Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh: 1758-2008 surveys the city's evolution from strategic fort in the wilderness to bustling industrial workshop to high-tech center for universities and health care. A boatbuilding center and gateway to the West at the beginning of the 19th century, Pittsburgh later produced iron and steel used to construct bridges and buildings around the country and provided the cannons, shot, and ships that helped win wars around the world. In the process, Pittsburgh became a magnet for successive waves of immigrants--workers and entrepreneurs who shaped the culture and character of the city with their customs, churches, clubs, food, and an impressive collection of museums. Among its many attributes, Pittsburgh is the birthplace of Carnegie libraries in the United States, wire cable suspension bridges, the gas station, the Ferris wheel, commercial radio, public television, and bingo.

Historic photographs from the collections of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh document the people, events, industries, structures, and achievements that have shaped Pittsburgh over the years. Drawn from A Pittsburgh Album, which was published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1959 to mark the city's bicentennial, this book was prepared by the staffs of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to commemorate the city's 250th birthday.