are Dagnan Bouveret, “Disciples at Emmaus”; Winslow Homer, “Wreck”;
Whistler, “Sarasate”; E. A. Abbey, “The Penance of Eleanor”; George
Innes, “The Clouded Sun”; also Anton Mauve, Bastien Le Page, Raffaelli,
Gari Melchers, Jules Simon, and Childe Hassam. Annual exhibitions of
international modern art are held in May and June, and many others by
different art societies during the year. In the Entrance Hall are mural
decorations by the late John W. Alexander, a native of Pittsburgh,
typifying “The Apotheosis of Pittsburgh”; they surround the staircase
and galleries to the third floor. Art societies holding annual
exhibitions at the Carnegie Institute are, Associated Artists of
Pittsburgh, organized, 1910; Art Society of Pittsburgh, organized, 1873,
supported the Pittsburgh Orchestra for fifteen years, and gives
excellent free exhibitions and lectures; Duquesne Ceramic Club,
organized, 1891; Pittsburgh Architectural Club, Chapter Architectural
League of America, organized, 1897. Pittsburgh Etching Club, organized,
1909, held exhibition of Whistler’s etchings in 1914.
In the park, west of this building, is the Christopher Magee memorial
fountain, made in 1907, granite, sculptor, Augustus Saint Gaudens. In
front is Industry Statue, marble, after model in the Louvre, Paris. The
Technical School, brick, built, 1905, architect, Henry Hornbostel,
includes, in the art course, day and evening classes in applied design,
and department of architecture. The Pittsburgh Athletic Association,
architects, Janssen & Abbott, has interior decorations by Alfred Herter,
and collection of paintings. Drinking fountain, Fifth Avenue, front of
Montefiore Hall, placed in 1912, granite, with carved profile of an
Indian; inscription, “Catahecassa, Black Hoof, war chief of the
Shawnees,” was present at Braddock’s defeat in 1754, a friend and ally
of the United States.
In SCHENLEY FARMS, directly opposite the entrance to Schenley Park, is
the University of Pittsburgh, on a natural amphitheater. The buildings
stand out very effectively against the sky line; founded in 1887,
architect, Henry Hornbostel; landscape architect, Cass Gilbert; has
departments of fine and industrial arts. Memorial Hall to Soldiers and
Sailors of the Civil and Spanish Wars contains historic flags, statues,
trophies and historical portraits.
Other parks are ALLEGHENY, north side, ninety acres, with monuments in
honor of Washington, equestrian, made 1891, sculptor, Frederick Mayer;
Baron von Humboldt, made 1869; Thomas A. Armstrong; and the Hampton
Monument, made 1871, granite shaft, surmounted by bronze figure of a
gunner, commemorates the bravery of Hampton’s Battery in the Civil War.
Within east entrance of Allegheny Cemetery is the Arsenal Explosion
Monument in honor of those who lost their lives September 17, 1862.
Monument to General Alexander Hays, who was killed in the battle of the
Wilderness, in 1864, by soldiers of his command. Gothic receiving vault.
The Bindley mausoleum, replica of Napoleon’s tomb in Paris, pure example
of the Renaissance, has window by William and Annie Lee Willet. The
Porter Angel and Cross, imported from Italy, fine example of marble
carving. The Byers mausoleum, imitation of Temple of Minerva at Athens,
white granite. Near by is the United States Arsenal, in ornamental
grounds. RIVERSIDE PARK, on Perrysville Avenue, 217 acres purchased by
popular subscription in 1894, has beautiful drives and footpaths;
contains the observatory, connected with Allegheny University, in which
the telescope was made by Mr. and Mrs. Tillinghast, in their home
workshop opposite.
HIGHLAND PARK, 300 acres, northeast limit of city, acquired, 1872, has
main water reservoirs and the Zoological Gardens; main gateway is 56
feet high with Doric columns, surmounted by bronze groups representing
“Welcome,” and bronze figures at base; Stanton Avenue entrance has two
granite pedestals surmounted by equestrian statues, sculptor, G.
Moretti, made 1897; in the park is Robert Burns statue, sculptor, J.
Massey Rhind; and heroic bronze group, portrait statue, sculptor, G.
Moretti, of Stephen C. Foster, 1826-64, standing pen in hand, beside a
negro who is seated and playing a banjo; Foster wrote “Old Uncle Ned”
and “Old Folks at Home”; was native of Pittsburgh; his grave is in
Allegheny Cemetery. The view from Highland Park is very beautiful.
Highland and Schenley Parks are connected by Highland Avenue and the
Boulevard, making a continuous drive which forms the Carnegie promenade.
