Pittsburgh travel guide — Pittsburgh tourism and travel information

Pittsburgh travel guide

about Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is a city in western Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 334,563 (metropolitan area 2,358,695). Pittsburgh, nicknamed The Steel City, has traditionally been considered the center of the American steel industry.

Pittsburgh geography

Pittsburgh is located at 40°26'29" North, 79°58'38" West (40.441419, -79.977292).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 151.1 km² (58.3 mi²). 144.0 km² (55.6 mi²) of it is land and 7.2 km² (2.8 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 4.75% water.

Pittsburgh is located at the center of a fairly expansive set of river valleys, and much of the city's residential population is situated on or near the slopes of those valleys with certain neighborhoods (particularly south of the Monongahela) nigh inaccessible by car during the winter. As a result, Pittsburgh is widely believed to be right behind San Francisco as the "steepest" city in the United States. A pair of "inclines", or trams (cable cars on inclined rails) ascend the slope of Mount Washington, assist in local public transportation; several tunnels are major access routes through the slopes. Pittsburgh has more public staircases (700) than any other city in the United States, followed by Cincinnati and San Francisco. Many of these staircases have street names and street signs, and lead to hillside neighborhoods that can be inaccessible by car, especially in the winter. Pittsburgh has been called a "poor man's San Francisco".

Pittsburgh history

The first European settlements in the Pittsburgh area were French forts and trading posts. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British colonies captured Fort Duquesne, which sat at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, at the part of downtown Pittsburgh now known as "the Point". The British built a larger fort on the same site and named it Fort Pitt in honor of the British statesman William Pitt the Elder.

After the Revolutionary War, Pittsburgh was the center of the Whiskey Rebellion, which was put down by an army under the direct command of President George Washington.

Beginning in the early 19th century, Pittsburgh's proximity to large coal deposits and excellent positioning along major trade routes made it one of the world's leading industrial powerhouses. Steel production was a major industry for many years, earning the city its nickname, "The Steel City". Pittsburgh lies at the confluence of the Monongahela River and Allegheny River, which merge to form the Ohio River, ultimately draining into the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. As an industrial city, Pittsburgh was also a major hub of early railroad activity. Millions of European immigrants settled in and around Pittsburgh in the 19th and early 20th centuries to, railroads, or numerous associated industries.

On July 21, 1877, a day after bloody rioting in Baltimore from Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of nine rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh staged a sympathy strike that was met with an assault by the state militia — Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. Another major confrontation occurred during the Homestead Strike in 1892.

Thanks to the presence of the nearby Bettis Laboratory and the Shippingport power plant, Pittsburgh became the world's first nuclear powered city in 1960.

With the recessions of the 1970s and the advent of cheap foreign labor, Pittsburgh's steel mills found themselves unable to compete with foreign steel mills, and most closed down. This created a ripple effect that decimated the local economy, as railroads, mines, and factories across the region shut down, one by one.

The collapse of the US steel industry in the 1970s marked a major turning point for the city of Pittsburgh, and brought with it an unexpected renaissance as the mills closed and Pittsburgh began to shed its image of a dirty, smoky place. Pittsburgh was spared the fate of other postindustrial Rust Belt cities as the basis of the economy dramatically shifted from heavy industry to services and high technology. Pittsburgh is also home to various new skyscrapers, the tallest being the U.S. Steel Tower, famous for having only three sides. Also notable on the city skyline is the futuristic PPG Plaza.

Pittsburgh's population decline during the last half century is remarkable:

Near cities to Pittsburgh

• Weirton travel guide 49 km
• Steubenville travel guide 54 km
• Wheeling travel guide 73 km
• Morgantown travel guide 89 km
• Youngstown travel guide 92 km
• Van travel guide 100 km
• Fairmont travel guide 110 km
• Canton travel guide 120 km
• Clarksburg travel guide 130 km
• Altoona travel guide 140 km

Near webcams to Pittsburgh

• Huntingdon webcam 170 km
• Cleveland webcam 180 km
• Cleveland webcam 180 km
• Columbus webcam 260 km
• Charleston - Towercam webcam 270 km
• Charleston webcam 270 km
• Buffalo webcam 290 km
• Niagara Falls webcam 300 km
• Niagara Falls webcam 300 km
• Niagara Falls webcam 310 km

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Pittsburgh travel services

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Pittsburgh travel books

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