Guide to the Minutes of the Allegheny (Pa.) Select and Common Council, 1840-1907
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Minutes of the Allegheny (Pa.) Select and Common Council
- Creator
- Allegheny (Pa.) Select and Common Councils
- Collection Number
- MSS#205
- Extent
- 7 cubic feet (24 volumes)
- Date
- 1840-1907
- Abstract
- The Allegheny (Pa.) Select and Common Councils were vested with legislative municipal power until the city's annexation by the city of Pittsburgh in 1907. These minutes include detailed proceedings of the regular and special meetings held by the Select and Common Councils throughout their entire period of existence (1840-1907), with the exception of Common Council's minutes between January 1853 and January 1860. The minutes of the Select and Common Councils work together to provide a strong portrait of municipal government in the 19th century.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- 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
Historical Sketch of Allegheny (Pa.) Select and Common Councils (1840-1907)
The city of Allegheny, now Pittsburgh's North Side, was incorporated in 1840 and maintained a separate identity until its annexation by the city of Pittsburgh in 1907. The physical separation of the two cities by the Allegheny River enhanced this twin city's political independence. As with any city of its size, Allegheny had numerous commercial areas, churches, and social organizations, packing houses, tanneries, soap factories and glue factories that provided opportunities for employment to the primarily German immigrants who settled there. Allegheny City experienced a significant labor uprising in an 1848 cotton mill strike, but was spared the violence that destroyed life and property in Pittsburgh during the 1877 railroad strike. In the late 19th century, Allegheny became known for its stately homes, occupied by some of the area's wealthy families.
The Select and Common Councils, vested with legislative municipal power, held their first meetings on July 20, 1840. The powers of the Councils and all other branches and offices of city government were spelled out in a city charter written in 1870. According to this document, members of the Select and Common Councils were to be elected by the residents of the city wards for terms of two years and one year, respectively. Qualifications for office were to be residency in the ward from which elected and other qualifications applicable to representatives (for Common Council) and senators (for Select Council) of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Each ward would have two representatives in Select Council, and at least two (changed to one member in 1891) in Common Council with membership apportioned by population. Councils were to organize on the first Monday in January of each year, to hold regular, public meetings and to publish transactions in local newspapers. Among the powers granted to the Councils were those of law making, taxation, and creating and changing ward boundaries. Duties included judging election returns, inaugurating the mayor, and electing officers to city positions. Over time, changes were made to specific items in the charter. For example, after 1875, Councils held their organizational meetings in April.
Scope and Content Notes
These minutes include detailed proceedings of the regular and special meetings held by the Select and Common Councils throughout their entire period of existence (1840-1907), with the exception of Common Council's minutes between January 1853 and January 1860. The Select and Common Councils were closely linked in many respects and, on most occasions, met on the same evenings, and in the same locations. This similarity of mission and function has led to very similar information found in these two types of minutes. The two Councils frequently held joint sessions, and generally discussed the same topics. In many matters of business, they held concurrent votes on resolutions.
The minutes of the Select and Common Councils work together to provide a strong portrait of municipal government in the 19th century. Specifically, they are valuable for the light they shed on the procedures for establishing municipal government: creating official positions, duties and salaries; creating standing committees; enacting initial laws; and other aspects of immediate concern. The bulk of the minutes deal heavily with the ongoing creation and maintenance of the city's infrastructure and utility systems. It is recommended that the minutes be used together if a complete record of legislative action in Allegheny is desired.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in one accession, 1977
Acc# 1977.86 Gift of the city of Pittsburgh, City Treasurer, (Minute Books).
Preferred Citation
Minutes of the Allegheny (Pa.) Select and Common Council, 1840-1907, MSS #205, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Kim Fortney on September 16, 1995.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Jennifer Marshall on June 10, 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
- Allegheny (Pa.) Select and Common Councils
- Allegheny (Pa.) -- Politics and government
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Politics and government
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- War work -- Pennsylvania --Allegheny
- Annexation (Municipal government) -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny
- City Council members -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny
- Municipal government -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny
- Public utilities -- Law and legislation -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny
- Streets -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny
- Strikes and lockouts -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny
- Transportation -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny