Finding Allegheny Allegheny has been a part of Pittsburgh for a century now and its identity has to some degree ceased to exist except in a few neighborhood names, an unappreciated center and as a neighborhood in the “Northside” of Pittsburgh.
Allegheny took longer to settle than Pittsburgh, but in the mid Nineteenth century historical accounts noted that prominent Pittsburghers preferred to live in “suburbs” like Allegheny.
Today we think of Allegheny more in terms of a central city than a suburb. The part of Allegheny closest to the river has become little more than an extension of downtown Pittsburgh.
This past year has seen much discussion over what’s to become of Allegheny’s Center, now known as Allegheny Center. Talks of new parks and “re-connecting the grid” abound. Yet in an area where countless people had businesses, worked, shopped and lived, only a handful of institutions have ownership stake in Allegheny Center today. “re-connecting the grid” will not be able to change that and only bring 21st century auto traffic into an area originally defined in the Nineteenth century.
Its true, there’s no sign of the Allegheny of 1850 there today, and even little of the Allegheny of 1900. But why not bring a little of the history back?
I’d like to throw a twist out there on an earlier suggestion, that of reconstructing the market house. Not the market house that many old timers remember, but a market house in a structure that would reach back to the original town. Rebuilding a building to replicate the original town hall would both take Allegheny back to her roots a market to bring life back into Allegheny.
The reconstructed building need not be on its original spot—the old Buhl Planetarium is there, it could be anywhere in Allegheny Center and there are plenty of spots where this building might fit. If it were constructed close to the place where the farmer’s market is held in the East Commons, that institution could simply be moved inside for fresh produce year-round.
Commemorating the anniversary of Allegheny’s annexation and approaching Pittsburgh’s 250th birthday, looking back before our own memories, before the age of steel to the age of canals and glass, grazing land and ship building will provide the best foresight into the future. Rebuilding the City Hall as a market would help provide this window for Allegheny.
