of iron, and deforestation. All of the reasons mentioned above characterize the period of industrial cities in US.
Click to access Industrial_Development_of_the_City_of_Pittsburgh.pdf
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/city/
Good use of outside sources.
Built in 1754, Fort Prince George where the Ohio forks into the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers due to its strategic location. This fort, located at the site of current day Pittsburgh, was constructed by George Washington in an attempt to gain control of the region from the French for British colonials. Like other Washington forts of the era, it switched hands multiple times before being burnt down by the French and subsequently reconstructed by the British named Fort Pitt in the name of their current Prime Minister. The small trading post that began to develop would one day become the current city of Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania’s terrain would once again play a role in the city’s evolution. Production of refined goods began almost immediately due to the difficulty of importing over the mountains to the east. Pittsburgh’s transformation from a small village to an industrial powerhouse can be attributed to the external factors of topography and transportation routes. Industry and the interknit residential development further influenced the city’s morphology.
Pittsburgh’s location at the beginning of the Ohio River made it a hub for settlers heading west. The development of the steamboat and construction of canals allowed Pittsburgh’s manufactured goods to be shipped east as well as encouraging migration into the region. Mineral rich mountains and the surrounding rivers allowed resources to flow in and fuel the city’s growing industries. Despite some competition, regional railroads reached Pittsburgh first, maximizing industrialization. Other river based cities began to stagnate at the emergence of a national rail system, while Pittsburgh continued to flourish due to its prior solidification as a center of production.
The opening of Andrew Carnegie’s Edgar Thomson Works in the Monongahela Industrial Sector marked an important turning point in Pittsburgh’s manufacturing maturation. Carnegie’s modern production strategies like mechanization maximized outputs and profits. Existing industries along with newly developed steel mills, occupy the land bordering the Allegheny and Monongahela as they leave town. Pittsburgh is characterized by these two rivers as they flow east with the Allegheny flowing northeast and the Monongahela flowing southeast. The Central Business District is located at the initial triangle shaped piece of land formed by the fork. Working class residential zones occupy the area immediately north, east, south, and west of the CBD. These zones also bordered the Allegheny and Monongahela Industrial Sectors. As the rivers separate more, Middle Class zones are found inside the fork.
Pittsburgh’s future was geographically predetermined far before its founding. Its position at the confluence of two rivers that are tributaries of the Mississippi, and the abundance of coal fields, forests, and other resources allowed Pittsburgh to develop its industries rapidly and become one of the first inland cities in the United States.
References:
“Andrew Carnegie.” Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 22 Nov. 2016. Web. 25 Mar. 2017.
City-Data.com. “Pittsburgh: History.” Pittsburgh: History – Early History, French And British Vie For Strategic Location. Advameg, Inc., 2017. Web. 25 Mar. 2017.
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Scarpaci, Joseph L., and Kevin J. Patrick. Pittsburgh and the Appalachians: Cultural and Natural Resources in a Postindustrial Age. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh, 2006.
Nice discussion of the specific morphology of Pittsburgh.
The industrial boom in the late 19th century has led to the layout of North American cities being industry oriented. The primary function of the cities in the Northeast United States were based around industrial production in a sense that residences in the inner city were specifically for laborers, while the wealthy, business owners lived in the outskirts of the city. Street design had little priority over the more important railroads that revolutionized and accelerated the development of cities and their methods of transporting goods in and out of the factory complexes. Pittsburgh is affectionately called “The Steel City” due to its specialization in steel production during the 19th century. As industrialization accelerated, the small, craft organized factories gave way to the corporate enterprises spread out over a large industrial region expanding 50 miles across Allegheny County. In contrast to the contemporary American city in which commercial organizations make up Central Business Districts, occupying the urban center; Facilities for mills, mass production and management filled the urban center and over time, labor seeking immigrants came to Pittsburgh to inhabit the inner-city dwellings. Around 1870, the national railroad system was developed and allowed goods to be transported at a much more rapid pace. The growth of Pittsburgh spurted and soon the city became one of the largest industrial powerhouses in North America. At the time, labor was exploited to the point where the laborers were given a meager wage, insufferable hours and almost inhumane mistreatment from the managerial staff. The growth of industry on the other hand, led to an increase in air pollution, greatly impairing the overall health of Pittsburgh’s residents. At the time, there was little governance to deal with the environmental issue. Low-income workers were forced to live in the sooty conditions while the wealthier residents were able to afford to live in the areas away from the soot, one place being Fifth Avenue, otherwise known as “Millionaire’s Row”. The environmental issues that plagued Pittsburgh gave it another nickname, “The Smoky City”. The issue was finally addressed in 1941, when municipal efforts and regulation led to the reduction of air pollution. The socio-economic segregation as geographically distinct while looking at the comparison between inner-city Pittsburgh and the outlying suburbs. One nearby municipality has gained historical recognition with its relationship with Pittsburgh. In the early 20th century, Allegheny was its own separate city from Pittsburgh. The residents of Allegheny, for their own reasons, wished to remain separate from the city. In 1906, Allegheny faced annexation by Pittsburgh. The residents of Allegheny voted 2:1 in disfavor but was short of Pittsburgh’s more populous vote. The annexation was completed in 1911 but Allegheny residents still worked to overturn the ruling without any success.