The Soldiers’ Monument is on Monument Hill, erected in 1871, to four
thousand men of Allegheny County killed in the Civil War. Wayside
Fountain, Fifth Avenue near Woodland Road.
Churches with notable architecture and windows: RODEF SHALOM Synagogue,
Fifth Avenue and Morewood Street, architect, Henry Hornbostel, is said
to have the finest tile dome in this country; windows, antique glass,
from original drawings, made by William and Annie Lee Willet. ST. PAUL’S
Roman Catholic Cathedral, Fifth Avenue, corner of Craig Street, stone,
fourteenth century Gothic, built, 1907, architects, Egan & Prindeville;
has beautiful altar of carved Carrara marble; pews and pulpit made of
bog oak from Ireland; bronze stations, by Seibel, said to be largest and
most artistic in the world; the great west window transepts,
clerestories, ornamental and heraldic glass made by Willet, in the later
delicate French Gothic spirit; also there is here much modern German and
English glass. FIRST BAPTIST, Bellefield Avenue and Bayard Street, pure
Gothic, fourteenth century, stone, built, 1902, architects, Cram,
Goodhue & Ferguson.
THIRD PRESBYTERIAN, Fifth Avenue and South Negley Street, one of the
most beautiful Gothic churches in the United States for spontaneity of
design, warmth, and golden tints of stone; architect, Theophilus P.
Chandler; windows by Willet are “The
[Illustration: THE CROWNING OF LABOR
Fragment from the Apotheosis of Pittsburgh, Mural in the Carnegie
Institute, Pittsburgh
_Painted by John W. Alexander_]
Ten Virgins,” made, 1904, “The Holy City,” 1905, of great beauty and
color; and fine ornamental windows in clear glass with heraldic
ornaments, in medieval hand-wrought lead; transept windows by Tiffany,
American opalescent glass; east aisle window by Kenyon Cox; west aisle
by McCausland, Toronto; this is an excellent church in which to study
the different schools of glass.
CALVARY Protestant Episcopal, Shady Avenue and Walnut Street, Bedford
limestone, thirteenth century Gothic, copy of Netley Abbey, architect,
Ralph Adams Cram; the windows by William and Annie Lee Willet are among
the most notable contributions to stained-glass art in this country,
recalling those of the great Chartres Cathedral, with amount of painting
reduced to a minimum, and lead treated as respectfully as the glass;
also a Tiffany window, and some excellent English glass. EPIPHANY Roman
Catholic, Washington and Franklin Streets, Romanesque, with Byzantine
details, contains some beautiful art work, including “The Twelve
Apostles,” by Taber Sears. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN, Sixth Avenue and Wood
Street, site deeded by John Penn in 1787; stone, French Gothic, erected
in 1905, architect, T. P. Chandler, Philadelphia, has fine echo organ
and chimes; windows by Tiffany, Lamb, and Clayton & Bell, London;
medallion window and ornamental work by Willet. In LUTHERAN Church,
Sixth Avenue, sanctuary window by Clayton & Bell, purely flat
decoration, also window by Frederick Wilson. MOUNT ALVERNIA Chapel,
Order of St. Francis, contains mural decorations by William Willet.
METHODIST, Beech Avenue, NORTH SIDE, stained glass window by Tiffany.
Near by is the Carnegie Free Library, Federal and Ohio Streets,
Romanesque; Fox Island granite with red granite trimmings; built, 1890;
architect, H. H. Richardson; contains Library, Art Gallery, and Music
Hall; in front is monument to Colonel James Anderson, red granite with
bronze portrait bust, 1785-1861, sculptor, Daniel Chester French.
Allegheny Post Office, French Renaissance, built, 1898, noted for gold
dome; near by is colossal statue of “Labor.”
Allegheny County Courthouse, Fifth Avenue and Grant Street, Romanesque,
Worcester granite and marble, tower 425 feet high, built, 1888, the
masterpiece of the great architect, H. H. Richardson; its interiors are
equally imposing, the proportions of the corridors and especially the
fan lancet, and convex-shaped ceiling, with its thousands of interlacing
arches, twenty-one of which can be seen at one glance from the base of
one of the stairways, excites the admiration of all beholders; it is
without any other decoration but the beauty of its lines and shadows.
