Then & Now 1926-2026: Point Breeze North Religious Buildings

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Sample of diverse housing on Thomas Blvd, taken from the boulevard’s green median

Point Breeze North Neighborhood

Point Breeze North is home to an eclectic mix of housing types (in the medium to large size range). “Flats” and apartment buildings are interspersed among large single-family dwellings and duplexes. A handful of small industrial sites are interspersed, taking advantage of the major railroad along the northeastern edge of the neighborhood. George Westinghouse, one of the Gilded Age tycoons of Pittsburgh, built his estate here, including his mansion “Solitude” and his laboratory. While much of this estate was later divided up into smaller lots, a large portion was turned into Westinghouse Park, a block-size public park with playground, picnic tables, lawns, and trees.

While the buildings in Point Breeze North have seen more stability than many other neighborhoods over the last 100 years, the definition of Point Breeze North has varied in that time. In 1974, the City designated this area as “Point Breeze” while the neighborhood we know today as Point Breeze was considered part of Squirrel Hill North at that time. Three years later, the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance identified the two Point Breeze neighborhoods as a single neighborhood, although they acknowledged that due to resident self-identification, “Point Breeze North” was a distinct subneighborhood.

There is a story of racial relations in Point Breeze North that I have only begun to scratch the surface of. It is more subtle than the neighborhoods that experienced large-scale demolition through “urban renewal” or disinvestment, but it is just as important to understanding the history of Pittsburgh. In 1960, 4.8% of the neighborhood’s residents were Black. By 1970, 25.5% of residents were Black, prompting the City’s Department of City Planning to note “The area is now undergoing some change in its racial composition, and it is now a racially mixed neighborhood.” (1974)

That trend continued until 2000 when the neighborhood was majority minority (67.9% of residents were Black). Since then, while the neighborhood’s trend of overall population loss continued for the sixth decade, the demographics of that change shifted. Between 2000 and 2010, the neighborhood lost nearly 300 residents. However, that represents a loss of over 400 Black residents and a gain of nearly 100 white residents.

Despite the demographic changes to the neighborhood since a church building first showed up on the G.M. Hopkins maps in 1890, the Point Breeze Presbyterian Church is still an active congregation. The religious site at the eastern end of the neighborhood has not endured the changes over time.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

  • 51st largest by acreage
  • 53rd highest number of sites (multi-way tie)
  • 50th most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 2 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for Point Breeze North (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 2 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
First Swedish Baptist Churchreplaced with a car-oriented retail store
Point Breeze Presbyterian Churchstill Point Breeze Presbyterian Church

Photos

  • First Swedish Baptist Church site
  • Point Breeze Presbyterian Church

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

G. M. Hopkins & Co. Pittsburgh. Plate 31. 1886. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A86v01p31

G. M. Hopkins & Co. East Liberty, Larimer, Point Breeze North, Homewood West. Plate 17. 1890. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:20090624-hopkins-0020

G. M. Hopkins & Co. Point Breeze North, Homewood West, Homewood South, Wilkinsburg. Plate 18. 1890. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:20090624-hopkins-0021

G. M. Hopkins & Co. Point Breeze, Point Breeze North. Plate 9. 1911. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:20090514-hopkins-0011

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. A Community Profile of Point Breeze. Pittsburgh, 1974. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735070066307#page/1/mode/1up

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. A Development and Renewal Program for Pittsburgh, Summary Documentation, Pittsburgh Community Renewal Program. Pittsburgh, 1970. https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d1f07da0-9303-4aee-a162-04c83a0eaaa0/

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. Census: Pittsburgh. January 2006.

Pittsburgh Department of City planning. PGHSnap. City of Pittsburgh. 2011.

Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance. An Atlas of the Point Breeze Neighborhood of Pittsburgh, 1977. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735070289164#page/1/mode/1up

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up

Then & Now 1926-2026: Point Breeze Religious Buildings

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Reynolds Street at South Murtland Street

Point Breeze Neighborhood

When I think of Point Breeze, I picture wide, tree-lined streets with large houses on large lots. However, that is only a small portion of the neighborhood. The two religious sites from the 1926 directory sit in parts of the neighborhood across their respective streets from close-set, sometimes attached, modest houses. For the neighborhood context photo above, I picked a block that showcases neither of those conditions, instead featuring a wide, tree-lines street with moderate-sized houses and moderate-sized front yards, but small side yards.

