East Liberty Commercial District Walking Tour

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East Liberty Commercial District Walking Tour

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15217, United States

Created By: Amanda Seim

Tour Information

Explore the heart of the East Liberty Commercial Historic District. On this tour you'll see physical evidence of three major phases of change in East Liberty's past. You'll see buildings that date back to when the area was a booming commercial hub—a period when it was considered Pittsburgh's "second downtown." There are also traces of the city's largest urban renewal project during the Pittsburgh Renaissance, when almost a third of the commercial core was demolished to make way for an outdoor pedestrian mall. Today, East Liberty is once again experiencing change as new development is evident around every corner. Explore the visible layers of history in this resilient neighborhood, and see how old buildings are being reused for new purposes.

The tour is handicap accessible and the route is on relatively flat terrain. There is a slight uphill section walking from Centre Avenue through the East Side Bond Pedestrian Plaza to view the East Liberty Transit Station (you will have a choice to use a ramp or about ten steps).

Last edited April 2019


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What You'll See on the Tour

Looking east from the corner of Baum and Beatty, this photo shows a 1937 street view of central East Liberty. In the early twentieth century, the neighborhood experienced a transformation into a booming commercial district. East Liberty’s... Read more
The East Liberty Market House, now called Motor Square Garden, was built in 1898 by the Boston architectural firm Peabody & Stearns. Andrew Mellon commissioned it’s construction. Built at the end of the nineteenth century during a dev... Read more
The Joy of Life fountain is a remnant from the second major phase of change in East Liberty. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) commissioned it in the 1960s to act as a centerpiece for a new outdoor pedestrian mall. Like many other Ame... Read more
Urban renewal had a major impact on the East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library. The original library was a 1905 Alden & Harlow building located on Station and Larimer. The library moved to its current spot in 1968 during urban rene... Read more
The Ace Hotel, located in the former YMCA building, reflects the latest phase of change in East Liberty. Currently, this neighborhood is experiencing extensive development. In the past twenty years $900 million in new investment has come to... Read more
The Kelly Strayhorn Theater is a rarity in East Liberty, because it is still serves the original function it had over a century ago when it was the Regent Theatre. In the early 1900s, East Liberty was an entertainment center as well as a co... Read more
Stand on the northeast corner of Penn and Highland and look west. This photo shows the same street view in June 1971 when this area was a pedestrian mall. Note the original location of the Joy of Life fountain at the left. To the right you ... Read more
Stand on the northwest corner of Penn and Sheridan and look across to the south side of Penn Avenue. Take note of the modern, luxury apartments that hover above the restored terracotta facades of early twentieth century structures. Holding ... Read more
The Liberty Building represents the beginning of East Liberty’s construction boom around the same time that the electric streetcar system was introduced. Built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, this building demonstrates how the comp... Read more
German Protestants founded the St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1839. The present structure was built in 1888. The Missionary Temple Church of God began holding dual services here in the early 1980s and purchased the building in... Read more
Originally founded as Salome Baptist Church in 1885, Rodman Street Baptist Church is one of the earliest black churches in the East End. Before constructing a permanent home for the congregation on this site in 1892, the church held meeting... Read more
The East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) was collaboratively founded in 1970 by eighteen different churches in the East End. Between 1950 and 1970 when Pittsburgh was suffering from industrial decline and suburbanization, East Liberty lost ... Read more
The development of transit has shaped East Liberty during the past two centuries. From the opening of the Pennsylvania Railroad station in the 1850s and the electrification of the streetcar system in the 1890s, to the proliferation of auto... Read more
Standing on the north side of Centre, look across the street to see the oldest building in the Historic Commercial District, a circa 1870 Italianate style building. Note the remnant of the urban renewal-era traffic circle—the address stil... Read more
Oswald Werner opened the first dry cleaning establishment in Pittsburgh in 1864. The business had expanded by 1890 so his sons moved a pickup site to this building on Highland Avenue. The price of dry cleaning and pressing a sack suit in 19... Read more
Daniel Burnham designed the Highland Building, which was commissioned by Henry Clay Frick in the early twentieth century. Burnham is famous for designing the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Burnham designed four other buildings in Pittsburgh f... Read more
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 Negle... Read more

 

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