Guide to the Records of the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Select and Common Council, 1806-1938

Arrangement

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Records of the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Select and Common Council
Creator
Pittsburgh (Pa.) Select and Common Council
Collection Number
MSS#46
Extent
7 cubic feet (14 boxes)
Date
1806-1938
Abstract
The Pittsburgh Select and Common Council worked with the mayor of the city to help stimulate growth and development. This collection includes council minutes, bills and receipts, petitions, contracts, election papers, correspondence, reports, ordinances, treasurer's warrants, and other sundry items. The records consist of general records and standing committee records that document the daily administration of the Council from 1816 until the mid 1870s.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by Karen Hockenson on May 4, 1995. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in
Sponsor
This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project, a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History of Select and Common Council, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The town of Pittsburgh became a borough in 1794, and was incorporated as a city on March 4, 1816. Ebenezer Denny was its first mayor, elected from among the city's Governor-appointed Aldermen by the Select and Common Council members. The first city offices filled through elections in Council were treasurer, weighmaster, gauger, inspector of tobacco, inspectors of boards and scantling (dimensions), regulators of streets and lots, and inspector of pot and pearl ashes. In 1835, city government was restructured, allowing for the popular election of mayor, with term length of one year. Samuel Pittigrew was the first mayor elected by the people. In early Pittsburgh government, the mayor's role was more judge than administrator. His primary responsibility was to preside over the Mayor's Court as Chief Police Magistrate, thus enforcing the laws of the city, and it was from the resultant court costs that he earned the bulk of his salary. In 1874, the city became authorized to appoint police magistrates and the mayor began to receive "a salary commensurate to the dignity of his office." Although he still held the title of Chief Magistrate, his duties turned more to administrative matters.

Among the city's more interesting and influential mayors were Dr. Jonas McClintock and Joseph Barker. Elected in 1836 at age 28, McClintock was one of the city's most outstanding public servants, remarkable also for his many accomplishments at such a young age. While only 24 years old, Dr. McClintock organized the city's first Board of Health to deal with the cholera epidemic of 1832. During his first one-tear term as mayor, he established the night watch, a subject that had been debated in Council for many years. During his second term, the Northern Liberties (the Strip District) were annexed by the city. This first annexation initiated a phenomenal growth of the city beyond its original boundaries, previously limited by the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers and Grant's Hill. During McClintock's third term, the Council established and built a city-wide gas works, another project that had long been discussed, debated and delayed in Council. On the other extreme, Joseph Barker, mayor from 1850-1851, was elected to office while still serving a jail term. Leader of the mysterious Know Nothing Party, Barker was a very controversial figure, prejudiced and outspoken. Yet, during his one year as mayor, he was instrumental in bringing passenger rail (trolley) service to the city, an essential element in the city's continued expansion and development.

Working closely with the mayor, the Select and Common Councils were responsible for the city's growth and development. In order to accomplish this, each councilman was appointed to one or more Standing Committees. As an example, in 1836, the Council had the following Standing Committees: Appeals from City Assessments; Canal; Claims and Accounts; Engines and Hoses; Gas Lighting; Finance; Streets, Grading and Paving; Markets; Sanitary (Health); Water; Wharves and Landings; and Wooden Buildings. These committees dealt with all issues relevant to their titles. Other issues, not covered by a standing committee, were dealt with through Joint Committees consisting of a few members of each council and appointed just until each issue was resolved. On rare occasions, issues were handled by the entire Council directly. A brief look at some of the main concerns of the emergence and development of the city will give an example of some of the issues dealt with by the Select and Common Councils.

One major area of concern was the installation of public utilities. In 1829, Pittsburgh put into full operation its first city-wide water system. Prior to that, water was supplied by wells and springs, the first of which were four public wells located along Market Street. In 1826, the Council authorized the purchase of land for a pump engine house on the Allegheny River and four lots on Grant's Hill to build a reservoir, or basin. The project was funded by city bonds. Over the next few years new reservoirs were built and more pumping stations added until by 1844 the original water works were replaced. By 1847, concern developed over the fact that the city was drawing water directly from the polluted rivers, but it took another 60 years before filtration bacame a reality. The first sand-filtered water was delivered from a plant located on the north shores of the Allegheny River at Aspinwall in 1907.

In 1829, an increasing population "desirous of every modern improvement" inspired Council's consideration of a city-wide gas works. A Joint Committee was appointed to look into the issue and explore options. Later that same year, the Council decided to build a city-owned gas works and issued stock to finance the project. A lot was purchased from John Maitland and construction began. By 1836, the first customer received gas delivered by the Pittsburgh Gas Works.

Transportation was another imporant issue that took up much of government's time. The Council was active in pushing for legislation allowing for bringing both canals and railroads into the city. It understood the importance of competetive trade in Pittsburgh, and the necessity of modern transportation to maintain Pittsburgh's edge, especially in light of the fantastic success of the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, and was rapidly drawing trade away from the city. Funded by state bonds, and despite financial problems that almost brought bankruptcy to the state of Pennsylvania, the Canal did indeed prove very profitable for Pittsburgh business. An aqueduct was built over the Allegheny River to connect the Canal to the city of Pittsburgh. From a basin at the foot of Eleventh and Penn Avenues, the Canal continued through a tunnel through Grant's Hill, and emptied into the Monongahela River. The canal basin was Pittsburgh's center of business for over twenty years.

