Lohr Building

The arched glass windows of the landmark Lohr Building have overlooked the intersection of Wood Street and South Avenue since those roads were teeming with horse-and-buggy traffic. Built in the late 1800s by Alexander Lohr, this three-story red brick building has at various times in its life served as the first home of the Second United Methodist Church, a newspaper office, a sewing machine store, a law firm, and a bank.

From the Wilkinsburg Historical Society Archives: July 2020

Alexander Lohr was born in 1835 in Somerset County working the fields on the family farm. In 1858 at the age of 23 he moved to Ligonier to learn the carpentry trade. In 1862 Lohr moved to Pittsburgh and operated as a carpenter, contractor and builder.

All over Pittsburgh’s East End he built many fine houses and business places but he chose Wilkinsburg to build his own residence. In 1871 he married Caroline Lacock, a local Wilkinsburg woman and built a 10 room Victorian on South Avenue. Sadly, the Lohrs had two baby girls who both died at a very young age.

Then in 1893 after working in construction for 35 years he built this multi-use high-quality masterpiece, and he built it to last. He fashioned seven large arched windows facing Wood Street on the third floor, and seven semi-arched windows on the second floor. It had a large roofline cupola at the corner of Wood Street and South Avenue, with the name Lohr on both edges. This is the only building that bore his name, the Lohr Building.

The first floor originally contained a dry goods store that sold carpets and furnishings, while the upper floors were offices for lawyers, accountants, physicians and real estate offices. Many longtime residents remember the decades of this building being the Singer Sewing Machine business. The upper floors at one time served as classrooms before the High School was built in 1911. The top floor with its expansive space was the worship area for the Second United Presbyterian Church while that congregation built a church. In recent years the first floor had a Wheelchair Exchange business and later a pawn shop.

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After two years of an extensive, $2.5-million renovation, the Lohr Building was officially reopened on June 30, 2020. The WCDC hosted a ribboncutting ceremony and open house to celebrate the end of the renovation and beginning of new life for the 130-year-old Lohr Building.

Sources:

http://wilkinsburgcdc.org/lohr-building-project/

https://wilkinsburglibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Archives-July-2020a.pdf