Gaol is connected by facsimile of Bridge of Sighs. Frick building, built
in 1902, Fifth Avenue and Grant Street, architects, D. H. Burnham & Co.,
a granite office structure twenty stories high, of the Greek Doric
order; erected to express grace and beauty; batters from stylobate to
cornice, three feet narrower at top than base; basement and entrance
halls lined with Carrara marble; panels of Pavonazzo marble in ceiling;
offices decorated with frescoes of the old Italian school; restaurant,
medieval German; the Club story, Louis XIV style, is in stucco,
[Illustration: THE BLOCK HOUSE, PITTSBURGH]
marble, bronze, and frescoes; two large bronze lions by Phimister
Proctor are in entrance hall.
Bank of Pittsburgh, Fourth Avenue near Wood Street, classic, Alden &
Harlow, architects, has mural decorations, allegorical of Pittsburgh, by
Edwin H. Blashfield and the late Francis D. Millet. Iron City Bank,
Westinghouse Building, mural decorations by William Willet. Farmer’s
Deposit Bank, sculptured frieze by J. Massey Rhind. Chamber of Commerce
contains portraits of many prominent citizens. Friendship School,
Friendship and Graham Streets, historical paintings of Penn, Washington,
and Lincoln, by William Willet. View of the city seen from Mount
Washington, with rivers and encircling hills, is more or less enveloped
in smoke, excepting Sunday. Seventy-five per cent of the smoke nuisance
in Pittsburgh has been abated.
BRADDOCK, population 20,879, on Monongahela River, twelve miles below
Pittsburgh, famous, first as battle ground, General Braddock’s defeat by
French and Indians, 1754, when General Washington won his spurs, now is
home of the Carnegie Steel Company. St. Mary’s Protestant Episcopal
Church, windows and mural decorations by William and Annie Lee Willet,
Philadelphia. At mouth of the Youghiogheny River, so named by early
explorers from hearing Indians calling to each other across its width,
something that sounded like it, and meaning “Come again.” MCKEESPORT,
home of the National Tube Company, producing more wrought iron pipes
than any other plant in the world; St. Peter’s Church, altar window by
William and Annie Lee Willet.
Down the Ohio River, about six miles from Pittsburgh, begins Seven Mile
Island, a garden spot, one time home of the famous Queen Alliquippa. Six
miles farther is SEWICKLEY (Sweetwater), population 4955, named by
Indians on account of its maple trees, on Lincoln Highway, a beautiful
residence section with country estates which rival those about
Philadelphia and New York. St. James’ Church, window by William Willet.
WILKINSBURG, population 24,403, within fifteen minutes of Carnegie
Institute, has Wilkensburg Bank, classic, marble, built, 1909,
architects, Moubly & Ussinger; and Rowland Theatre, built, 1912,
Corinthian, architect, Hodgkinson.
XX
MIFFLIN COUNTY
Formed September 19, 1789; named for General Thomas Mifflin, then
President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, 1788-90, and
first Governor under the Constitution of 1790. Scenery throughout is
very beautiful; the twelve mile stretch of State highway through the
famous long Lewistown Narrows, gives glimpses of the Juniata, the
peerless little river of more song and romance than any other in
America, made famous by Mrs. Sullivan’s song, “The Beautiful Blue
Juniata,” telling the love story of Alfarata, the roving Indian girl;
the space between the mountains is barely wide enough to contain the
highway, canal, river, and railroad. Mountains slope one thousand feet
and are popular hunting grounds for bear and wild turkeys; quite a
number of caves are found in the limestone formations of this county,
though not easily accessible; Alexander’s, in Kishacoquillas Valley,
abounds in stalactites and stalagmites, preserving in midsummer ice
formed in winter; Naginey’s Cave, near Milroy, is most spacious;
Hanawalt’s Cave, near McVeytown, is of vast dimensions and contains
calcareous concretions; crude saltpetre has been obtained here;
McVeytown is birthplace of Joseph Trimble Rothrock, M.D.
Celebrated springs are Mifflin, near Painterville Station, has medicinal
waters; and Logan’s, six miles from Lewistown, near Reedsville, on left
of the old
[Illustration: MIFFLIN COUNTY]
stage road between Lewistown and Bellefonte, Center County; here the
Mingo Chief, Logan, friend of white man, Shikellimy’s son, had his
cabin, prior to 1771, when he left this region; he made the famous
speech sent to Lord Dunmore in 1774, considered, among American
classics, as a rare specimen of Indian oratory: “I appeal to any white
man to say if ever he entered Logan’s cabin hungry, and he gave him not
meat; if he ever came cold and naked, and he clothed him not; during the
course of the last long bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an
advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen
pointed at me as they passed, and said: ‘Logan is the friend of white
men.’ I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of
one man, Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked,
murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and
children; there runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living
creature; this called on me for revenge; I have sought it; I have killed
many; I have glutted my vengeance; for my country, I rejoice at the
beams of peace, but do not think that mine is the joy of fear; Logan
never felt fear. Logan will not turn on his heel to save his life; who
is there to mourn for Logan? Not one!” (Colonel Michael Cresap was not
responsible for the murder of Logan’s family; some white men, led by a
liquor dealer, murdered them.)