In 1852, railroads officially replaced canals as the most modern and convenient mode of transportation and trade. In that year, the Pennsylvania Railroad opened from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, with a portage over the Allegheny Mountains. To finance construction, landowners along the route bought stock and cities at the terminus sold bonds to its citizens, with the interest to be paid by the railroad companies. Railroad companies sprang up all over the state, and by the mid 1850s, Pittsburgh had seven major lines coming into the city from every direction and several more smaller ones connecting them. However, after the depression of 1857 all railroads except the Pennsylvania defaulted on the interest payments. The government named the cities responsible for the payments and a long and powerful debate ensued. While some Councilmen felt the city was honorbound to accept the debt, many private citizens known as the "Repudiationists" held conventions and insisted that commisssioners not levy the necessary taxes as ordered by the state, and even to ignore the writs of mandamus served by the state's Supreme Court. When the commissioners were jailed for ignoring the governmental directives, some for as long as a year, mass public meetings called for removal from the bench of the entire Supreme Court body for "disgraceful behavior." Eventually, however, a compromise was reached, and in 1861 or 1862 replacement Compromise Bonds were issued at a much lower interest rate. Still, only the Pennsylvania Railroad avoided bankruptcy. A hard lesson was learned by the city, and when it came time for the construction of trolley lines, much more care was taken to protect the city's investment. The Citizen's Passenger Railway was the first trolley line to open in 1859, running to Lawrenceville, followed shortly by the Pittsburgh and Birmingham Railway to Oakland.

Another major issue that was constantly on the Council agenda was the building, paving and grading of city streets. Due to the hills throughout the city, drainage and flooding of streets was a constant problem, and streets needed frequent grading and paving adjustments. Citizens often protested such improvements because of damage caused by the fact that their buildings had been constructed along the lines of a previous grade. Budgeted figures for street improvements always included a healthy amount to cover these damages. The removal of Grant's Hill was a prime example, with several years of litigation between the city and St. Paul's Church, which was left high and dry almost twenty feet above street level. The rapid growth of the population and the city's expanding boundaries also necessitated careful planning by Council as to where main thoroughfares should lie, how wide they should be, how far apart, what materials to use, and other considerations. An excellent example of this is noted in the creation in 1872 of the Fifth Avenue Commission, whose job it was to rebuild and extend this major artery through the city. After bids for work were gathered, a several-month delay over a disagreement on the width of the street at various points almost resulted in the scrapping of the project. Fortunately, the clear thinking of some future-minded councilmen prevailed and the four-year project was completed.

Perhaps the most important event that the Council had to deal with was the Fire of 1845. On April 10, 1845, after a long dry spell, a fire started in a washerwoman's shed and, fuelled by high winds, burned over half of the city's area and 2/3 of its value. Lost were 982 buildings including Western University (today the University of Pittsburgh), the mayor's office and most of the city's records from 1843, and a large section of Pittsburgh's downtown and wealthier homes. Over 2000 families were left homeless, yet only two deaths occurred. While most of the financial assistance for rebuilding and relief came from the State and other cities in the East, a monumental effort was organized by the citizens of Pittsburgh, and a committee was formed for the collection and distribution of such items as household goods, furniture, dry goods and blankets, as well as financial assistance for those not covered by insurance. Due to these tremendous efforts, it was not long before the city was rebuilt with "better and more serviceable buldings", and many individual losers were persuaded that they were actually gainers by the fire.

The Pittsburgh Select and Common Councils had many other day-to-day issues to deal with, too numerous to mention in detail. Some of these include city and national elections, the development of the city's Poor Farm, regulation of volunteer fire departments and the wharves along the rivers, upkeep and expansion of the city markets, and dealing with frequent outbreaks of cholera and the development of a public hospital.

Scope and Content Notes

The Pittsburgh Select and Common Council worked with the mayor of the city to help stimulate growth and development. This collection includes council minutes, bills and receipts, petitions, contracts, election papers, correspondence, reports, ordinances, treasurer's warrants, and other sundry items. The records consist of general records and standing committee records that document the daily administration of the Council from 1816 until the mid 1870s. By exploring the day-to-day administrative functions of the Select and Common Council, one can get a detailed picture of the emergence of a significant city from its rough beginnings at the confluence of three rivers. Researchers can follow the progress and growing pains of the city from its incorporation in 1816 through the mid 1870s, through the records of the standing committees: markets, canal, gas lighting, water, street building and others. These records also have a strong genealogical value by documenting the early residents and public officials of the city. Voter lists and petitions provide lists of local residents, and Council documents abound with names of those holding public office. Included with Pittsburgh city records are some records from the City of Allegheny, which was annexed to the city of Pittsburgh in 1907.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The provenance of this collection is unknown. The materials were received prior to 1960.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Select and Common Council, 1806-1938, MSS #46, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Karen Hockenson on May 4, 1995.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Jennifer Marshall in May 1999.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Fifth Avenue Commission (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Pittsburgh Gas Works

    Personal Names

    • Barker, Joseph, -- d.1862
    • Herron, John, -- 1792-1863
    • McCandless, Wilson, -- 1810-1882
    • McClintock, Jonas R., -- 1808-1879
    • Thaw, John
    • Wilkins, William, -- 1779-1865

    Geographic Names

    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Buildings
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Commerce
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Fire, 1845
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Health and welfare
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Officials and employees
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Politics and government
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Genealogy

    Other Subjects

    • Canals -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Elections -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Fires -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Genealogy -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Law -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Markets -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Railroads -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Real property -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Streets -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Transportation -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Utilities -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

Container List