A Short History of Lawrenceville – A Review
By
Jude Wudarczyk

This review was written on March 30, 2007 for this website.

A Short History of Lawrenceville was published by the Arsenal Junior High School Press on June 22, 1936. It was “presented by the graduating class of Arsenal Junior High School to the people of Pittsburgh.”

This 14-page booklet is an outstanding example of what can be done as a class or school project if a dedicated teacher and a handful of motivated students got together and put some effort behind the task.

Chapters include “The Early History of Lawrenceville,” “Lawrenceville During the Civil War,” “The Arsenal Gateway,” “The Arsenal Park,” “The Arsenal High School,” and “The Arsenal Junior High School.”

While there are errors in the booklet, the reader must remember that it was written by school kids who did not have access to the knowledge that we have today. One such error appears on page one. It reads, “The community established by Colonel Foster, extended from the junction of what is now Penn Avenue and the Allegheny River, to Fiftieth Street.” Penn Avenue does not meet with the Allegheny River, nor did early Lawrenceville go as far as Fiftieth Street. It only went to 39th Street. If you include the Allegheny Arsenal as part of Lawrenceville, then the boundary would have gone as far as 40th Street.

Should you be fortunate enough to be able to read this manuscript be sure to check any information that you wish to quote against another source.

One of the more interesting facts mentioned in the booklet reads, “In 1840, the guns of the Allegheny Arsenal boomed a salute, as the body of William Henry Harrison passed through this district toward its last resting place.” One wonders where the author(s) found this information and on which day in 1840 this event took place. No Lawrenceville historian from Joseph Borkowski to Jim Wudarczyk has ever mentioned this. If William Henry Harrison did come through Lawrenceville, then he may well have been the only president to do so while he was dead.

While the booklet cannot compare to the books put out by the Lawrenceville Historical Society in content or quality, it does make a nice collector’s item. Currently, copies can run about $35.00 in second-hand bookstores.