In 1828, the
borough of
Allegheny, Pennsylvania, was incorporated where the North Side now stands. It had a population of 1,000. In 1880, Allegheny was incorporated as a city. The City of Allegheny was
annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907, and became known as the North Side. Historians claim that the Felix Brunot mansion on Stockton Avenue (
Allegheny Center) was once a station on the
Underground Railroad, where fugitive slaves from the South stopped for food and shelter. The
Allegheny regional branch of the
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, located at 5 Allegheny Square (
Allegheny Center), was the first tax-supported library in the United States. It is now closed to the public following a lightning strike on April 6, 2007. A new library opened nearby at 1230 Federal Street.
Charles Taze Russell organized what are now known as
Jehovah's Witnesses at a house in the old city of
Allegheny.
Mary Cassatt was born on Rebecca Street in 1844. Today, Rebecca Street has become Reedsdale Street (in the
North Shore neighborhood). If the house had not been torn down for
Highway Route 65, it would be facing
Heinz Field, the home of the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. lived at 1318 Arch Street (
Central Northside) when he created the original
Ferris Wheel for the
1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in an attempt to create something as impressive as the
Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The
first World Series was played at
Exposition Park by the
Pittsburgh Pirates and the
Boston Americans (now known as the Boston Red Sox) in 1903. Gus & Yia-Yia's Iceball Stand, selling fresh
popcorn,
peanuts, and old-fashioned iceballs (similar to
snow cones) hand-scraped from a block of ice, has been in
West Park since 1934. The "orange concession stand with a brightly colored umbrella" is something of an unofficial
Pittsburgh landmark during the summer months. A 20-acre
Allis-Chalmers transformer factory provided as many as 2,600 jobs to the area from 1897 until closing in the Summer of 1975. ==Places of interest==