Category Archives: Ongoing History

As they emerged from the Fort Pitt Tunnels, the painter Robert Qualters asked his far more famous colleague Edward Hopper whether the view would be “good to paint.” The tiny aperture of the tunnel had suddenly expanded to a panorama … Continue reading →

“In the steam-heated and electric-lighted homes of today there is no place for the old genii, either of fire or of darkness. The superstitions that once vapored from isolation as miasma exhales from stagnant pools finds no place since we … Continue reading →

15th Street Parking Lot (Strip District) — October 17, 2013 — 12:24 p.m.

After Sergey Shepkin finished playing three intricate and beautiful works for solo piano last night — by Bach, Beethoven and Schubert — he stood before his scuffed Steinway, bowed low to enthusiastic applause, bowed again (as is the custom) and … Continue reading →

These two men got off a bus at Penn and S. Atlantic at 4:01 p.m. on Saturday, each carrying a bag and a free weight. Over the next 90 seconds, they covered one block. 

Gross Street — October 3, 2013 — 4:55 p.m.

Penn Circle West and Baum Blvd — October 3, 2013 — 12:50 p.m.

Blvd. of the Allies — September 29, 2013 — 1:02 p.m.

Point State Park — September 29, 2013 — 12:49 p.m.

Point State Park — September 29, 2013 — 12:42 p.m.

S. Aiken near Ellsworth — September 28, 2013 — 12:16 p.m.

Liberty Avenue — September 23, 2013 — 6:51 p.m.

Penn Avenue — September 23, 2013 — 3:39 p.m.

A nun in Velcro shoes tripped over this bump in the sidewalk on Penn Avenue in Garfield this morning, but regained her balance before taking a spill. To be proactive, she refastened her left shoe, much tighter than it had … Continue reading →

An early morning rain filled the crevices of this grate on Friday. In the mid-morning, a group of kindergarteners came up Friendship Avenue, by the park, and each child stopped to inspect the grate. The three women chaperoning the group … Continue reading →

In an alley off Centre Avenue in North Oakland, Propertea gives props.

The city was resurfacing Ellsworth Avenue today and the street is striped down to its cobblestones. A guy was speeding along the road on his bike this evening yelling, “Uhhhhhh” and when his tires hit the stones his voice went … Continue reading →

Bloomfield

Penn and Main, Bloomfield

Bloomfield

Carnegie Mellon University recently launched Livehoods. It’s a dynamic online map that uses social media to show how people use their cities. The map is built from location tags. When someone “checks-in” somewhere and then checks-in somewhere else, the map … Continue reading →

A pair of middle-aged women in nursing scrubs were in line for bagels in Shadyside this morning and one asked the man behind the counter, “How many salt do you have?” “All these,” he said, pointing to the bin. “I’ll … Continue reading →

The Smiling Hydrant Propertea is a common tag around town. It’s usually spray painted, but these three small tiles recently appeared on objects in and around Friendship Park.

A meek standoff: three people huddled around a computer terminal at the downtown branch of the library on Tuesday afternoon were talking to each other, in somewhat hushed tones, when a man sitting across from them said, “You all need … Continue reading →

I saw this sign down in the East Busway while riding on Baum Boulevard this afternoon, between Melwood and Enfield. A little poking around online uncovered these guys.

These two guys were practicing capoeira in Friendship Park this morning. They wore matching black tank tops and gray sweatpants, and faced off against each other inside the circle of benches at the center of the park, as though standing … Continue reading →

This one speaks for itself: a pair of hoagie buns perfectly situated on a pair of manicured bushes at the corner of Penn and Aiken shortly before sundown on Christmas Day 2011.

A Polish Hill regular came into Lili Coffee Shop on Sunday morning wearing a sparkly green sweatshirt, a green feather boa and a knitted green Tam o’ Shanter covered in four-leaf clovers, and sat down among a group of punks. … Continue reading →

An old man in slacks and a Pirates cap walked up to the counter at Paddy Cake Bakery on Saturday morning and told the young woman, “I want a Vienna loaf, white, sliced, no—” “Seeds,” the woman interrupted as she … Continue reading →

A woman was parallel parking a giant SUV on Walnut Street tonight with the door open, leaning out of the car as she backed up to make sure she wasn’t getting too close to the car behind her. She was … Continue reading →

A flock of teenagers descended upon Penn Avenue on Friday night for a show at Garfield Artworks. Before the doors opened, two girls went into Calabria’s for pop. A boy they knew came in a few minutes later. One of … Continue reading →

While I was filming these birds on Tuesday afternoon, a woman and her daughter burst out of a daycare center nearby, both playfully screaming. “I’m ahead. I’m beating you,” the woman said as she walked down the sidewalk, but pretended … Continue reading →

A basement vent in Bloomfield making steam on the cold morning of February 10, 2012.