One of the most iconic destinations in Pittsburgh was the Monongahela Incline, located on Mt. Washington. During the rapid expansion of the city in the industrial era, housing development took place on the hill but there was a lack of easily accessible pathways to quickly reach the factories and businesses. The solution was a german invention, the Seilbahns or cable cars often seen in Germany was built to transport workers up and down the hill.
Boone, Christopher G., and Ali Modarres. City and Environment. Philadelphia, Pa: Temple UP, 2006. Web. Mar. 2017. .
“History of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” History of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. N.p., n.d. Web. Mar. 2017. .
“Hunter v. Pittsburgh 207 U.S. 161 (1907).” Justia Law. N.p., n.d. Web. Mar. 2017. .
Edward K. Muller, “Industrial Suburbs and the Growth of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, 1870–1920,” Journal of Historical Geography 2001 27(1): 58–73
Very nice discussion
Growing into a booming manufacturing city centered around the production and use of steel, Pittsburgh went through drastic changes upon entering the Industrial Revolution. During the early twentieth century, Pittsburgh transitioned from being a small down with family owned shops and businesses to being a booming industrial city taken over by large scale manufacturing and factories. During this transition the population of Pittsburgh exploded from roughly one hundred thousand people to one million inhabitants within the span of roughly twenty years in the late 1800s. By the early 1900s Pittsburgh had continued its growth and transformed into a sprawling industrial city with well over one million inhabitants.
Pittsburg was made the center of United States steel production by Andrew Carnegie and his company Carnegie Steel Company and later consolidated into U.S. Steel. His control of most of the United States railways and their construction also aided in making Pittsburgh into this critical urban production area. Carnegie’s company grew to own and control J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works, Bessemer Steel Works, the Lucy Furnaces, the Union Iron Mill, Union Steel Works, Keystone Bridge Works, Hartman Steel Works, Scotia Ore Mines, and others. Another large portion of Pittsburgh’s economy was from bituminous coal. A vast amount of coal underlies the city of Pittsburgh and roughly forty percent of the nations coal supply was harvested from one hundred miles within and around the city of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Coal Seam is also the largest coal deposit within the Appalachian Basin within the Eastern United States. Mining of the deposit began in the 1760s and continued through the Industrial era of Pittsburgh’s history and into the 1990s.
Unfortunately due to the nature of big industry presence and practices the environment within and around the area took a large hit. Production of steel and production and mining of coal are known to produce vast amounts of pollutants, this meant that the ecosystem near Pittsburg (especially the waterways) suffered large amounts of pollution in a relatively short period of time. Steel production also greatly increased air pollution within the city, causing health issues for the residents including asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, and other respiratory issues especially in the young and elderly.
Due to the fact that Pittsburgh was both an industrial center as well as a rail hub, most of Pittsburgh was centered around railroads and rail transportation. During the early 1920s Pittsburgh was also part of the air transportation revolution and began its transformation into an air hub as well due to the large amount of travel to and from the city for business purposes from across the nation.
Good discussion.
One of the best examples of the Industrial Revolution in America is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was an older city which expanded during the Industrial Revolution. Being at the junction of three rivers made it perfect for steam boat traffic, a rising specialization. Trade and manufacturing grew because the city had the water it needed to generate power. The city changed in form, the preindustrial core was now surrounded by the industrial core, the center of new economic activity, and then again surrounded by the industrial periphery.
Pittsburgh became the world center for steel production, a key element in almost every industry because most every factory, steamboat, railroad, and canal needed steel to build. The conditions in these steel mills were gruesome. The lack of government regulation creates unsafe and unhealthy work environments. About 35,000 workers were killed each year in industrial plants. 195 steel mill workers died in Pittsburgh in one year (Encyclopedia.com) Women and children were paid less and therefore cheaper workers. Many of them died or lost limbs to the heavy and hot machinery. The demand for this material drove production which called for thousands of workers.
As the city grew quickly around the rivers, housing did too, as people had to walk to work. These tenement homes were overcrowded. Smog from the factories filled these areas. There was no running water or sewer, so waste filled the streets. Disease spread wildly. Because the homes were built quickly, cheaply, and close together fire was a constant fear. Conditions in the homes of the workers in Pittsburgh, like the rest of industrial US cities, were terrible. Due to incredibly low wages, crime skyrocketed in Pittsburgh. The mob, gangs, robbers, and other unsavory types would rule the city at night.
Jobs brought people to Northeast America from all over the world. Steam ship technology now allowed poor families to find a new, hopefully better, life in America. As the labor force grows, it gains power. Slowly, factory conditions improve and things like child labor laws begin to form. Later housing codes and city water plans develop.
Overall Pittsburgh embodied the essence of Industrial America. The old city was engulfed in industry. The river hubs were the heartbeat of the economy. Living conditions were unsightly. Crime was rampant. Immigration led to greater worker power but also ethnic tensions. The urban form of Pittsburgh is heavily influenced by the role it played in Industrial America. Even the football team is the Steelers because of the main industrial that made the city what it is today.
Good, but a little brief.
Industrial era Pittsburgh was an outcome of three very big and important rivers the Allegheny, Monongahela and the Ohio river. It provided a much needed port for new settlers settling in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. It also housed a lot of metal factories and was a major iron producer. Pittsburgh was also a great place for soldiers and settlers to grab provisions and regroup. Pittsburgh’s factories and extreme pollution can be traced back as far back as 1829 as stated by Pittsburgh(steel) Historical Maker. They said one visitor noted Pittsburgh’s “dirty streets and dark, filthy looking houses…enveloped in an atmosphere of smoke and soot which blackened everything in sight”. Is just one example of the results of the industrial era in Pittsburgh. The increase of transportation and the opening of the Pennsylvania canal and the introduction of the Pennsylvanian railroad system only increased the industrial growth in this era. Pittsburgh became a leader in production of crucible steel in the United states. By the 1850s they began relying on skilled workers from other countries or skilled immigrants to help keep up with the output. By 1877 Pittsburgh had become the most important crucible steel producer producing close to three fourths out the whole entire nations crucible steel output. any factory that required metal shaping was almost completely dependent upon Pittsburgh’s crucible steel production. This was until around the 1920s when electrical steel furnaces gained the upper hand. By the 1900s though Pittsburgh began to lose its crucible steel production power when U.S. steel formed and set its headquarters in New York. Although Pittsburgh still was looked at as the symbolic steel center they were quickly getting phased out. And the people of Pittsburgh were beginning to look at ways to clean the air as Pittsburgh had become a very dark place and was known for its eerie darkness at twelve o’clock in the afternoon. The metropolitan area of Pittsburgh stretched around 30-50 miles from downtown Pittsburgh.
A lot of these communities that people lived in were purchased and built by the owners of the factories that which they worked. the companies did this because they needed workers and didn’t want any of them to move of buy land that they needed for their own factories and growth of them. With that being said that. but this also lead to sprawl because new industries then had to do the same but had to build on the outer rim of the center. Often your neighbors were also your coworkers which helped with transportation because you could car pool.
PA History: Pittsburgh (steel) Historical Maker – http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-23D
Edward K. Muller- Industrial suburbs and the growth of metropolitan Pittsburgh, 1870–1920 – Journal of Historical Geography 27(1):58-73 · January 2001- https://www.researchgate.net/journal/0305-7488_Journal_of_Historical_Geography
Good use of outside sources.
Pittsburgh is notably one of the greatest industrial cities from the Industrial Era. Known for its production of steel, Pittsburgh was a natural industrial hotspot due to its connection to not only the railway system but also to the river. Although this industrial boom allowed Pittsburgh grow economically, it still created many issues among the people and the environment.
During this industry era, especially in booming cities such as Pittsburgh, working conditions were cruel. These laborers often endured twelve plus hour shifts, low wages, and hazardous working environments. If workers were injured on the job, they were rarely compensated for hospital costs or for days missed due to injuries. In fact, many workers injured on the job were replaced before they were able to return. Industry jobs had a high turnover rate due to the abundance of labor industrial cities were experiencing at this time.
The growth of industry in the city posed many environmental issues. During this time, factories turned to coal to supply their machines with energy. Coal was also used to create iron which is used in the creations of different tools, machinery, and ships. The steam engine, a new invention during this era, is dependent on the burning of coal. Needless to say, during the Industrial Era, coal was a commonly and massively used resource. This poses two different issues: coal is a fossil fuel meaning it is a nonrenewable resource, and when coal is burned it emits gases that cause pollution. This era brought along many other environmental issues such as water pollution, deforestation, and ecosystem deconstruction.
The geographic location of a city determined its success during the industrial era. Pittsburgh’s location was highly desirable due to its proximity to a railway and a river. These are important to Pitts burg because it allowed the city to easily import and export resources with other cities connected to the railroad or river system. The railroad also gave people living in more rural areas the opportunity to move into the city. Access to rivers grew more important with the invention of the steam engine. The river was a way of trade and the steam engine allowed this to happen quicker and more efficiently. The steam engine was a game changer for this era and advanced technology in major ways.
The Industrial Revolution led to people wanting higher qualities of life and healthier living situations but before this people lived in horrific conditions. Living as a poor worker in an industrial city such as Pittsburgh did not have many, if any, perks. Workers typically lived in very dense neighborhoods in small, cramped housing. These houses were centrally located to allow the workers to be within walking distance to their job. One toilet would be used by a whole neighborhood and many neighborhoods had open sewers. Cleanliness was not a top priority, much of the human waste was left to pile up, seep into the ground, and contaminate the drinking water supply. This contamination often brought sickness and disease to the people using the water source. Centrally located houses were high in demand due to the increase in the number of industrial workers so these houses were typically poor in design and unsustainable. (Word Count 533).
Good discussion
Built in 1754, Fort Prince George where the Ohio forks into the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers due to its strategic location. This fort, located at the site of current day Pittsburgh, was constructed by George Washington in an attempt to gain control of the region from the French for British colonials. Like other Washington forts of the era, it switched hands multiple times before being burnt down by the French and subsequently reconstructed by the British named Fort Pitt in the name of their current Prime Minister. The small trading post that began to develop would one day become the current city of Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania’s terrain would once again play a role in the city’s evolution. Production of refined goods began almost immediately due to the difficulty of importing over the mountains to the east. Pittsburgh’s transformation from a small village to an industrial powerhouse can be attributed to the external factors of topography and transportation routes. Industry and the interknit residential development further influenced the city’s morphology.
Pittsburgh’s location at the beginning of the Ohio River made it a hub for settlers heading west. The development of the steamboat and construction of canals allowed Pittsburgh’s manufactured goods to be shipped east as well as encouraging migration into the region. Mineral rich mountains and the surrounding rivers allowed resources to flow in and fuel the city’s growing industries. Despite some competition, regional railroads reached Pittsburgh first, maximizing industrialization. Other river based cities began to stagnate at the emergence of a national rail system, while Pittsburgh continued to flourish due to its prior solidification as a center of production.
The opening of Andrew Carnegie’s Edgar Thomson Works in the Monongahela Industrial Sector marked an important turning point in Pittsburgh’s manufacturing maturation. Carnegie’s modern production strategies like mechanization maximized outputs and profits. Existing industries along with newly developed steel mills, occupy the land bordering the Allegheny and Monongahela as they leave town. Pittsburgh is characterized by these two rivers as they flow east with the Allegheny flowing northeast and the Monongahela flowing southeast. The Central Business District is located at the initial triangle shaped piece of land formed by the fork. Working class residential zones occupy the area immediately north, east, south, and west of the CBD. These zones also bordered the Allegheny and Monongahela Industrial Sectors. As the rivers separate more, Middle Class zones are found inside the fork.
Pittsburgh’s future was geographically predetermined far before its founding. Its position at the confluence of two rivers that are tributaries of the Mississippi, and the abundance of coal fields, forests, and other resources allowed Pittsburgh to develop its industries rapidly and become one of the first inland cities in the United States.
References :
City Data. “Pittsburgh: History.” Pittsburgh: History – Early History, French And British Vie For Strategic Location. Advameg, Inc., 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. .
Scarpaci, Joseph L., and Kevin J. Patrick. Pittsburgh and the Appalachians: Cultural and Natural Resources in a Postindustrial Age. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh, 2006. Google Books.
Repeated.
In the middle of the industrial revolution, iconic towns such as Pittsburg were still figuring things out in terms of industry, environmental issues, housing and transportation. Huge amounts of workers were living in close proximity to toxic environments caused by industry in a lightly regulated time. Heavy and dirty industry was abundant and factory work was a huge draw of workers to the area. Industry was usually located in a similar location on an access point such as a river or railroad tracks. Because zoning had not been implemented, the poor workers that came to work in the factories clustered very close to the industry in order to save money in getting to and from work every day. This created a ring-like effect with industry being in the center, poor worker housing being imminently surrounding, and then middle class management type employees being in a further away ring from the dirty industrial area because they could afford the transportation necessary to live outside of the immediate vicinity of the industry. The industry was so unregulated that it eventually degraded the environment due to the dumping of toxic chemicals and release of toxins into the air. Its highly likely that these people were not purposefully degrading the environment because they didn’t have the scientific advances that would educate them on the harm they were causing, but the industry did have significant damage on the environment with years of build up of this pollution with no one to stop it. Housing for poor workers was densely packed around the industrial areas with some worker housing even being controlled and owned by the factories in order to better control their workers. Another interesting factor of this close proximity of worker housing was the introduction of a strictly managed schedule. Many of these workers had previously been farmers and worked on the natural cycles of the sun and seasons, but were now expected to manage their time and be to work at a certain time in the morning which turned out to be quite a challenge for these people. Because of this, the housing in close proximity was allowed to have alarms for the whole of the people so that they could better manage their time and get to work in a timely fashion instead of being late most days. Factory owners managed rent also and churches and schools were built. This resulted in almost every aspect of these people’s lives to be dictated by the owners of the factories in which these people worked. Transportation was mainly pedestrian focused for the workers, and began to turn to a different thing for those who could afford to live outside of the CBD in suburb areas. Rail was introduced to those who could afford to live out in the suburbs which was an important step that allowed for some towns to have slightly less of a dependence on automotive transportation that continues in these cities into modern times. Living conditions were not ideal and environmental issues were not closely regulated, but things such as zoning and the EPA have helped to lesson the burden of these industry heavy cities today.
Good discussion.
Located at the meeting of the Ohio River, Allegheny River, and Mongahela River (the Ohio eventually meeting the Mississippi), Pittsburgh was at a ripe location for thriving industry. Because of its location, boat building was one of its earliest industries. The rivers weren’t the only boon, as what would become one of the most important coalfields in the U.S. surrounded the city. Iron manufacturing and other metal production grew from the location and easy access coal. With the first steamboat built in Pittsburgh combining the capabilities of coal and the waterways, the commerce and industries would boom up and up- coating the city coal dust and a near constant smoke. The city’s growth outpaced its infrastructure development and eventually lead to the great fire of 1845 when water pressure was unreliable, burning down over a thousand buildings. Following Borchert’s Transportation Epochs, the Regional Railroad established after 1830 that the Pennsylvania Railroad was a part of, Pittsburgh grew even more in size and industry thanks to new connections the railway brought. The integrated national rail system brought about even more growth for industrial centers such as Pittsburgh after 1870. While the skies were filled with dark smoke, the rivers were filled with sewage as they were a popular place to dump waste- never mind that the city got its water supply from this same water. People used to believe that all the smoke was good for crops and lungs and viewed it as a sign of productivity and prosperity. Lack of proper regulations and thoughts such as these made any efforts for change nearly futile (until David L. Lawrence would come along in 1946).
Living conditions in industrial era Pittsburgh were like those of European cities of the time- overcrowded, lacking enough public services, no building codes, lack of amenities such as water and restrooms, etc. The worst of it all was close to the factories where the pollution was the thickest, housing the densest, the income the lowest- where the factory laborers lived. The main workforce lived in slums by the factories in order to hear the shift whistles, affordable housing, and for walkability as there was no affordable transportation for the factory laborer. The population boomed in a pattern from competition for wages as child labor made for low wages, requiring more kids in families to work, and high infant mortality kept more coming. These large families were overcrowded within dangerous and disgusting multistory housing with very few bathrooms. Poverty and family size are still tied together today in many parts of the world. While the poor workers that kept the industries going were stuck in squalor, the clerical workers and other higher positions in the factories could afford to live further away from the factories and the poor conditions surrounding them since they could afford transportation out from the west parts of the city to get to work during the years that public transportation was practically nonexistent. Where these clerical workers moved to would form the central business district- where the railways and canals came together.
http://popularpittsburgh.com/darkhistory/
Good discussion, good points about sanitation.
The city of Pittsburgh was booming during the industrial era with much of its energy put towards the manufacturing of iron and steel products. Key figures that built Pittsburgh’s booming industry were Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick who combined their skills in steel mills and coking ovens respectively to form the U.S. Steel Corporation. The location of Pittsburgh along major railroad and river transportation routes created a prime spot for the growth of the steel production company and the development of many factories and mills quickly populated the area. This of course resulted in many environmental factors that increased pollution in the area on top of working conditions for laborers that became hazardous, but capital and production was the ultimate goal. By the early twentieth, the U.S. Steel Corporation produced the majority of the nation’s steel; however, since Pittsburgh’s industry was so concentrated in that one type of industry, its economy fluctuated with the success of that industry. Therefore with a decline in the need for steel, the city is negatively affected.
Pittsburgh’s iron and steel industry was heavily influenced by the railroad industry, and was comprised of mostly immigrant workers. The railroad helped bring raw ore material to the steel mills located in Pittsburgh, and the mills reciprocated with steel to help lay more rail lines. These lines connected Pittsburgh to New York, Washington, Chicago, and St. Louis with a framework of subsidiary lines. They were not only passenger trains up until the early twentieth century, but they also linked Pittsburgh’s industry to that of the Northeast and West for product trade and production. The railroad also opened up a route for immigrants coming through Ellis Island in New York to find their way to Pittsburgh’s industry opportunities. Throughout the industrial era, Pittsburgh was the nation’s eighth largest city in population due to the amount of laborers for its industry, and like many other cities at the time, over twenty percent of its population was made of immigrants. Andrew Carnegie himself was a Scottish immigrant. This labor force ended up contributing to historical events involving labor unions and strikes that resulted in sparks across the country for better working conditions. Workers were forced to work long nonregulated hours in the unhealthy environments of the steel mills and iron coking factories. Henry Frick, the CEO of the Carnegie Company, was known as a figure central to the causes that resulted in strikes from his workers. The Battle of Homestead is perhaps the most famous with an event that left several people dead from the conflict, but it called for better treatment and later led to better organized labor unions.
The economy of Pittsburgh followed suit to national events. Besides the great waves of immigration, World War I, the auto industry, and World War II all reinforced the steel production industry to keep it stable even through times such as the Great Depression and the 1930s. However, eventually the steel production of Pittsburgh became no longer significant after the industrial era causing Pittsburgh to shift its economy to other sectors.
“PHMC 1861-1945: Era of Industrial Ascendancy.” Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/pa-history/1861-1945.html.
“Pittsburgh History.” The History of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Visit Pittsburgh. https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/about-pittsburgh/history/.
Nice use of outside sources.
