Mellon Park Fountain | Historic Pittsburgh

1956-06

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Title
Mellon Park Fountain
Creator
Pittsburgh Photo Lab
Identifier
MSP285.B019.F01.I03
Description
For 30 years, until 1941, the Fifth Avenue home of Richard Beatty Mellon in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood was the grandest of mansions that lined the avenue. The 65-room house was set in a landscape of parkland and formal gardens that has survived as Mellon Park. Much of the historical significance of the gardens comes from the three architects and their firms who designed them. The Renaissance Gardens, for example, were designed in 1929 by the New York firm of Vitale and Geifert It is here that the fountain, pictured in the photograph, is located. Another firm headed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the son of the designer of New York’s Central Park, designed the pond garden along Beechwood Boulevard and several areas of planting. Over the years, however, a combination of inadequate maintenance and heavy use of the park led to deterioration of the gardens. In 2000 a master plan to restore the historic grandeur of the park was presented to the city.
Subject
Mellon Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Fountains--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
Parks--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
Shadyside (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Contributor
Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
Collection
Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs
Rights Information
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