Then & Now 1926-2026: Pittsburgh’s Religious Buildings

Posted on May 10, 2026 by Carolyn Ristau

View of Pittsburgh from West End Overlook

Why Religious Buildings?

In 2010, as I travelled around different neighborhoods in Pittsburgh for work, school, and play, I began to notice a number of former religious buildings that were being used for secular purposes from child care to community centers to homes. Yet, I only heard people talk about one or two that made the news for the controversial way in which they were now used, particularly the brewpub that brewed in the former altar space. This inspired me to try to identify how many former religious buildings in Pittsburgh were being used for secular purposes and what those new uses were. While I have since learned that this is a moving target, I have become more and more fascinated about what these buildings tell us about the history of the city and the people who’ve lived here.

Eventually, I will write a book about Pittsburgh and its communities featuring Pittsburgh’s former religious buildings. In the meantime, I’m broadening the parameters of my research to gather information about former religious buildings that have been demolished or that sit vacant.

Why 1926?

The more I learn about 1926, the more it seems a significant moment in Pittsburgh’s history. It sits in the middle of the city’s final decade of significant population growth, which gets a boost from the numerous boroughs annexed that decade. The city’s boundary in 1926 only encompasses 85% of what will become the city’s full extent after the last annexation in 1955. While the City adopted zoning in 1923 with two types of residential districts (one for single-unit and two-unit dwellings and one for any number of units), in 1926, it added a third type of residential district for only single-unit dwellings.

Granted, given my day job, this last fact may be the reason I’ve become so focused on the year 1926. However, since we are now exactly 100 years later, it seems worth elevating 1926 and 2026 to another “Then & Now” series.

Scope of the Series

Polk’s Pittsburgh City Directory of 1926 identifies over 500 listings under the category “Churches.” Over the next couple of years, this Then & Now series will visit these sites by neighborhood to identify what they look like in 2026. I expect there will be 71 posts in this series occasionally interrupted by other posts, including the monthly public art posts and annual Bridge Madness series.

In 2026, there are 90 neighborhoods officially recognized by Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning. Only 70 of these will be featured in this series. The others do not have religious sites that are listed in the 1926 city directory. This is because they were were largely undeveloped at that time, not yet annexed to the city, or both (parts of the neighborhood undeveloped and other parts not annexed).

Neighborhoods Featured in the Series
- Allegheny Center
- Allegheny West
- Allentown
- Arlington
- Bedford Dwellings
- Beechview
- Beltzhoover
- Bloomfield
- Bluff
- Brighton Heights
- Brookline
- California-Kirkbride
- Central Business District
- Central Lawrenceville
- Central Northside
- Central Oakland
- Chateau
- Crafton Heights
- Crawford-Roberts
- Duquesne Heights
- East Allegheny
- East Carnegie
- East Hills
- East Liberty
- Elliott
- Esplen
- Fineview
- Friendship
- Garfield
- Greenfield
- Hazelwood
- Highland Park
- Homewood North
- Homewood South
- Homewood West
- Larimer
- Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar
- Lower Lawrenceville
- Manchester
- Marshall-Shadeland
- Middle Hill
- Morningside
- Mt. Oliver
- Mt. Washington
- North Oakland
- North Shore
- Perry North
- Perry South
- Point Breeze
- Point Breeze North
- Polish Hill
- Shadyside
- Sheraden
- South Oakland
- South Shore
- South Side Flats
- South Side Slopes
- Spring Garden
- Spring Hill-City View
- Squirrel Hill North
- Squirrel Hill South
- Stanton Heights
- Strip District
- Swisshelm Park
- Terrace Village
- Troy Hill
- Upper Hill
- Upper Lawrenceville
- West End
- West Oakland

Neighborhoods Annexed after 1926
- Carrick (1927)
- Hays (1929 & 1951)
- Knoxville (1927)
- Lincoln Place (1929)
- New Homestead (1931)
- Northview Heights (1931)
- Overbrook (1927)
Neighborhoods Largely Undeveloped in 1926
- Arlington Heights
- Bon Air
- Chartiers City
- Fairywood
- Glen Hazel
- Oakwood
- Regent Square
- Saint Clair
- Windgap
Neighborhoods w/Portions Undeveloped in 1926 and Portions Annexed after 1926
- Ridgemont (a portion annexed 1928)
- Summer Hill (a portion annexed 1929)
- Westwood (a portion annexed 1927)