First settlers, Scotch-Irish, in 1754, were not molested by Indians
until 1756. Fort Granville was built, one mile northwest of Lewistown,
on the old turnpike, site to be marked by the Pennsylvania State
Historical Society; it was destroyed when the canal was constructed. In
1829 the Pennsylvania Canal was opened and first packet boat run from
Lewistown to Mifflintown. Chief industries are agriculture, and iron and
steel works. Iron ore of the best quality abounds; two furnaces,
belonging to the Glamorgan Iron Company, were destroyed in July, 1874,
by a tornado that left scarcely a property without damage; the bridge
over the Juniata was also destroyed, rebuilt, and again destroyed by ice
freshets in December, 1874, and February, 1875. In Limestone Ridge,
extending from Kishacoquillas Creek, is found hard, white sandstone,
almost pure silicon, used in glass manufacture.
LEWISTOWN, population 9849, made county seat, 1790, was at first
Kishacoquillas’ Village, a chief of the Shawnees, with a population in
1731, of twenty families, located at the mouth of the stream.
Courthouse, facing the square, brick, colonial with Ionic portico, and
cupola, built, 1843, enlarged in the rear. Granite monument, dedicated,
1906, in honor of Mifflin County soldiers and sailors, is in the square.
One block away on South Main Street is the Kishacoquillas Creek bridge,
stone and concrete, built, 1902, a reconstruction of the old two-arch
stone bridge built in 1807, the first was wood, in 1794; on the left is
an old stone building, erected about 1794, a historic landmark that has
served for many uses, once the “Seven Stars Inn,” 1828-29; also a
Masonic hall, 1830-39, it has two cellars, one beneath the other. At a
point along the creek, just above the old building, is where Commodore
David Conner, as a boy, made little boats and pitted
[Illustration: OLD STONE ARCH ON JACK’S CREEK
Built over one hundred years ago]
them against each other in mimic warfare, thus foreshadowing his
brilliant naval career in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Just
above, on the high bank, fronting on Water and Brown Streets, is
Lewistown’s oldest burial grounds. Here are the graves of the Buchanan
family, first settlers and owners of the land on which Lewistown is
built. One mile east of Lewistown, on the oldest wagon and stage road
running parallel with the present state highway, is an old stone arch
bridge, over one hundred years old, a favorite subject for artists; it
is near the bridge crossing Jacks Creek, on the state highway through
Lewistown Narrows. MOUNT UNION, on southern boundary, lies at entrance
to Jacks Narrows, made by the river forcing its way through Jacks
Mountain.
[Illustration: DELAWARE COUNTY]
XXI
DELAWARE COUNTY
Formed from Chester County, September 26, 1789; named for Delaware
River. Automobile Trip to Chester, return by Media and Swarthmore
From Thirty-second and Market Streets, Philadelphia, out Woodland Avenue
(Darby Road), laid out in 1687, the old King’s Road, pass UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA buildings, to WOODLANDS CEMETERY, between Thirty-ninth to
Forty-second Streets, seventy-five acres, acquired in 1840, contains
colonial homestead, residence of William Hamilton, English Deputy
Governor of Pennsylvania, under grant from William Penn, built, 1747-50,
stone and brick; has portico, with pediment supported by six columns;
considered by architects best specimen of colonial architecture in
Philadelphia; many rare trees are there, sent by Mr. Hamilton in his
trips abroad; to him Philadelphia owes the gingko tree of Japan and many
varieties of magnolia.
BARTRAM’S GARDEN, 28 acres, open free to the public, one quarter mile
south on Fifty-fourth Street, first botanical garden of international
importance in United States; ground purchased by John Bartram, in 1728;
from here he traveled long distances to Florida, the Adirondacks,
everywhere collecting rare plants that he brought home in his
saddlebags; he wrote down the results of his explorations, and sent to
Europe botanical specimens of great interest, also painted sheets of
illustrations, sending one set to the South Kensington Museum, London,
which are still there in perfect condition; Linnæus proclaimed him the
greatest natural botanist in the world, and sent him books and
apparatus; his quaint old stone house is still standing, built by
himself in 1731; his son, William Bartram, botanist and ornithologist,
published the most complete list of American birds, previous to
Alexander Wilson, whom he greatly assisted. Wilson lived at the corner
of Fifty-first Street and Woodland Avenue, in a log house with an
immense stone chimney. Near Bartram’s Garden, on the Schuylkill River
bank, at the western end of Gray’s Ferry Bridge, is site of Gray’s
Garden, pleasure resort, time of Washington, reached from Philadelphia
by a floating bridge, replaced by wooden telescope drawbridge built in
1808, by the P., W. & B. R. R.; stone monument, still standing, covered
with most interesting and historically valuable inscriptions, marks
opening of the first railroad to the South.
