Then & Now 1926-2026: East Allegheny Religious Buildings

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Carolyn Ristau

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 Name	By 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Avery Mission African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church	replaced with a parking lot/freeway
Bethel Israel Synagogue	replaced with a parking lot
Eighth Spiritualists	replaced with a freeway
First Spiritualists	mixed-use building still stands, nonsecular uses
Madison Avenue Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church	converted to community arts center
Mt. Hope Spiritualists	mixed-use building still stands, nonsecular uses
Providence Presbyterian Church	replaced with a freeway
Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church	replaced with a freeway
St. Emmanuel (Slovak) Evangelical Lutheran Church	vacant
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church	replaced with a freeway
St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church	converted to unknown secular use
St. Mary’s (German) Catholic Church	converted to rental hall/catering
St. Matthew’s (German) Evangelical Lutheran Church	converted to youth service use
St. Paul’s German Evangelical Church	replaced with a freeway
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church	converted to housing
Tenth United Presbyterian Church	changed 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: Allegheny West Religious Buildings

Posted on May 24, 2026 by Carolyn Ristau

View of West North Avenue, Allegheny West

Allegheny West Neighborhood

Allegheny West is a neighborhood that features a blend of stability and destruction in its built environment.

Allegheny City’s Millionaires Row once occupied this part of town. It is a dense neighborhood, with a mix of uses. While the houses are frequently attached, many have front porches that provide a buffer from the street. Architectural ornamentation is common and the sidewalks are often paved in brick.

Parts of the neighborhood were impacted by “urban renewal.” The southern portion, between Ridge Avenue and the railroads, was designated as a “renewal” area on behalf of the community college. In 1970, the project was just getting started. It was projected that 10 families and 25 individuals would need to be relocated to make way for the community college campus. A few other areas of the neighborhood north of Ridge Avenue have also seen block-scale demolition and redevelopment into parking lots, warehouses, and a fast food restaurant.

One of the buildings from the congregations listed in the 1926 Polk Directory was lost through these smaller demolition/redevelopments. The other two buildings remain intact with the same congregations.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of 70 in this Series)

68th largest by acreage
45th highest number of sites (multi-way tie)
16th most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 3 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for Allegheny West (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary).

What are they now?

The table below matches the 3 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation Name	By 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church	still Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church
Emmanuel Episcopal Church	still Emmanuel Episcopal Church
North Presbyterian Church	replaced with a parking lot

Photos

Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church (2026)
Emmanuel Episcopal Church (2026)
North Presbyterian Church site (2026)

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: Allegheny Center Religious Buildings

Posted on May 17, 2026 by Carolyn Ristau

View of the pedestrian mall, Allegheny Center

Allegheny Center Neighborhood

Reconstructing a neighborhood that has been almost completely reconfigured is difficult. Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Center neighborhood was once the center of Allegheny City, which was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. In the 1800s and first half on the 1900s, the heart of this bustling city was 36 blocks of dense, walkable, mixed-use activity. Most of the buildings and streets of these blocks were erased in the 1960s and 1970s when the City of Pittsburgh and the Urban Redevelopment Authority led a major, federally-funded, “urban renewal” project in the neighborhood. Four existing streets were converted into a one-way ring road, while most of the other streets were erased or converted to pedestrian plazas. The buildings were mostly demolished and replaced by parking lots and mid- to high-rise buildings within the ring road and parking lots and housing complexes outside the ring road.

To facilitate this “renewal,” 376 families, 1161 individuals, and 598 businesses were relocated outside the neighborhood by 1970. Unsurprisingly, given the scope and extent of this displacement in the name of renewal, only one of the buildings used by the 22 congregations listed in the 1926 directory survives. What is surprising is that a former parish house survives, which helped locate the former locations of several of the church buildings that used to sit nearby.

Neighborhood Statistics (Out of the 70 in this series)

64th largest by acreage
4th highest number of religious sites
2nd most sites/acre

Locations

The map below shows the locations of the 22 congregations listed in the 1926 directory for Allegheny Center (the dotted line marks the neighborhood boundary). Note that there are only 20 pins because three congregations apparently shared the same space.

What are they now?

The table below matches the 22 congregations listed in the 1926 directory with the current use of the site.

1926 Congregation Name	By 2026 the Congregation’s Building is:
Arch Street Methodist Episcopal Church	replaced with a parking lot
Central Presbyterian Church	replaced with a community service building
Central Reformed Presbyterian Church	replaced with a housing complex
Christ Episcopal Church	replaced with a community service building
Church of the Soul	replaced with a parking lot
First Protestant Methodist Church	replaced with a housing complex
First United Presbyterian Church	replaced with a parking lot
First Allegheny Christian Church	replaced with a small scale hospital
First Presbyterian Church of Allegheny	replaced with a housing complex
Fourth United Presbyterian Church	replaced with a park (tennis and basketball courts)
Fourth Spiritualists	replaced with a parking lot
Gospel Tabernacle	replaced with a parking lot
Metropolitan Church Mission	replaced with a parking lot
Ohio Street Episcopal Methodist Church	replaced with a housing complex
Pentecostal Mission	replaced with a apartment building
Sandusky Street Baptist Church	replaced with a parking lot
Second United Presbyterian Church	replaced with a commercial building
Spiritualist Church of Truth	replaced with a housing complex
St. Cyprian Catholic Church	replaced with a housing complex
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church	replaced with a school baseball diamond
St. Peter Catholic Church	still St. Peter Catholic Church
Trinity Lutheran Church	replaced with a commercial building

Photos

Arch Street Methodist Episcopal Church site (2026)
Central Presbyterian Church site (2026)
Central Reformed Presbyterian Church site (2026)
Christ Episcopal Church site (2026)
Church of the Soul site shared with two other congregations (2026)
First Allegheny Christian Church site (2026)
First Presbyterian Church of Allegheny site (2026)
First Protestant Methodist Church of Northside site, adjacent to a Spiritualist site (2026)
First United Presbyterian Church site (2026)
Fourth United Presbyterian Church site (2026)
Gospel Tabernacle site (2026)
Ohio Street Methodist Episcopal Church site (2026)
Pentecostal Mission site (2026)
Sandusky Street Baptist Church site (2026)
Second United Presbyterian Church site (2026)
St. Cyprian Catholic Church site (2026)
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church site (2026)
St. Peter Catholic Church (2026)
Trinity Lutheran Church site (2026)