One of the eight surviving planters of the Guerrilla Gardening Pittsburgh project.

An old couple at the Edgewood Town Center Giant Eagle wandered aimlessly in front of the shelves of bread this morning. The woman stood by the cart at the end of the aisle while the man hobbled slowly down to … Continue reading →

On a detour through Sheraden, I found two dozen wild turkeys waddling up from the woods and blocking the road. They looked raggedy and cold and uncomfortable, feathers blown about, generally cranky. The two above snipped at each other while I watched.

As the man behind the counter at Better-Maid was tying up the box this morning, he said, “See these nails.” The cuticles on his thick fingers were ringed in white powder. “That’s how fresh these donuts are. I haven’t even … Continue reading →

This family was watching a crane demolish a house in Highland Park on December 30, 2011. At the end of the video, the kid on the far left starts to raise his arms triumphantly.

A guy with a goatee and paint-splattered work clothes was pushing his cart down the narrow produce aisle in a long deliberate arc — similar to the curve a bowling ball takes at the end of the lane, but slower. … Continue reading →

A couple of guys were walking up Liberty Avenue around dusk on Wednesday evening, hands deep in pockets, when one said to the other, “It’s like the South Side… but nicer.” The next morning, just past ten, the DJs on … Continue reading →

The pentagon shown above appears in the middle of Howley Street, in Lawrenceville. It seems to be the home plate of an improvised neighborhood stick or kick ball field. A few blocks up, on the brick exterior of the abandoned … Continue reading →

A woman talking on a cell-phone pushed her cart into Lane 13 at the Shadyside Market District on Wednesday night, around half past eight, and thumbed through the supermarket tabloids while she waited for the line to move. “Oh! Beyonce!” … Continue reading →

A group of women were digging through a barrel of fabric scraps at the Center for Creative Reuse on Saturday afternoon when “At Last” began playing on the radio. One of the women said, “This is definitely one of my … Continue reading →

As part of a much larger project, the city is redoing everything on Penn Avenue between Evaline and Mathilda starting early next year, all the sidewalks, streets, intersections, lights, trees and traffic signals. (Given the scope and location of the work, … Continue reading →

Toward the end of the Hyperlocal Mapping Party last night, a guy named Devon came over to check out the Protractor Map. He just finished a shift at a demolition crew in the South Hills, and swung by Assemble on his way home, … Continue reading →

Shortly before noon today, a woman pushing a stroller through Friendship Park hit a bump in the sidewalk and a blue sippy cup bounced onto the ground. Her daughter leaned out of the stroller and pointed frantically at the cup. … Continue reading →

As part of its ongoing Word of God exhibit, the Andy Warhol Museum created a “pilgrimage” of culturally significant sites around the city, and last week they offered a guided tour of two: St. Anthony’s Chapel in Troy Hill and … Continue reading →

The loveliest and most annoying thing about jumping into the Monongahela River on New Years Day is the clutter. The Polar Bear Club is responsible for the tradition, but there is no leader, no order and no rules. The river … Continue reading →

A man and a woman decked out in traditional wedding regalia and big smiles trotted out of the Heinz Chapel on Sunday afternoon. They walked up Bellefield Street in the cold, followed by a five men in tuxedos, and around … Continue reading →

A woman standing telling a story outside the East Liberty Presbyterian Church on Friday evening, shortly before seven o’clock, interrupted herself to say, “Look, a cat.” It was stalking through the shrubbery outside the church. “That cat shouldn’t be here,” … Continue reading →

A scruffy, but tidy couple eyed a sales display in the produce section of the Shadyside Market District around half past one on Thursday afternoon. The woman crossed her arms and asked the man, “Can we really eat five pounds … Continue reading →

With the sky still a deep dark shade of pre-dawn blue, a man stepped out of his house on 42nd Street this morning and called out, to no one, “PERFECT WINTER WEATHER!”