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Western PA History Bridges and Buildings Rivers and Valleys Folks in Community The Arts Having Fun
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South Side Program LogMeet producer Rick Sebak

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Time Begin/Cue

Content

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1:02

Intro

 

SS01

2:04

Truck in Alley (after title)

Pittsburgh Pretzels, South Side

The Dan Bowen family has run the Pretzel Shop in a restored 19th century storefront since 1980s. Pretzels are sold, hot from the beehive oven that was built in 1872 and is still in use.

Creating Community: family business

Creating Community: Foodways

SS02

6:45

South Side street view with red brick building

New Uses for old buildings: Station Square

At the western end of South Side is Station Square, former P&LE Railroad Station, which Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation has turned into a tourist attraction and offices. It houses 134 businesses, shops, and restaurants, including the Grand Concourse, the 41st largest grossing restaurant in the country. (Includes vintage film of the railroad station.)

Bridges and Buildings: preservation, Station Square

Rivers and Valleys

Western PA History

 

SS03

10:04

Page's Dairy Mart: low gray stone building with neon signs of ice cream cones

Page Dairy Mart, South Side

At the eastern end of the South Side is Page's Dairy. The family has had a shop on this corner since the late 19th century, rebuilding after the 1936 flood and again after a gas explosion in 1958.

Creating Community: business

SS04

13:07

Long view of river, panning slowly right

 

 

 

14:07

Old Birmingham

The land that comprises South Side was given to John Ormsby by the Queen of England for service in the French and Indian War. The town was laid out by his son-in-law who named it Birmingham after his home city in England. He named the streets after family members.

The Market House in the square at Bigham and 12th is actually the fifth market on this site. It is now a Senior Citizen's Center with bingo, pool and other activities downstairs and a gym upstairs for dance classes, walking, and basketball.

Western PA History: Birmingham, market, glass

SS05

16:17

Old map showing glass works

Pittsburgh's glassmaking industry

In the 1800s more glass was made on the South Side than anywhere else in the country. The Salvation Army Building on Bingham Street was Ripley Glass in the early 1870s then part of U. S. Glass Trust in 1891. Birmingham's glass works specialty was flat glass for windows, though bottles, table items, and glass souvenir items were also made.

Western PA History

SS06

19:16

Iron and Glass Bank building

 

 

 

 

 

20:38

Iron and steel-making on the South Side

Iron and steel plants in the 19th and early 20th centuries attracted immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and later Eastern Europe. At one time J&L Steel employed over 45,000. The plant has been torn down and hope remains high for new development. Old J&L film footage of the steel mill contrasts with images of the ruins today.

Natives of the South Side remember the steel mills as part of the life of the community and working, living, going to church and school all in the same community. (Old film footage of the mills.)

Western PA History: steel

SS07

24:00

Bingham steel alley view (after J&L ruins)

 

 

26:37

Family steel fabricating business

Bingham Steel still has a small 4th generation fabrication plant on Bingham Street where they make sheet metal products for industry as well as artists and residents of the neighborhood.

Doerr Truck Equipment Company on Jane Street descended from a horseshoe shop that began in 1898. It now fabricates truck bodies and other metal products such as trash cans for the city.

Creating Community: business

SS08

30:18

Red brick buildings on river with Liberty Bridge on right

 

 

 

33:08

Terminal Buildings

At the Terminal Buildings trucks back into bays that used to be railroad spurs. At the time it was built at the turn-of-the-century it was the largest refrigerated plant in the world. A tour of the building– shows walls lined with cork for cold storage. A worker reminisces about his days loading train cars.

Today high technology companies are beginning to move int the Terminal's large storerooms.

 

SS10

34:40

Duke Brewery clock against the slopes

Duquense Brewery arts community

The Duquesne Brewery clock was the largest single face clock in the world when it was installed in 1933. The old Brew House was built in 1899.

The building now houses the Brew House Association, which provides housing and creative space for young Pittsburgh artists and a gallery where artists show their work.

Space 101 house memorabilia for Duquesne beer. In 1950 Duquesne Brewery was one of the 10 largest breweries in the country.

