A Photo Essay of Hazelwood:housing stock from past to present

Joanna Beres

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Table of Contents

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Introduction

Maps

Sylvan Avenue

Pattern Book Housing

More Pattern Book Housing

Things that aren’t there anymoreMore things that aren’t there anymore

Mainstreet Changes2nd Ave. at Flowers Ave. looking North

More views from 2nd. @ Flowers

Rowhouses in Hazelwood

Where Can We Go From Here?

Photographic Citations

Acknowledgments

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Introduction

The neighborhood of Hazelwood lieson the backdrop of a rich history. I beganthis project with the goal of exploring howhousing began in Hazelwood during thelate 19th century, how it transformedthrough time up to the present, and tolearn from the past to guide Hazelwoodinto the future. Through viewing changesin the character of housing and the busi-ness corridor over time, one can get aclearer notion of how to react to varyingeconomic conditions, and to adjust andrebuild accordingly.

I started out by familiarizing myselfwith the neighborhood. Juanita Sanchezguided my colleague, Andrew Aurand,and myself, on a driving tour of Hazelwood.At the time, she was working in conjunctionwith the Hazelwood Initiative.

The next task that I undertook wasfinding old pictures of Hazelwood for mycomparative format. I thought that itwould be interesting to visually comparehousing stock in the past with their condi-tion today. I first placed an ad in theHazelwood Initiative newsletter, askingresidents to loan me any pictures that theymight have of their house or business in thearea.

I then proceeded to search for pic-tures at the University of Pittsburgh archivesin Point Breeze, where I had the pleasure ofworking with Miriam Meislik,one of theircurators. I emailed her a list of streets, andI hoped to get pictures anywhere from1900 to the present. After a few daysMiriam worked her magic and I went outto see what she had found for me. Shehad located some wonderful glass-platenegatives from the old City of PittsburghPhotographers collection. It was with herhelp that I was able to make my ideascome to fruition. After that, through re-search and working on the computer withAdobe Photoshop and Pagemaker, myoriginal idea of a housing stock survey hascome to life.

Later on Andrew drove me around sothat I could shoot pictures that correspondwith the archival photographs. I tried mybest to get the same shot as possible withrespect to the original City Photographerphotos. However, some of the buildingswere wiped out with the growth and ex-pansion of the mills (J&L and later LTV), andinstead brownfields lie in place of buildings.

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Maps were taken from the City of PittsburghPlanning Department website:http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/

Hazelwood With Respect to the City

Hazelwood With Respect toSurrounding Neighborhoods

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Sylvan Avenue was a beautiful, tree-lined

residential street. Photograph “a” shows the

street in the summer of 1909, before it was

paved. Photo “b” was taken soon after the

paving was completed at the beginning of

1910. Photograph “c” shows the now closed

Gladstone Middle School off to the right.

Some of the original turn-of-the century hous-

ing remains on the left-hand side of the street,

closest to Hazelwood Avenue. However,

many are in need of repairs.

Sylvan Avenue

2001

1909

1910

looking North fromHazelwood Avenue

a

c

b

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a b c dc ea a

Looking Northwest at Glenwood Ave. & Trowbridge St.

1912

2001

Pattern Book Housing

a

b

c

In the 19th century, masses of immigrants came to Pitts-burgh from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Peoplearrived with a rich collective memory, and many skilled crafts-men added to the shaping of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. Theybrought with them an attention to detail, which added a rich-ness and individuality to their neighborhoods1.

Today, one of the overlooked qualities of Hazelwood isthe strength of its existing housing stock. The majority of thehousing throughout Hazelwood predates WWII. Many beautifulturn-of-the-century houses, as well as more modest masonryconstructed single-family dwellings and row houses from the1930s and 1940s are intertwined within the fabric of Hazelwood.

Additionally, potential homeowners can purchase moresquare footage for their dollar in the area. Real estate is veryaffordable in Hazelwood, as compared to other neighborhoodsthroughout the City of Pittsburgh.2 The neighborhood is alsowithin close proximity to Downtown, the Pittsburgh TechnologyCenter along Second Avenue, and the healthcare and aca-demic hub of Oakland. For this reason many students, youngprofessionals, and new families are trickling into Hazelwood.(continued on pg. 6)

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Pattern Book Housing ~ Continued

A young man who bought a beautiful 3-storyRoman Brick house with a slate roof on WinstonStreet, stated that his house had laid boarded upand vacant for several years before he purchasedand restored it. He was attracted to the intimatenature of his street, and the well-kept houses sur-rounding his own.

In fact, all of the houses on his block containlovely sidewalks or stairs leading up to their porches3 .This follows the mode of pattern book houses, creat-ing an indoor-outdoor, public-private space for theresidents. Porches promote socializing, betweenboth residents within the home as well as with neigh-bors. Early developers built up neighborhood blocks,using a handful of basic structures that were thenindividualized to the tastes of buyers4 . Later with time,residents made additional changes adding to theunique quality of each home. Each house on theblock was also laid out on an orthogonal5 grid. Like-wise, common façade fenestration6 and proportionsof the front, side and backyards, were implementedfor each parcel.

1Notes from lecture 17 - 1 March 2000 – in David Lewis’ “Urban Design” course atCarnegie Mellon University.2 As a result of reviewing the Allegheny County Real Estate web page:www.county.allegheny.pa.us3 see figure 24 “Pattern book houses” are houses from the late 19th to early 20th centuries that are built ofthe same frames, but have slightly different exterior detailing. For instance, the siding of thehouse, or the brick color, might be different from house to house. These types of buildingsare typically found in older inner-ring city neighborhoods and out to the streetcar suburbs.5 An “orthogonal” grid is based on right (90 degree) angles.6 The design and placement of windows and doors in a building. The “public right-of-way” typically includes the sidewalks, streets, and space for utility poles on the edge of one’s property.

alley

b)

c)

a)

figure 1 ~ Plan

figure 2StreetSectionBuilding Line

street

Common Dimensionsin a Block of PatternBook Housing

Among the streets ofpattern book housingin Hazelwood, a few

1950s FHA homeswere plopped down

inbetween the late19th c. homes. This is

an example of infillarchitecture

during the days ofbulldozer renewal.

a

a b c c d

Public Right-of-Way7

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a) front yardb) back yardc) side yard

The letters a,b,c...on photo “a” onpage 7 corre-spond to thoseon the plan infigure 1. Eachletter designatesa single basicstructural patternwithin a block ofpattern bookhouses.

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Unfortunately many buildings in Hazelwood were

eliminated with the expansion of the steel mills,

namely J&L, and later LTV. This woodframe

rowhouse is an example of typical worker housing

during the early 20th century.

1933

Things That Aren’t There Anymore

Rutherglen at 2nd Avea

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4264

4300

2nd Ave. at Rutherglen St.

2nd Ave. at Rutherglen St.

a

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91 Hazelwood Ave. at Kansas St.

HazelwoodAve. at 2ndAve looking

beyondwhere #91

would havebeen

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e

c

Irvine St., from 20ft. Away looking N.

1933

1933

1928

1934

a closeddowngrocery

a soda fountain/pharmacy

19th centurymansions onceowned by the firstgrouping ofHazelwoodresidents, that ofthe wealthy whosought escapefrom the city

Modestworker

rowhousesand anold Esso

gasstation

More things that aren’t there anymore

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4826 2nd Ave. looking North

1935

2001

Mainstreet Changes:changes in the business corridor

a

c

1972b

4900 Block of 2nd Ave.

Photo “a” reveals a dry cleaners, the Hazelwoodvariety store, and other businesses behind the street-car in this bustling glimpse into the 1930s. Photo “c” isnot as vibrant as the first, but a bakery and a liquorstore were in operation in the 1970s. Finally, today’spicture is once again more barren. Many buildingshave been demolished, leaving behind vacant lots.The majority of the storefronts also lie vacant today,although a beauty salon and a pizzeria are catering tothe demands of the local clientele.

4826 2nd Ave. looking North

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1957

2nd Ave. at Flowers St. looking North

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1972

The G.C. Murphy’s five and dime is shown in thesepictures reveals a stark difference between the vigourof the 1950s and the barren, abandoned feel of today’sstreetscape. G.C. Murphy’s stores use to be located inpractically every Pittsburgh neighborhood, whereasonly a handful remain today. Sadly the anchor store inDowntown Pittsburgh will soon be closing its doors dueto bankruptcy. The 2001 photo “c” reveals theboarded-up facade of the once thriving building.About two years ago a couple was looking into pur-chasing the building. They sought to convert it into anantique auction gallery, with their residence on the thirdand fourth floors. I aided their process by producingplans for the building. However, the sturcture hadextensive water damage and pigeon waste throughout,in additon to needing a new roof. Sadly their ideanever came to fruition, presumably because the costsof redoing the building outweighed its value. c

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b

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1933

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2001

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G. C. Murphy’sBuilding at 2ndAve. and Flowers

IOOF entrance on Flowers

IOOF detail on the2nd Ave. facade

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b

a

d

More Views From 2nd Ave. @ Flowers

Here are four more views of theG.C. Murphy’s building. The twophotos on the right-hand side ofthe page show the entrance tothe Independent Order of theOdd Fellows (IOOF) Lodge. Itwas a fraternal organizationsimilar to the Mason’s society.Many such groups werebrought to the U.S. from Europein the late 19th century, fulfillingthe social needs of immigrantworkers.

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Rowhouses in Hazelwood:from quaint to shoddy

a

b

cGlenwood Avenue

Chaplin Street

Tecumseh Street

Several of the rowhouses in Hazelwood are inneed of repairs. Both photos “a” and “c” revealboarded up windows and an atmosphere ofneglect. The rowhouses in photo “b”, however,are in much better condition than the previoustwo. The “b” inhabitants were permanent, long-time residents as opposed to the transient resi-dents of the housing in “a” and “c”, leading tothe abandoned feel captured in the pictures.

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Where Can We Go From Here?Hazelwood still needs a lot of work, but people are makinga difference. This can be seen by a few opposite ends ofthe spectrum.

All of these shots are from Augustand September 2001. Photo “a”reveals a turn of the century homethat is in need of some exteriorrepairs; it shows that the building hasbeen weathered with time. With alittle work, though, improvementscan be made. Look at photos “d”and “e”, for example, where abeautiful late 19th c. house with amansard roof is being restored.Along with the charming house inphoto “c”, both homes prove thatchange can happen for the better.

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Glenwood Ave. @ E. Elizabeth St. looking NE

200 Block of Winston St. where 5properties are up for sale and one lotlies vacant

Langhorn St.

119 E.Elizabeth St. ~ view a

119 E.Elizabeth St. ~ view b

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Acknowledgments

Several factors inspired me to developthis photo-essay exploration of the housingstock in Hazelwood. Studying architecture,urban design and historic preservation, atCarnegie Mellon University and the Universityof Pittsburgh have allowed me to learnabout the social concerns that shape theformation of the built environment and cities.Understanding how a community functionsvia social interaction is key to facilitatingchange.

Finally, Professor Joel Tarr, of CarnegieMellon University’s History Department, gaveme the opportunity to examine his unpub-lished report on the genesis and change ofHazelwood. It was entitled: “Growth, Stabil-ity, and Decline in an Urban Area: One Hun-dred Years of Hazelwood. His paper exam-ined the life cycle of an urban area withrespect to industrial development.

The age of men smoking cigars, stand-ing around a desk making decisions behindclosed doors simply doesn’t work in this dayand age. It is necessary to involve commu-nity residents as much as possible in efforts torevitalize and shape the paths for futuregrowth. This is the goal of the University ofPittsburgh’s COPC (Community OutreachPartnership Center), involving the Oaklandand Hazelwood neighborhoods, for which Icreated this housing study.

I would also like to thank the followingfor their unending support, guidance, andinspiration:Dr. Sabina Deitrick, Dr. Carolyn Carson, Dr.E.K.Muller, Miriam Meislik, David Lewis FAIAAICP, Dr. Diane Shaw, Andrew Aurand andespecially my mother, Mary Ellen Beres.

Joanna BeresUrban Studies Program

College of Arts and SciencesUniversity of Pittsburgh

jobst31@pitt.eduSummer 2001COPC Project