Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

(This article is about the city. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" is also the name of a song written in 1952; there are also several US cities named Pittsburg.)

History

France was the first European country to send settlers to the forks of the Ohio River. They did so after capturing a small English garrison founded by William Trent. The Virginia colony sent Major George Washington with a scout named Christopher Gist to deliver a message to the French, demanding their withdrawal, and to reconnoiter their positions. The French refused. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia then sent Washington back in command of a small troop of colonial soldiers, but the French forced him to surrender at a makeshift fort, Fort Necessity. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British colonies captured Fort Duquesne, which sat at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, at the part of downtown Pittsburgh now known as "The Point". The British built a larger fort on the same site and named it Fort Pitt in honor of the British statesman William Pitt the Elder. Fort Pitt was garrisoned in case of French attack during the French and Indian War, but by the time the improvements were made the war was over.

Related Topics:
France - Ohio River - William Trent - Virginia - George Washington - Christopher Gist - French and Indian War - 1754 - 1763 - British - Fort Duquesne - Monongahela - Allegheny - The Point - Fort Pitt - William Pitt the Elder

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Pittsburgh was located in an area that was claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was briefly the seat of government for the short lived District of West Augusta, a Virginia county designed to compete with Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County, based in nearby Hannastown, which also claimed the region. In 1780, Virginia and Pennsylvania agreed on the current boundaries of the state and Pittsburgh officially became part of Pennsylvania.

Related Topics:
Virginia - Pennsylvania - District of West Augusta - Westmoreland County - Hannastown - 1780

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After the Revolutionary War, Pittsburgh was the center of the Whiskey Rebellion, which was put down by state militias ordered in by President George Washington.

Related Topics:
Revolutionary War - Whiskey Rebellion - George Washington

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Beginning in the early 19th century, Pittsburgh's proximity to large coal deposits and excellent positioning along major trade routes made it one of the world's leading industrial powerhouses. Steel production was a major industry for many years, earning the city its nickname, "The Steel City". Pittsburgh lies at the confluence of the Monongahela River and Allegheny River, which merge to form the Ohio River, ultimately draining into the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. As an industrial city, Pittsburgh was also a major hub of early railroad activity. Millions of European immigrants settled in and around Pittsburgh in the 19th and early 20th centuries to seek employment in the steel mills, coal mines, railroads, or numerous associated industries. The production of glass, for both industrial and decorative use, was also an established industry in the city.

Related Topics:
19th century - Coal - Steel - Monongahela River - Allegheny River - Ohio River - Mississippi River - Gulf of Mexico - Railroad - Europe - 20th centuries - Steel mill - Coal mine - Glass

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On July 21, 1877, a day after bloody rioting in Baltimore from Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of nine rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh staged a sympathy strike that was met with an assault by the state militia — Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. Another major confrontation occurred during the Homestead Strike in 1892.

Related Topics:
July 21 - 1877 - Baltimore - Baltimore and Ohio Railroad - Homestead Strike - 1892

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Thanks to the presence of the nearby Bettis Laboratory and the Shippingport power plant, Pittsburgh became the world's first nuclear powered city in 1960.

Related Topics:
Bettis Laboratory - Shippingport - Nuclear power - 1960

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With the recessions of the 1970s and the advent of cheap foreign labor, Pittsburgh's steel mills found themselves unable to compete with foreign steel mills, and most closed down. This created a ripple effect that decimated the local economy, as railroads, mines, and factories across the region shut down, one by one.

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The collapse of the US steel industry in the 1970s marked a major turning point for the city of Pittsburgh, and brought with it an unexpected renaissance as the mills closed and Pittsburgh began to shed its image of a dirty, smoky place. Pittsburgh was spared the fate of other postindustrial Rust Belt cities as the basis of the economy dramatically shifted from heavy industry to services and high technology. Pittsburgh is also home to various new skyscrapers, the tallest being the U.S. Steel Tower, famous for having only three sides. Also notable on the city skyline is the futuristic PPG Place.

Related Topics:
1970s - Rust Belt - Skyscrapers - U.S. Steel Tower - PPG Place

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Pittsburgh's population decline during the last half century is remarkable:

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