The Arts: Brewery

Bridges and Buildings: adaptive reuse

SS11

41:25

Red brick building on corner

 

 

43:08

 

 

44:32

Bars and Restaurants, South Side

South Side is famous for bars and restaurants. Cupka's Café on the corner Jane and 27th Sts. Is a neighborhood bar–dark, small TV, small menu, reasonable prices, lots of regulars.

Le Pommier, serving French family-style food, opened in 1983 as one of the first "fancy ones" on Carson Street.

Café Allegro on Bedford Square opened in the late 80s and has received awards for food and service. They serve new, creative foods and bake bread fresh daily.

Creating Community: bars and restaurants; gathering places

SS12

46:20

Street scene at night

Nightlife on Carson Street starts up after dark. Mario's, considered the "in" place to be, opened in the early 80s as one of the "new bars" on Carson Street. By the mid-80s they opened Blue Lou's and Nick's Fat City nearby.

 

SS13

50:01

Applying makeup

 

51:56

 

 

52:52

South Side arts: galleries and theater

The Beehive coffeehouse serving a "different kind of coffee drinker" since 1991.

Shider Z Gallery on the South Side since 1975 has a wine and cheese opening once a month to honor her artist-of-the-month.

City Theatre puts on theater productions in an old church it remodeled in 1991 keeping as much architectural detail as much as possible.

The Arts

SS14

53:35

Traffic coming off 10th St. Bridge

Oliver Bath House

Oliver Bath House at the end of the Tenth Street Bridge was built by Oliver Iron and Steel in 1910 literally as a place for its employees to take baths. The couple donated the building to the city, which now runs it as a community swimming pool.

Having Fun

Creating Community

SS15

58:22

Red brick library, sign in front

South Side Carnegie Library

South Side branch of the Carnegie Library was built in 1909. During its first week it had 10,000 visitors and ran out of books. The staff spoke several languages to accommodate the many ethnic groups.

Having Fun

Creating Community

SS16

101:16

Pan left along street of rowhouses

 

 

1:03

 

1:04:50

Houses on the South Side Flats and Slopes

Most houses on "the Flats" are small 19th century working class row houses. Long, steep stairs lead up to houses on the Slopes. Some streets turn into steps then back to streets than to steps again as they follow the topography!

Resident Dennis Berry, a carpenter/artist, has started a community organization for people living on the slopes to encourage restoring houses.

Long term residents were born, raised, married and raised their families here reminisce about the mills.

Rivers and Valleys

Bridges and Buildings

Creating Community

The Arts

SS17

1:06:17

Red brick church with domes

Old and New on the South Side Flats

St. Casimir's Church on the corner of Sarah and 22nd was built in 1901 as a Lithuanian Parish. The school is now an apartment building where an old time resident now lives in the school he attended as a child.

Creating Community

SS18

1:08:20

Views of main street (after church domes)

 

 

 

1:09:39

 

1:14:34

 

1:17:30

 

1:19:56

 

1:22:40

 

1:24:12

Old and New South Side businesses

South Side Local Development Company, with Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, the Birmingham Union and South Chamber of Commerce worked together to save the Victorian character of the shopping district. East Carson was designated as a "Great American Main Street" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

T & T Hardware has been operated by the Thomas family since 1937 carry many hard-to-find hardware items.

Pittsburgh Guitar sells used and vintage guitars since 1985.

City Books sells rare and out-of-print books bookstore specializes in philosophy, literature, arts, and history.

Eljay's is a general used bookstore selling all varieties of hard and paperback books.

Specialty shops include tattoo shops, seconds, art framing and Groovy where they sell collectible toys from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.

South Side Summer Street Spectacular has been bringing tourists to East Carson Street every summer since 1984 for sidewalk sales, bands, music, carnival, and foods like stuffed cabbages, kielbasi, and pierogies.

Creating Community: redevelopment, business

Creating Community: festivals

SS19

1:26:30

Train going over stone arch

Slovak Easter basket blessing

The Hollow or "Hulluh" used to be home to Slovak, Polish and Hungarian families. The Zatek family demonstrates filling Easter baskets covering them with traditional embroidered cloths and taking them to be blessed by the parish priest.

Rivers and Valleys: neighborhoods

Creating Community

The Arts: ethnicity

 

1:29:00

Twisting pretzel dough

Close

Clips of the neighborhood Christmas parade in the early 1950s is shown between credits.

 
 

The End