Devastating, Depressing Slideshow of Pittsburgh's Lost Architecture

I came across this slideshow on line, while searching for images and history of The North Side Market House. Ohio City in Cleveland is celebrating the happy 100th birthday of it's West Side Market. Allegheny City will never have that happy moment, after losing 500 buildings at it's heart to urban renewal in the 1950's, along with it's connected street grid.

It's not so much that all these buildings were lost--life goes on, and building and adapting is part of life-it's that a vast number of them were replaced with ugly parking garages, highways, failed developments and often just empty lots. I rarely feel that way about losing buildings in Manhattan since most (not all) are replaced for good reason, most often taller and more urban structures.

Anyway, it's depressing and there's a whole lot more one could show-entire communities just blown away in a few years of destruction.

New Construction In Pittsburgh Uncovers It's Historical Past

Archaeology magazine has a long article about the huge mass of artifacts uncovered while building, PPG Place, PNC Park, and Three PNC Plaza all of which give a much better picture of the city in the 19th Century. Possessions of prominent citizens like General William J. Robinson, The first mayor of Allegheny City and his wife as well as many of it's poor, middle and working class have been found. Remember, Downtown was in the early days very densely populated.

Both, PNC Park and The New Fairmont Hotel in Pittsburgh prominently display the historic artifacts found during their construction.

A real must read--with a big copyright mark on it-so I'm not making direct quotes.