Point Breeze’s high numbers of property-owning, white residents likely contributed to its relative stability compared to other parts of the city. No “urban renewal” projects targeted any parts of the neighborhood. Population loss started a decade later than most of the city and always stayed lower than the citywide average. In 1974, the City described this neighborhood together with today’s Squirrel Hill North as “residential in nature with a preponderance of single family owner occupied dwellings, many of them fine brick quality.” It remains a pleasant neighborhood for those who can afford it.

Both religious sites from 1926 remain active under the same congregation names.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

  • 12th largest by acreage
  • 53rd highest number of sites (multi-way tie)
  • 69th most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 2 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for Point Breeze (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 2 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
St. Bede’s Catholic Churchreplaced with the gym & activities center of a greatly expanded St. Bede’s Catholic Church campus
Waverly Presbyterian Churchstill Waverly Presbyterian Church

Photos

  • St Bede’s Catholic Church site
  • Waverly Presbyterian Church

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. A Community Profile of Squirrel Hill North of Forbes. Pittsburgh, 1974. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735070066422#page/1/mode/1up

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. A Development and Renewal Program for Pittsburgh, Summary Documentation, Pittsburgh Community Renewal Program. Pittsburgh, 1970. https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d1f07da0-9303-4aee-a162-04c83a0eaaa0/

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. Census: Pittsburgh. January 2006.

Pittsburgh Department of City planning. PGHSnap. City of Pittsburgh. 2011.

Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance. An Atlas of the Point Breeze Neighborhood of Pittsburgh, 1977. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735070289164#page/1/mode/1up

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up

Then & Now 1926-2026: North Oakland Religious Buildings

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View of old and new housing on North Dithridge Street in North Oakland

North Oakland Neighborhood

North Oakland in the 1920s is a fascinating place from a land use perspective. While predominately single-family residential at this time, property owners in the southeastern portion of the neighborhood identified that its future was something else. This future vision was one of the existential threats to the city’s first zoning ordinance. That zoning ordinance passed in 1923, in part because the planners promised to study this area more closely immediately after zoning was adopted to identify what zoning districts would be better adapted to this area. The original 1923 zoning map placed the majority of this neighborhood in the 1-2-unit residential district. As a result of the subsequent study, the areas zoned in the commercial district and the areas zoned in the least restrictive residential district expanded significantly.

Then, in 1926, property owners in the west, central part of the neighborhood were about to lose their deed restrictions that prohibited construction of anything other than a detached single-family dwelling and the owner of the one undeveloped property was planning to construct a duplex once the restrictions expired. The remaining property owners feared this would destroy their enclave and petitioned the city to add an exclusively single-family zoning district to its zoning ordinance and apply it to their neighborhood before the deed restrictions expired. The city complied.

Today, according to the city’s zoning map, these early interest groups were correct in the future of the neighborhood. The city’s first exclusively single-family zoning district, remains an exclusive single-family zoning district; while the rest of the neighborhood’s zoning aligns with the future vision of the property owners in the 1920s. It is either in the city’s newest mixed-use district or in the institutional zoning district on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, or the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and Main Carnegie Library.

What’s one the ground currently tells a more mixed story. Many of the homes that existed in the 1920s have been replaced by institutional buildings or large apartment buildings, yet many still remain. Without concentrated efforts, such as Urban Renewal, it is not easy to completely change the character of a neighborhood even after 100 years. A very small portion of North Oakland did see an Urban Renewal project that relocated 78 families and 13 businesses for an expansion of the University of Pittsburgh. The rest of the changes to the neighborhood have been accomplished property by property.

Despite the fact that the religious sites from the 1926 directory are all located in the areas of the neighborhood that have experienced the most change, they remain largely stable. One was demolished, but that congregation moved to one of the remaining buildings. The remainder continue to operate as religious centers and mostly as the same religious institution as in 1926.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of the 70 in this Series)

  • 31st largest by acreage
  • 31st highest number of religious sites (multi-way tie)
  • 30th most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 6 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for North Oakland (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 6 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Bellefield Presbyterian Churchpartially demolished, replaced with commercial building
Central Christian Churchchanged to a different religious institution
First Baptist Churchstill First Baptist Church
First United Presbyterian Churchchanged to a different religious institution
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Churchstill St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedralstill St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral

Photos

  • Bellefield Presbyterian Church site (2025)
  • former Central Christian Church (2025)
  • First Baptist Church (2026)
  • St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (2025)
  • former First United Presbyterian Church (2025)
  • St. Paul’s Cathedral (2025)

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

“Appropriate Money for Mt. Washington Highway Project; Council Finally Passes Ordinances.” The Pittsburgh Gazette Times. September 21, 1926. https://www.newspapers.com/image/86466920/

“Civic Center Opposed to Sections of Zoning Bill; Commission Member Admits Special Situation. Flinn Asks Three Changes.” The Pittsburgh Post. July 24, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/87626223/

Department of City Planning. “City of Pittsburgh Zone Map.” The Pittsburgh Post. August 17, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/87647297/

“Final Public Hearing Held on Proposed Zone Measure; Many Indorse Principal, But Oppose Height Limit; Goes to Plan Commission.” The Pittsburgh Post. April 27, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/88183510/

“Land Requests City to Change Pumping Power to Electricity.” The Pittsburgh Post. September 21, 1926. https://www.newspapers.com/image/86674631/

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up

“Realtors Move Attacked in Zoning Fight; Board’s Attitude Called Insincere in Letter to Council. Motives Assailed.” The Pittsburgh Gazette Times. May 25, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/85857316/

“Schenley Farms Now Restricted.” The Pittsburgh Press. September 17, 1926. https://www.newspapers.com/image/144507106/

“Trade Board Asks Delay of Zone Bill Passage.” The Pittsburgh Gazette Times. April 11, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/85872282/

“Zoning Plan Opponents Renew Attack on Legality; Majority of Speakers Favor Plan, Minus Height Limit. Council Hears More Protests.” The Pittsburgh Post. March 2, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/86504173/

Go Fish 11

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GoFish! was a fundraiser in Erie, PA, in 2001. This brightly-colored rainbow fish is the reason I discovered 2025 that the Splash Lagoon fish and frogs were on display outside the paywall barrier. It caught my eye while waiting my turn at a very long light. I suspect that it is one of the ones that has been redecorated over the original design as the way the paint is chipping is different than how the original patterns age and I cannot find a match for it in “GoFish! The Offishial Tale.”

Then & Now 1926-2026: Mt. Oliver Religious Buildings

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Looking west down Ormsby Street

Mt. Oliver Neighborhood

On the highest point in Mt. Oliver, the former St. Joseph Catholic Church towers above its surroundings. Its silhouette catches the eye from the surrounding neighborhoods. A woman who lives across the street stopped to chat as I was taking photographs. She mentioned that her parents were married at St. James and pointed out the plinth where the statue of St. Joseph stood until the Catholic Church removed it when they suppressed the church. She also shared stopping by an event recently held in the parish house that sounded suspiciously like an unauthorized rave and that was not her cup of tea.

Mt. Oliver neighborhood has always intrigued me. It is immediately east of Mt. Oliver Borough, the only municipality left that is completely surrounded by the City of Pittsburgh. The Borough residents soundly defeated the ballet measure to be annexed in 1928. However, the built environment is seamlessly connected between the Borough and the City. The Borough’s main commercial street runs along the boundary, the east side being the Borough and the west side the City.

I had always assumed that Pittsburgh’s Mt. Oliver neighborhood was a portion of the Borough that had agreed to be annexed. That appears to not be the case.

Mt. Oliver neighborhood was annexed to the City in 1923 as part of St. Clair Borough, which comprised the present day neighborhoods of Mt. Oliver, St. Clair, Arlington, and Arlington Heights. Today’s St. Clair neighborhood was largely undeveloped in 1916 and still comprised large land holdings. At that time, today’s Mt. Oliver neighborhood was largely platted with the lots we see today and some houses had been built. Based on the 1916 map and the diversity of style of house, it seems there was no coordinated development of housing in the Mt. Oliver neighborhood. Next door, in St. Clair neighborhood, was a different story. In 1953, the St. Clair Village housing project opened and the boundaries of the St. Clair neighborhood were drawn to encompass just that housing project. Perhaps, the Mt. Oliver neighborhood was named at that time to distinguish it from the St. Clair Village/neighborhood. Perhaps, the Mt. Oliver neighborhood was so named to put pressure on Mt. Oliver Borough to agree to annexation.