The city of Pittsburgh began to rise as a river port city but would eventually become a heavily industrialized, steel-producing force in the United States. As industrialization swept across the city, massive factory regions began to take hold across the landscape. Wealthy industrialists like steel-magnates Andrew Carnegie and Charles M. Schwab, Andrew W. Mellon, and coke manufacturer Henry Clay Frick established massive amounts of mills and industrial zones in Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas and have left lasting impacts on the city that can still be seen today. In the upper left image of the collage, we see riverside factories and cargo ships. Because of Pittsburgh’s location along the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and the further development of the national railroad sytem, the city was a key point for production as transportation was readily available. This made riverside real estate very important for industrial investors in the city. As production and industrialization continued to swell in the city, air and river pollution began to take hold. Factories billowed smoke constantly and the effects on the air wouldn’t be cleaned up nearly 50 years. The rivers were heavily polluted as the city industrialized before developing sustainable waterworks and sewage systems. Those who could afford to get out of the heavily dower central Pittsburgh areas did; some of them moving into homes built by the factory owners they worked for. A borough 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Vandergrift, is home to an early suburban and industrial development program which was entirely developed by the Apollo Iron and Steel Company in 1895. The model town was championed by steelmaker George McMurtry who sought to alleviate growing tensions within his labor force by creating a benign suburban environment in hopes that it would increase happiness and productivity in his workers. Laborers weren’t always docile, however, which led to industrial Pittsburgh experiencing over 60 deaths and countless injuries during the 1877 Pittsburgh railway riots which were in part caused by labor unrest. With so much of the population relying on the steady work from the industrialized city, when the steel industry saw a drop in production and jobs were lost, the workers became tense. In the lower right corner of the collage, we see an example of one of the transportation methods implemented in industrial-era Pittsburgh to facilitate the movement of workers and people across the ridged landscape. Although only two inclined railways like the one in the photo are still operational in Pittsburgh today (the Duquesne Incline and the Monongahela Incline), at one point there were seventeen of them scattered across the city and its surrounding boroughs. The topography of Pittsburgh also required further methods to help the heavily industrialized city allow its workers to move easily and those include the immense amount of over 700 city owned steps and stairs that are located throughout the city which we see an example of in the lower left corner image. Without the steel industry and heavy industrialization, it is very unlikely Pittsburgh would see the metropolitan success it sees today even as it has become less economically profitable.
Nice discussion
The strategic confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio River, which leads to the Mississippi river. It had an abundance of natural resources along its banks and the area of confluence was a great location to fortify when the village needed to do so. Later in the city’s history, they would find additional resources, oil, coal, and natural gases were in ample supply.
Pittsburgh’s early industries was boat building, in turn these boast would be laden with trade goods and floated up and down the Ohio, and Mississippi rivers for trade. Within the next few decades, the manufacturing capability grew with its cities population. They began building larger boats capable of hauling more trade goods up and down the rivers. In the early 1810s, the first steamboat was built in its shipyards. In 1812, the war with Britain cut off the supply of their goods towards the Union. This helped stimulate American manufacturing.
With Americans cut off from the manufacturing giant of Britain, they turned inwards and began our own industrial revolution. I would even say if it was not for the war of 1812, America might not have become the industrial powerhouse of the 20th cent. By 1815 Pittsburgh was producing $746k in iron and another $480k in brass, tin, and glass products. By 1857, there were 939 factories in Pittsburgh, employing 10k workers $12M in goods, and the trade required over 400 steam engines. The city consumed 22 million bushels of coal and 127k tons of iron.
As the industrialization of American continued so did the technological advancements in the manufacturing of iron and steel. In 1859, the Clinton and Soho iron furnaces introduced coke-fired smelting to the region. Which greatly increased the manufacturing rates in the area. After the start of the American Civil War in 1861, the city was able to meet the demands the increasing need of military ordnances and weapons. The city’s arms manufacturing included some of the first Ironclad warships and the world’s first 21” heavy artillery gun. The Fort Pitt Foundry produced 15% of the total U.S. wartime artillery production, which came close to 1,200 rifles. Singer, Nimick and Co. and Smith, Park and Co., foundries also supplied the US military. Smith, Park and co. produced more than 300k artillery projectiles. At the end of the war, over one-half of the steel was produced in Pittsburgh.
immigrants settled the city, and the scotch/Irish took most of the early industrial leadership positions. Most of the cities foundries were owned and operated by immigrants. Several became very important people to America and philanthropists. Andrew Carnegie, George Westinghouse, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew W. Mellon. Carnegie is credited with the expansion of Americans steel industry through the Bessemer process. When he had this implemented into his foundries, the steel price dropped as a direct result. With his help and the others mentioned by 1889, the US output of steel exceeded that of the UK.
This city started out as a small fort at the start of the Ohio River, and became of the of most powerful industrialized cities in the US. Its conunited contributions to the union throughout its history as helped shape future industrializing and resource management
Good history, not much discussion of the images.