Sixty-fifth Street and Woodland Avenue, St. James’ Protestant Episcopal
Church, Kingsessing, built by the Swedes, 1762, building practically
unchanged, has interesting burial ground. Sixty-ninth Street and
Paschall Avenue is an old yellow mansion, built about 1723, home of the
Paschalls, General Howe’s headquarters after the Battle of Brandywine.
Seventieth Street and Woodland Avenue, quaint old building, the Bannaker
School, built in 1789, said to be oldest public-school building in
Philadelphia, now used in connection with the school garden.
Seventy-third Street, Blue Bell Tavern, opposite, was terminus of the
great trading path of the Minquas Indians leading from the Susquehanna;
Island Road leads to “Cannon Ball” farmhouse, below Penrose Ferry,
struck during bombardment of Fort Mifflin in 1777.
Crossing Cobb’s Creek, the southern boundary of the city, and county of
Philadelphia, we enter DELAWARE COUNTY, the oldest settled section of
Pennsylvania. DARBY, an ancient town, birthplace of John Bartram,
contains many old houses, and a Friends’ meeting house, dating from the
eighteenth century, with picturesque burying ground, where many colonial
notables lie in unmarked graves; SHARON HILL, residential suburb,
Convent of Holy Child Jesus, occupies buildings erected for John
Jackson’s Quaker School, famous in the middle of the last century; new
decorated Gothic chapel of stone. Beyond NORWOOD is the old White Horse
Hotel, now abandoned, built, 1720.
One and one-half miles to left, at ESSINGTON, on Tinicum Island, first
permanent European settlement in Pennsylvania made by Swedes under
Governor John Printz, 1643; fort built, named “New Gottenburg”; and
government established. RIDLEY PARK, residential suburb; fine view to
left, of Tinicum and the Delaware River, old quarantine station known as
the Lazaretto; the Corinthian and Philadelphia Yacht Clubs are on the
river front. LEIPERVILLE, McIlvain house, stone, opposite Colonial
Hotel; Washington spent the night here after the Battle of Brandywine,
and troops were encamped on slopes to the right. Hendrixson house, very
ancient, built by Swedish settlers. Pass Baldwin Locomotive Works and
great munition factories into CHESTER, population 58,030, settled by
Swedes about 1644, the oldest town in Pennsylvania, known as Upland
until 1682, when Penn, landing here on October 28, named it Chester
after the home of his companion, Pearson, in England. Penn convened
here, in November, 1682, the first Assembly of the Province, at which
was passed the “Great Law”; the Upland court was held here from 1668 to
1682; the courts of Chester County from 1682 until their removal to West
Chester in 1786, and the courts of Delaware County from 1789 to 1851;
Chester has grown from an ancient country town to a bustling industrial
city, but many antiquities are preserved; principal among these are the
old City Hall, stone, with pent roof projection and quaint clock tower,
erected in 1724; the oldest public building in Pennsylvania, and one of
the oldest in America; used as Chester County courthouse for sixty-two
years, Delaware County courthouse for sixty-one years, and as hall of
Chester borough and city since 1851; now being restored by the
Pennsylvania Historical Commission and Honorable William C. Sproul,
under contract that the city will maintain it for public uses forever.
Opposite on Market Street is the Washington House, erected and licensed
as the “Pennsylvania Arms” in 1747, still maintained as a tavern; in
this house, at midnight on September 11, 1777, Washington wrote his
report to Congress of the Battle of Brandywine. Hope’s Anchor Tavern,
Fourth and Market Streets, built by David Cowpland prior to 1746. Group
of old houses at Second and Edgmont Streets, Logan house, 1700, where
Lafayette’s wounds were dressed after the
[Illustration: ALFRED O. DESHING MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, CHESTER
_Frazer and Robert, Architects_]
Battle of Brandywine, and Lloyd house, built in 1703 by David Lloyd,
chief justice of Pennsylvania; here also stood the first courthouse, or
“House of Defense,” and first Quaker meeting.