However it got its name, Mt. Oliver neighborhood probably remained influenced by its long ties to St. Clair, whether the Borough or the neighborhood. The common story of a mid-century housing project falling into disrepair due to lack of maintenance over the years and the residents abandoning the deteriorating site is the story of St. Clair Village. St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was rebuilt in 1953 after a fire destroyed the prior building, but then was closed in 1994, maybe in part due to the loss of population at the nearby St. Clair Village.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

  • 70th largest by acreage
  • 63rd highest number of religious sites (multi-way tie)
  • 36th most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 1 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for Mt. Oliver (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 1 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
St. Joseph Catholic Churchreplaced with a new building, now vacant

Photos

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

Brookline Connection. St. Clair Village Housing Project (1951-2010). https://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Locations/StClairVillage.html

Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Saint Joseph, Mount Oliver. https://diopitt.org/saint-joseph-mount-oliver

G. M. Hopkins. Plate 32: Baldwin, Carrick, Hays, Arlington. 1916. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:16v06p32

Pittsburgh City Council. Municipal Record, 1923. Page 32. https://archive.org/details/Pghmunicipalrecord1923/page/n153/mode/2up?q=annexation

Pittsburgh City Council. Municipal Record, 1928. Pages 1116-1117. https://archive.org/details/Pghmunicipalrecord1928/page/1115/mode/2up?q=oliver

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. Census: Pittsburgh. January 2006.

Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance. An Atlas of the St. Clair Village and Mt. Oliver Neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, 1977. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735070288059/viewer#page/1/mode/1up

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up

Then & Now 1926-2026: East Allegheny Religious Buildings

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View from Middle Street, East Allegheny

East Allegheny Neighborhood

East Allegheny is a neighborhood cut in half. The middle section of the neighborhood, along with a significant portion of its southern parts, was erased for the sake of some highways and their interchanges in the 1960s-1980s. The project was still in its early stages in 1970, at which time the city estimated that 358 families, 383 individuals, and 184 businesses would need to be relocated to execute the planned “renewal.”

Except for where the highways now sit, the remainder of the neighborhood seems largely intact, at least as far as the buildings are concerned. It is a dense neighborhood. Houses and commercial spaces sit shoulder to shoulder directly against the sidewalks. Those closest to East Park in Allegheny Center are largest, more frequently built with brick or stone and featuring architectural embellishments. Moving eastward, the buildings are more plain and more frequently built with wood and covered in siding. The dividing line of the freeway brings that change into stark contrast.

In 1926, there were 16 congregations listed in the Polk Directory. They were concentrated in the west and central parts of the neighborhood. While many of their buildings still stand, nearly half were victims of the freeway. The remaining neighborhood provided context clues to approximate where they were once located.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

  • 59th largest by acreage
  • 7th highest number of religious sites
  • 4th most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 16 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for East Allegheny (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 16 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Avery Mission African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churchreplaced with a parking lot/freeway
Bethel Israel Synagoguereplaced with a parking lot
Eighth Spiritualistsreplaced with a freeway
First Spiritualistsmixed-use building still stands, nonsecular uses
Madison Avenue Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Churchconverted to community arts center
Mt. Hope Spiritualistsmixed-use building still stands, nonsecular uses
Providence Presbyterian Churchreplaced with a freeway
Simpson Methodist Episcopal Churchreplaced with a freeway
St. Emmanuel (Slovak) Evangelical Lutheran Churchvacant
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Churchreplaced with a freeway
St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Churchconverted to unknown secular use
St. Mary’s (German) Catholic Churchconverted to rental hall/catering
St. Matthew’s (German) Evangelical Lutheran Churchconverted to youth service use
St. Paul’s German Evangelical Churchreplaced with a freeway
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Churchconverted to housing
Tenth United Presbyterian Churchchanged to a different religious institution

Photos

  • Avery Mission African Methodist Episcopal Zion site
  • Beth Israel Synagogue site
  • Eighth Spiritualists site
  • former Madison Avenue Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • former Mt. Hope Spiritualists
  • Providence Presbyterian Church site
  • Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church site
  • St. Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church (closed)
  • St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church site
  • former St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • former St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • former Tenth United Presbyterian Church
  • former St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (2026)
  • St. Paul’s German Evangelical Church site (2026)
  • former St. Mary’s Catholic Church (2026)

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. A Development and Renewal Program for Pittsburgh, Summary Documentation, Pittsburgh Community Renewal Program. Pittsburgh, 1970. https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d1f07da0-9303-4aee-a162-04c83a0eaaa0/

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up

Then & Now 1926-2026: Central Oakland Religious Buildings

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Meyran Avenue looking northwest

Central Oakland Neighborhood

Central Oakland is an eclectic neighborhood. Single-family detached and attached homes, many subdivided into apartments, are mixed with vacant lots and buildings and apartment buildings from 100+ years ago, 50 years ago, and recent decades. Some buildings have first floor or basement commercial uses. Many come right up to the sidewalk, others are set far enough back to pull a car fully off the sidewalk, and some are far enough back to have a modest grass front yard.

