Pittsburgh has earned the nicknames, “the Steel City” for its over 300 steel-related businesses and “the City of Bridges” for its 440 bridges.
It is the second-most populated city in Pennsylvania and according to the 2020 U.S. Census it is the 68th largest city in the United States. The Pittsburgh metropolitan area is the 27th largest in the country.
Pittsburgh is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, forming the Ohio River. It became a vital link between the Atlantic coast and the Midwest. Because of this and the mineral-rich Allegheny Mountains, Pittsburgh became a highly sought-after area.
After Pennsylvania passed an Abolition Act in 1780, slavery in Pittsburgh was outlawed. By 1810, there were only a handful of slaves in Allegheny County. Pittsburgh became a beacon of hope for escaped slaves and abolitionists and an important stop on the Underground Railroad. The Merchant Hotel and Monongahela House were clearinghouses for sneaking escaped slaves to Canada.
In the great fire of 1847, half the buildings in Pittsburgh were destroyed and the city rose from the ashes to become one of America’s most important industrial cities. Irish, German, and Welsh immigrants flocked to Pittsburgh. Skilled Irish brick masons and carpenters were in great demand after the fire. German and Welsh immigrants came for jobs in coal mining and iron works. Many Eastern Europeans followed. Between 1840 and 1855, the population of Pittsburgh more than doubled.
After the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850, many freed and escaped slaves decided to remain in Pittsburgh where they had found work and established communities despite the danger of bounty hunters from the South.
Free Blacks and immigrants helped build forts to protect the Pittsburgh factories manufacturing bullets and weapons for the Union Army during the Civil War.
Women in Pittsburgh became an important part of the war effort by working on the assembly line at the Allegheny Arsenal loading gunpowder into cartridges. On September 17, 1862, the Arsenal exploded and 78 workers, mostly young women were killed. Many of the workers’ bodies could not be identified. They are buried in a special section of the Allegheny Cemetery where a monument naming the 78 workers killed was placed. The exact cause of the explosion was never established.
After the Civil War, Pittsburgh continued to be a major industrial city until the 1980s. After the coal, steel, and petroleum industries left Pittsburgh many blue-collar jobs were eliminated, and the population of Pittsburgh began to decline.
Despite the downturn, Pittsburgh remained a cultural center with its many museums, art galleries, theatres, and universities.
Today Pittsburgh continues to be home to U.S Steel. It retains its identity as a blue-collar city, but it is now home to many other industries including healthcare, life sciences, computer science, business services, energy, and robotics.
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