East Liberty Presbyterian Church: (116 S Highland Ave)

This Gothic-style structure designed by Ralph Adams Cram is the fifth church building to occupy this site. East Liberty pioneers founded the East Liberty Presbyterian Church on this spot in 1819 on donated land from Jacob and Barbara Negley. The construction dates of the four previous churches are inscribed in stone on the exterior corner of Penn and Whitefield (facing Whitefield). On the 100th anniversary of the church’s organization the brothers Andrew and Robert Beatty Mellon, who were the grandsons of the original property donors, donated the additional tract of land that borders Whitfield Street. This final land acquisition allowed the church to occupy an entire square block in the center of East Liberty. In 1969 the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation gave the church Historic Landmark status.

The church is home to Hope Academy of Music and the Arts, an after-school community outreach program founded in 1999. Hope Academy partnered with the Kelly Strayhorn Theater across the street in 2001 by regularly using the historic theater as a venue for performances.

Sources:

Abels, Caroline. "A Church Will Be the Salvation of East Liberty's Regent Theater." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 June 2000.

Cathedral of Hope. The Architecture of East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Accessed April 17, 2019 at http://cathedralofhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/HistoryAndArchitectureRevised.pdf

Collins, John Fulton Stuart. Stringtown on the Pike: Tales and History of East Liberty and the East Liberty Valley of Pennsylvania. East Liberty Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh, 1966.

Robshaw, Charles P. The Art and Architecture of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Pittsburgh, PA: The East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 1977.