Overshadowed by the University of Pittsburgh and multiple UPMC hospital complexes, the neighborhood is a popular off-campus housing choice for students, often to the chagrin of the long-term homeowners in the neighborhood. The large volume of temporary residents (students) may be a contributing factor for why all four of the sites listed under “churches” in the 1926 city directory are no longer used for religious purposes.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

  • 52nd largest by acreage
  • 41st highest number of sites (multi-way tie)
  • 23rd most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 4 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for Central Oakland (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 4 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Holy Spirit Greek Catholic Churchconverted to a music venue
Oakland Baptist Churchreplaced with a community building
Oakland Methodist Episcopal Churchreplaced with Pitt Law School building
St. Mary Memorial Episcopal Churchconverted to a school, but may be closed

Photos

  • Oakland Baptist Church site 2026
  • former St. Mary Memorial Episcopal Church 2016
  • former Holy Spirit Greek Catholic Church 2026
  • Oakland Methodist Episcopal Church site 2025

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up

Then & Now 1926-2026: Brookline Religious Buildings

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View from Estella Street and Loyal Way looking northwest

Brookline Neighborhood

Brookline is a neighborhood that grew rapidly with advances in transportation technology and routes. The Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel (1904) provided efficient street car access between the southern neighborhoods and downtown Pittsburgh while the Liberty Tunnels (1924) provided efficient automobile access. A steep climb up a wide curve at one end of the neighborhood follows the old street car route up to the main business district on Brookline Blvd. Other steep, but straighter, climbs provide multiple access points from the valleys on the east and west to the expansive residential neighborhoods.

The earliest residential booms grew out from the street car line and business district and the automobile access along the Pioneer Avenue ridge in a mostly grid-like pattern. Later, a post-WWII residential boom created additional residential sections with the curvilinear roads and cul-de-sacs popular in that suburban-centric time period, but perhaps also more compatible than a grid to the topographic variety of these areas.

Urban renewal brushed over this neighborhood, but only for the development and expansion of two parks in largely undeveloped parts of the neighborhood. In 1970, the Department of City Planning estimated that at most 7 families would need to be relocated for one of the parks.

Since then, Brookline has remained relatively stable, with significantly less vacancy than the City’s average. Six of the seven religious sites remain active for religious worship, although only two of those are still the same congregations as in 1926.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

  • 2nd largest by acreage
  • 21st highest number of religious sites (multi-way tie)
  • 61st most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 7 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for Brookline (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 7 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Brookline Methodist Episcopal Churchchanged to a different religious institution
Brookline United Presbyterian Churchchanged to a different religious institution
Church of the Adventstill Church of the Advent
Grace Lutheran Evangelical Churchchanged to a different religious institution
Paul Presbyterian Churchchanged to a different religious institution
Resurrection Catholic Churchstill Resurrection Catholic Church
St. Mark’s Lutheran Evangelical Churchconverted to residential use

Photos

  • former Brookline Methodist Episcopal Church
  • former Brookline United Presbyterian Church
  • Church of the Advent
  • former Grace Lutheran Evangelical Church
  • former Paul Presbyterian Church
  • Resurrection Catholic Church
  • former St Marks Lutheran Evangelical Church

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. A Development and Renewal Program for Pittsburgh, Summary Documentation, Pittsburgh Community Renewal Program. Pittsburgh, 1970. https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d1f07da0-9303-4aee-a162-04c83a0eaaa0/

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. Geodetic and Topographic Survey. Sheet 62. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A015e1927/viewer

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. PGHSnap. City of Pittsburgh. 2011.

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up

Then & Now 1926-2026: Bluff Religious Buildings

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Forbes Avenue, near Jumonville, looking east.

Bluff Neighborhood

“Bluff” is the name used on the official map of city-designated neighborhoods, but the local community organization calls it “Uptown” and the city used “Uptown” for the special zoning districts inspired by the EcoInnovation District Plan for “Uptown/West Oakland.”

