A Guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania - A Review
By
James Wudarczyk – posted January 21, 2007

George Swetnam and Helene Smith’s A Guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania, published by the University of Pittsburgh in 1976, remains a valuable source for the identification of sites of historical importance. As institutions fade from the landscape when they are no longer utilitarian, often the historical significance is also lost. Thus, site identification and an accompanying record is vital in the realm of historic research and preservation.

On pages 9 through 12, Swetnam and Smith identify fifteen sites of historical significance under the subheading of “Pittsburgh—Lawrenceville.” However, it should be noted that some of the listed sites are historic institutions of the Strip District and Polish Hill; namely, the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, Saint Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church, Western Pennsylvania Medical College, Reineman Hospital, and the Emma Kaufman Clinic. These sites deserve recognition, and it was far better for the authors to have included them under the Lawrenceville section than to have ignored them. Books dealing with site identification do not lend themselves to definitive histories; rather, the narratives tend to be very brief, often only a few sentences. Once a site or institution has been identified for its historical importance, then it becomes much easier for other historians – professional or amateur – to formulate more elaborate materials relating to the subject.

Sites identified in the Swetnam and Smith study are the Allegheny Arsenal, Marine Hospital, Locust Grove Seminary, Holmes House, Public Baths, Carnegie Branch Library, Cinderella Apartments, Saint Mary’s Academy, Wainwright Brewery, and Allegheny Cemetery. Very few of these institutions remain, and some of the remaining may be in danger of being lost.

Swetnam and Smith’s description of “Cinderella” illustrates the style of the book. “12. Cinderella (ash cement) was a house erected during a bricklayers’ strike in July 1903, when John Fink determined to test the use of ashes in construction. Setting up forms like those for concrete, he filled them with a mixture of ashes, cement, and water, well tamped down. The house, integrally built is still in excellent condition, with a speckled appearance. The plan proved cheaper than brick construction, but never became popular. The Cinderella originally had a bakeshop in the cellar and apartments above. It remains an apartment house. Location: Corner of Thirty-seventh Street and Penn Avenue.”

Since the book was published more than thirty years ago, Cinderella has undergone renovations. Cementing of the apartment complex was necessary due to the erosion of time, and a portion of the facility was in dire need of repair. The complex was also repainted; thus, in more recent years it has lost its speckled appearance. As of this writing (January 2007), the facility has again fallen into disrepair and neglect. It appeared that the apartment was also unoccupied.

Tackling identifying the mammoth number of historical sites in Western Pennsylvania surely was not easy for the authors. Reading the description of Saint Mary’s Academy suggested that the authors relied on earlier publications, and may not have visited each location in order to update the data. They wrote: Saint Mary’s Academy (brick) is a late Greek Revival building of about 1850 intended for an academy in conjunction with Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. Its porch features charming cast-iron decorations, as does a convent next door, built in 1867. Location: 300 Forty-sixth Street. The convent was demolished prior to 1976. This over-site is minor when one considers the magnitude and scope of their project.

Identifying a handful of sites of historical importance in Lawrenceville was definitely a start. Since the publication of this book, other publications by Franklin Toker and the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation have added to the catalog of historically and architecturally significant buildings and institutions. It should be noted that since the Lawrenceville Historical Society initiated its walking tours of the neighborhood in the mid-1980’s well over 130 sites of past and present historical importance have been identified. Understandably, the Lawrenceville Historical Society has concentrated its efforts on a much smaller geographic area. Although the Swetnam and Smith study lists only a handful of sites, A Guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania remains a valuable textbook for the study of local history, as well as for the vast amount of information relating to regional history.