Pittsburgh
Second-largest city in Pennsylvania, USA, in Allegheny County at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River; population (2000 est) 334,600. It is a business and financial centre with one of the largest river ports in the world (it is the 11th-largest port in the USA overall and the largest inland port).
High-technology and healthcare services dominate an economy formerly based on iron, steel, heavy engineering, and glass industries.
History
Established by the French as Fort Duquesne in 1754, the site was taken by the British in 1758 and renamed Fort Pitt, after the British prime minister, William Pitt the Elder. Its port became the main embarkation point for settlers heading west along the Ohio River. Aided by the proximity of Appalachian coal, Pittsburgh's prosperity was founded on its heavy industries, steel production increasing enormously after 1850.
Features Educational and cultural institutions include the University of Pittsburgh (1787), Carnegie Mellon University (founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1900), Duquesne University (a Catholic foundation of 1878), the Carnegie Science Center, the Frick Art Museum, and the Andy Warhol Museum (1994). |
Location The city rises on the deep valley sides of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, which cut through the Allegheny plateau near the western border of Pennsylvania. Industry and railway yards are concentrated on the valley floors, while the suburbs extend onto the heights. The original site and hub of Pittsburgh is the triangle of land between the converging rivers, once occupied by the fort, later by factories and slums, and now known as the ‘Golden Triangle’, with offices and parks. Over 720 bridges link the city districts. |
Industrial development The first blast furnace was built around 1792, the first glass factory in 1797, and the first cotton mill in 1804. A lucrative link with Philadelphia was provided in 1834 by the opening of the Pennsylvania Canal and Portage Railroad. In the 19th century, Pittsburgh's steel industry grew to dominate the US steel market, particularly after the arrival of industrialist Andrew Carnegie in the 1860s, when it became the world's leading producer. |
| In recent decades, the iron and steel industry has declined in capacity, with a 45% reduction 1980–1995, at enormous cost to both finance and employment. The Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation is sited in Pittsburgh; it declared bankruptcy in 2000 but continued to produce, and lose money, though at a decreasing rate. The United Steelworkers of America still have their headquarters here. Several steel companies (for example, Armco Inc) reacted to the recession of the mid-1980s by refocusing on speciality steels. The steel multinational, US Steel (formerly USX), is the largest company in the Pittsburgh area. |
| Originally the confinement of heavy industry within the valleys created dangerous levels of smoke pollution, but since the 1960s, the decline of iron and steel production, urban redevelopment, and clean-air campaigns improved the air quality. |