Both names are descriptive of different aspects of the neighborhood. Located upriver from downtown Pittsburgh, “Uptown” is a logical (and attractive) name. On the other hand, near the southern border of the neighborhood, Bluff Street blends into Blvd of the Allies. Both streets line the edge of a sheer cliff and provide sweeping vistas across and down the Monongahela River to South Side Flats and Slopes neighborhoods and beyond.

Uptown suggests a dense and vibrant community, while Bluff suggests a steep, potentially tough, sparsely populated area. Between Bluff Street and Fifth Avenue, Uptown/Bluff is a densely developed neighborhood. Between Bluff Street and the Monongahela River, Uptown/Bluff is currently predominately freeways and parking lots where there used to be numerous railroad lines, rail yards, and a handful of small industries.

While Uptown/Bluff was densely built out in 1926, the neighborhood has experienced disjointed investment and disinvestment in the decades since.

The Bluff Street Urban Renewal project was investment for the expansion of Duquesne University. As of 1970, the city relocated 219 families, 252 individuals, and 101 businesses for this expansion, and had 288 new units of housing under construction. Another 5 families, 200 individuals, and 9 businesses were expected to be displaced before the end of the project. Another investment was planned for a different institution’s expansion. The Mercy Hospital Expansion Urban Renewal project was proposed to cover 20 acres, but no projections were provided in the 1970 report for any displacement in this dense neighborhood.

Decades of disinvestment are apparent in the number of vacant lots and vacant buildings. Many lots had been bought up and converted into surface parking lots, something the EcoInnovation Plan and subsequent zoning districts strongly curtail.

In the last 10 years, reinvestment in the neighborhood has grown significantly, shifting from small efforts of individuals who purchased homes and restored them to large developers filling in new, large, multi-story buildings. UPMC Mercy and Duquesne University also continue to expand and build large new institutional buildings in the neighborhood. The neighborhood’s infrastructure is also seeing investment now as Forbes and Fifth Avenues have been undergoing a multi-year reconstruction to support a future bus rapid transit line through the neighborhood.

What these patterns have in common is change. The religious sites from the 1926 directory reflect that change as none of them are what they were 100 years ago, except for the hospital chapel.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

  • 46th largest by acreage
  • 18th highest number of religious sites
  • 9th most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations for 9 of the 10 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for the Bluff (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary). I’m intentionally leaving out the Mercy Hospital Chapel as a religious center that doesn’t fit the typology of what I’m studying. There are only 7 pins because some congregations appear to have shared buildings.

What are they now?

The table below matches the 10 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation NameBy 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Central Presbyterian Churchbeing redeveloped into housing
Corinthian Baptist Churchvacant
Eighth United Presbyterian Churchreplaced with a parking lot
First Pentecostal Churchlocation unclear, may be a parking lot
Jesus Saves Missionreplaced with a parking garage for a Catholic university
Mercy Hospital Chapel (no photo)still Mercy Hospital Chapel
Russian Missionbeing redeveloped into housing
Second Methodist Protestantreplaced with a commercial building that is now used by a religious institution
Second St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran (Missouri) Churchconverted to a religion-based community service organization
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Churchreplaced with a parking lot

Photos

  • Eighth Presbyterian United Church site – 2026
  • former Central Presbyterian Church and former Russian Mission – 2026
  • former Corinthian Baptist Church – 2026
  • Second Methodist Protestant Church site – 2026
  • St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (maybe also First Pentecostal) site – 2026
  • Jesus Saves Mission site – 2026
  • former St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – 2026

For more on this series, visit our introductory post.

Sources:

G. M. Hopkins & Co. Bluff. Plate 14. 1914. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:20090804-hopkins-0016

G. M. Hopkins & Co. Central Business District, Bluff. Plate 8. 1914. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:20090804-hopkins-0010

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. A Development and Renewal Program for Pittsburgh, Summary Documentation, Pittsburgh Community Renewal Program. Pittsburgh, 1970. https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d1f07da0-9303-4aee-a162-04c83a0eaaa0/

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. EcoInnovation District: Uptown/West Oakland. September 2017. https://www.pittsburghpa.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/dcp/documents/3494_ecoinnovation_plan.pdf

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory, 1926. Pittsburgh: R. L. Polk & Co. https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056286846/viewer#page/4/mode/1up