Post Office, Lacock's Blacksmith Shop

This distinctive building at the south east corner of Penn Avenue and Hay Street was built in 1912 to be Wilkinsburg's first stand-alone post office. Since 1840 the Wilkinsburg post office had occupied spaces in various general stores, and by 1908 it had a dedicated first floor in the 7 story Carl Building at the corner of Wood Street and Ross Avenue. The Post Office soon outgrew the Wood/Ross location and this Penn Avenue building was constructed to be solely for postal business. Twenty-four years later, in 1936, the post office moved to Ross Avenue at Hay Street. The building was bought by Peoples Gas for customers to arrange service or to purchase gas stoves and other appliances. In 1966 it became a Goodwill store and in 1999 it was sold again. It is currently the headquarters for Flynn Construction.

Prior to the erection of this building, it was the site of Lacock's blacksmith shop. John Lacock, one of the early blacksmiths of Wilkinsburg, set up this shop near the southeast corner of Penn Ave and Hay St about 1850. John and his wife raised 15 children in the brick home behind the shop. To feed their family, the Lacocks grew their own vegetables in a long garden behind the home. Pictured here, workers take a break from the anvil and bellows of their trade.

Source: Wilkinsburg Historical Society. (2007). Images of America: Wilkinsburg. Arcadia Publishing.

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