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

Williamsport Public Art

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Carolyn Ristau

I enjoy my layovers in Williamsport, PA, even though I introduced the town on my blog with my least favorite experience there so far – walking its bridges. I am always on the tail end of a trip when I’m visit, which may explain why I have a tendency to not take as many photographs as I otherwise would. For example, the Little League Museum is in Williamsport and at one intersection the public art reflects this with a statue at each corner of little leagues players one each at home plate and the three bases. When I stumbled across that intersection I was too tired to hit all four corners and so I didn’t even take photographs of the statues at the two corners I did pass. However, the crochet-filled penny-farthing bike rack and a couple murals filling in the normally blank walls along parking lots were inspiring enough for me to stop for a minute to take photos, despite being so tired.

Gateway Park, Arlington

Posted on January 24, 2026 by Carolyn Ristau

While walking from the Rosslyn Metro Station to the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge over the Potomac, we walked over a surprise bridge. If we had chosen to walk over on the upriver side of the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge, I may have completely missed that we walked a bridge over I-66.

Gateway Park is a “cap” over the freeway and is both a park and a bridge. Unlike Pittsburgh’s CAP or Frankie Pace Park, Gateway Park was built in the 1980s at the same time as the freeway it covers. It also distinguishes itself from Pittsburgh’s park/bridge by appearing to be fully integrated with the surrounding city and having well-utilized programming.

Anacostia River Canals

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Carolyn Ristau

The Anacostia Riverwalk Trail crosses over the openings of several canal channels within a short distance from the Frederick Douglass Bridge in Washington, DC. The first canal opening that I walked over, I had no idea that I was walking on a bridge…like when I walked over the Grosvenor Canal in London. It wasn’t until I was checking out the views from the Frederick Douglass Bridge that I saw the opening for the canal underneath the path I had just walked. (First picture in the slide show below.)

The bridge pictured above appears to have been over a canal that fed into or out of (or both?) the old O Street Pumping Station. This bridge was clearly visible as we walked passed it on our way to the Frederick Douglass. I was tempted to cross it (as a bridge walker, it is hard to walk passed a bridge and not over it), but I was tired and trying to conserve energy. However, once on the Frederick Douglass Bridge, I spotted another pedestrian bridge just beyond this one that I could not pass up the opportunity to walk, no matter how tired I was.

The Yard Park Bridge is a highly photogenic bridge, perhaps rivalling London’s Millennium Bridge. It crosses over what I think are the remnants of the Washington City Canal, most of which has been paved over. The paved portion visible from the Yard Park Bridge reminded me of the portions of the Erie Canal in Buffalo paved over for a skating rink and other recreational purposes.

Bridge over an unknown canal
Old O Street Pump Station
New O Street Pump Station
Yard Park Bridge exterior 1
Yard Park Bridge exterior 2
Inside the Yard Park Bridge
Yard Park Bridge opening
Paved-over vestiges of the Washington City Canal 1
Paved-over vestiges of the Washington City Canal 2

London Docks

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Carolyn Ristau

There are four docks or canals connecting into the River Thames along the stretch of the river through Central London that I walked in 2012. I walked bridges over three of these, though I was too distracted by other sites to photograph one of them. The one I missed was the Grosvenor Canal between the Chelsea and Grosvenor Bridges. I was busy photographing the former Battersea Power Station, Grosvenor Bridge, and the train yard next to the Grosvenor Bridge to notice that I walked another small bridge over the Grosvenor Canal. Returning to the site through Google Street View, it looks like the kind of bridge that you’d have to know was there to notice it.

I did notice when I was crossing the bridge across Ransome Dock (picture above), between the Battersea and Albert Bridges. Although, I hadn’t yet learned my lesson to always take an establishing shot of the bridge itself, not just the views from the bridge.

I also noticed when I walked across the Rolling Bridge over St. Saviour’s Dock (picture below), which is slightly downriver from the Tower Bridge. The structure of the bridge itself was fascinating enough that I did take a picture of it. It wasn’t until much later that I learned it truly is a unique bridge – the only draw bridge to curl up on itself.

Blackfriars Railway Bridge/Station

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Carolyn Ristau

Blackfriars Station is another unique bridge along the Thames. It is a bridge…and it’s a station for the underground. When I was there in May 2012, it was under construction, or rather extensive renovation to extend the platforms along the bridge and add solar panels above. The Guardian heralded it as the “world’s largest solar power bridge” when it opened in 2014. And over a decade later, it seems to retain hold of that title, suggesting an opportunity for more solar bridges to step up to the challenge.

Murray Avenue Bridge 2012-2025

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Carolyn Ristau

Ironically, a few days after my catch-up post about the Murray Avenue Bridge in Squirrel Hill went live, I unexpectedly found myself walking that bridge for the first time since 2012. The bridge looks mostly the same, slightly rusted but presumable functional as it hasn’t collapsed or been closed following a regular inspection. The stairs have been replaced though. I didn’t have a reason to go down them in 2012 and didn’t feel comfortable testing them out for the heck of it then. In 2025, the Urban Hike walk I was on came at the bridge from the street below and we climbed up the newish, solid-looking steps; a few of us (me included) pausing “for the view” on our way up.

The before and after photo pairs below don’t exactly line up, given the different angles and orientations of the photos, but it seemed a good opportunity to try out the image compare option. Before: August 2012, After: August 2025.

Duck Hollow Bridges

Posted on September 18, 2025 by Carolyn Ristau

Duck Hollow is a mini neighborhood where Frick Park’s Nine Mile Run meets the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. A handful of houses sit in the Hollow accessible only by an old one-lane bridge on a small spur of Second Avenue or the new bridge on McFarren Street that opened in 2020 (though it was only 2 years old at the time of the Bridge Report and presumably doesn’t see much traffic, it only received an overall grade of “good”). The houses of Duck Hollow are separated from the river by the railroad that crosses Nine Mile Run on the bridge above Second Avenue. These photos are from a walk my COVID-pod and I took of Frick Park in Fall 2020.

Buffalo Bridges: Canalside

Posted on June 19, 2025 by Carolyn Ristau

There are several pedestrian-only bridges at Canalside, Buffalo. They pass over the end of the Erie Canal, a portion of which has been paved over with a skating rink. When I was there, one of these bridges was closed due to construction and I couldn’t figure out how to get to another one. I did walk over two others of these pedestrian bridges – one over the paved portion and one over the water portion.

Bridge Collapse (PGH): Three Years Later

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Carolyn Ristau

Three years ago, Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed on a cold and icy morning. Since then, I have periodically checked in on the status of the new bridge, the fallout from the collapse including the Mayor’s new Commission on Infrastructure Asset Reporting and Investment, and the condition of other bridges, particularly those closed for safety reasons since the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed.

At my last check-in one year ago, the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation was still on-going with the latest update on their website a year old. The investigation wrapped up shortly after and the NTSB’s final report was issued in March 2024 (WTAE, March 22, 2024). Unsurprisingly, the report found that the City’s failure to act on the maintenance and repair recommendations from years of inspections led to the structural failure of the bridge. Specifically:

On Friday, January 28, 2022, about 6:37 a.m. eastern standard time, the Fern Hollow Bridge, which carried Forbes Avenue over the north side of Frick Park in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, experienced a structural failure. As a result, the 447-foot-long bridge fell about 100 feet into the park below. The collapse began when the transverse tie plate on the southwest bridge leg failed due to extensive corrosion and section loss. The corrosion and section loss resulted from clogged drains that caused water to run down bridge legs and accumulate along with debris at the bottom of the legs, which prevented the development of a protective rust layer or patina. Although repeated maintenance and repair recommendations were documented in many inspection reports, the City of Pittsburgh failed to act on them, leading to the deterioration of the fracture-critical transverse tie plate and the structural failure of the bridge.
NTSB: Collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge

News

Below are the news updates on the Fern Hollow Bridge and other bridge maintenance and replacement efforts in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge is completed.
Immediately after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed, the City created a Commission on Infrastructure Asset Reporting and Investment. However, it took Mayor Gainey about 18 months to nominate any commissioners and another 5 months for the commission to have its first meeting on December 5, 2023. Despite finally existing, it still hasn’t been added yet to the city’s website listing all Boards and Commissions. It does have an official city website though. The first report from the Commission to City Council was issued on June 5, 2024. In the cover letter, the Commissioners acknowledge that they are charged with reporting to council at least twice a year.
The Charles Anderson Bridge was immediately closed to vehicular traffic on February 1, 2023. On November 4, 2024, the bridge was closed to bicycle and pedestrian traffic as construction was finally underway for rehabilitation of the bridge (the process started in 2019). The Panther Hollow Overpass is also being improved while the traffic is detoured. (Pittsburgh Engage project page)
Pittsburgh’s Swindell Bridge, which closed initially from July to September 2022 due to falling debris. The expectation was that repairs that summer would enable the bridge to fully reopen to traffic. Instead the latest repairs seem to have uncovered more issues. The bridge will eventually undergo a full rehabilitation, which will require another closure during construction. However, that will not be for some time as the bridge is still in the preliminary design phase. (Pittsburgh Engage page)
The “complete overhaul” of the South Negley Avenue Bridge announced in 2022 (CBS, February 25, 2022). The city still does not have a project page for this bridge, though both sidewalks have been closed for safety (Mayor’s Press Release, June 6, 2024; Mayor’s Press Release, June 17, 2024). The obvious deterioration on this bridge and lack of movement on repairs leaves the way open for speculation on whether we will have another bridge disaster in our city sooner rather than later.
Supply chain issues and now winter weather have delayed the completion of the new Davis Avenue Bridge. (Bridge Engage Page; Public Art Engage page)
Rehabilitation on the Swinburne Bridge remains on pause until after the Charles Anderson Bridge is reopened as the Swinburne Bridge is part of the detour route. (Pittsburgh Engage page)
Preliminary engineering remains ongoing for the rehabilitation of the 28th Street Bridge. (Pittsburgh Engage page)
Preliminary engineering has started for the California Avenue Bridge rehabilitation. (Pittsburgh Engage page)
While the number of “Engage pages” about Pittsburgh bridges has grown in the last year (full list below the map), it still does not align with all the bridges closed fully or partially. In addition to the bridges mentioned above, the most recent addition to the list of bridges with issues, but no Engage page is the Panther Hollow Bridge that closed to vehicles October 2024 due to the results of its most recent inspection (see 2024 Bridge Disasters Actual and Pending for more).
In national bridge news, Congress fully funded the reconstruction of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge before the end of December (Governor Moore’s statement, December 21, 2024), contrary to my prediction on Funding Bridges (December 15, 2024).

Photos: Other Bridges

Historic Pittsburgh Bridge Disasters

According to Bob Regan’s 2006 book “The Bridges of Pittsburgh,” Pittsburgh is no stranger to bridge disasters:

1845 – The original Smithfield Street Bridge burned down
1851 – The 16th Street Bridge burned down
1865 – Two spans of the 16th Street Bridge was washed away in a flood
late 1880s – The 6th Street/St. Clair Street Bridge burned down
1903 – The Wabash Bridge collapsed during construction
1918 – The 16th Street Bridge burned down (again)
1921 – The 30th Street Bridge burned down
1927 – The Mount Washington Roadway Bridge collapsed during construction

Map of bridges discussed in the Bridge Collapse series:

Additional Resources:

Both PennDOT and the Federal Highway Administration have interactive maps of bridges for the state and country respective, and their inspection statuses. Pittsburgh now has the static Comprehensive Bridge Asset Management Program Report of the 147 bridges owned by the City of Pittsburgh.

Bridges in Pittsburgh with community engagement pages for pending rehabilitation or replacement projects: