Downtown Pittsburgh Post Office Building under Construction

1879/1889

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Downtown Pittsburgh Post Office Building under Construction
  • Title
  • Downtown Pittsburgh Post Office Building under Construction
  • Creator
  • James Benney III
  • Identifier
  • PSS20.B001.F34.I01
  • Source Identifier
  • PSS20.B001.F34.I01
  • Description
  • The “Old” Post Office located on Forth Avenue and Smithfield Street in downtown Pittsburgh reportedly took eleven years to construct. There were a number of problems during the building’s construction including foundation issues. Architects found that the soil was too soft to support the original building plan, so the plans were altered and a request for more funds was put before the United States Congress. Materials were shipped in from all over the United States, including marble and slate from Vermont, Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as mahogany from Africa. The foundation was not completed until 1884, three years after building began, and construction of the entire building was not completed until 1892.
  • Genre
  • photographs
  • Subject
  • Post Office Building (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Golden Triangle (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Downtown (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Buildings--Design and construction--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
    Post office buildings--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
  • Source
  • James Benney (III) Photographs, 1888-1889, PSS 20, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
  • Contributor
  • Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
  • Collection
  • James Benney Photographs
  • Rights Information
  • No Copyright - United States. The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
    http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/