What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation

Home
United States
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation

Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation - Renewing Communities; Building Pride

08/21/2026

Join us for a special event at the historic Union Trust Building, one of Downtown’s most significant architectural landmarks, for a night of socializing with friends in the preservation community.

You will hear from the leadership of our organization, get a chance to tour the Union Trust Building, and also take in a moderated discussion by two Pittsburgh authors.

Brian O’Neill, a former Post-Gazette columnist, and Chris Briem, a regional economist at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Social and Urban Research, will present and discuss themes and ideas on Pittsburgh from their respective books, "The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century," and "Beyond Steel: Pittsburgh and the Economics of Transformation."

The discussion will be moderated by longtime Pittsburgh journalist John Allison, a news editor at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

For tickets: https://phlf.org/event/landmarks-night-at-the-union-trust/

Renewing Communities; Building Pride

www.phlf.org

08/17/2026

Hill Top United Methodist Church in Allentown was able to undertake a stained glass restoration project, this year, in part, thanks to a matching-grant from our organization's Historic Religious Properties Grant Program.

The church was one of 19 congregations in Allegheny County to receive funding to help it maintain its historic building.

Our organization is the only nonprofit organization in Allegheny County offering a continuing program of financial and technical assistance to historic religious property owners.

We have awarded more than 320 such grants totaling nearly $4 million, and provided more than 70 technical assistance consultations, since the program’s inception in 1997.

Renewing Communities; Building Pride

www.phlf.org

08/14/2026

A dozen participants from here and abroad reveled in one of our signature tours in Downtown Pittsburgh — an in-depth exploration the Allegheny County Courthouse (H.H. Richardson, 1888) and City-County Building (Henry Hornbostel, 1916).

Seated side-by-side on Grant Street, the two expansive buildings, which comprise the heart of our city and county government operations, are stylistically as different as night and day.

Their stunning interiors also reflect different approaches to using art and design to educate and inspire reflection on the city’s history and aspirations. Together, the Courthouse and the City-County Building make an indelible architectural impression on Grant Street.

We couldn’t offer our wide variety of programs without the volunteer docents who lead many of our tours. All are very knowledgeable, but some also bring personal experience of a building or place that gives tour participants a different perspective.

On this tour, for example, Nancy Pulsifer, a participant was particularly impressed by the fact that one of our lead docents worked in the Courthouse as an attorney for several decades.

“[Because of her experience] we got to visit a restored courtroom, meet a judge whom she knew, and we asked any questions we wanted,” she said.

These are the experiences, we hope, give our guests a deeper sense of appreciation of our city, its history, and its distinctive built environment.

Renewing Communities; Building Pride

www.phlf.org

08/12/2026

Lawrenceville is one of the city’s largest neighborhoods. It extends along the Allegheny River for more than two miles, and its nationally listed historic district covers much of the neighborhood, but our tour of Lower Lawrenceville on Saturday focused on the six-block stretch from 34th to 40th Streets.

That bit of the neighborhood alone encompasses architectural manifestations of many key elements of Pittsburgh’s history. From the Native American pre-history of our area, to the impact and power of industry and rail transportation, to Pittsburgh’s ethnic diversity, and to the deep importance of religious life to the city’s inhabitants.

This vital neighborhood is a microcosm of what makes Pittsburgh distinctive.

08/07/2026

We were delighted, this evening, to host a reception and behind-the-scenes tour of a nearly completed restoration of an 1800s-era building, for which Landmarks Community Capital provided a $332,000 loan.

Landmarks Community Capital, is a non-profit lending subsidiary of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.

A c.1865 two-story red-brick building, with additions from 1902, sat vacant for more than 20 years and was on the brink of demolition when Architects Erik and Kalina Kath, acquired it.

They undertook an expansive restoration, which has seen the property converted into a multi-use live-and-work space that will be comprised of an office and two-housing units.

We were happy to be joined by board members of our organization, staff, and friends in the East Allegheny community where this impressive historic restoration project is located at the corner of Chestnut and Suismon Streets along a cobblestone road that was once a busy streetcar line into Spring Hill.

Erik and Kalina gave us an overview of the meticulous restoration which included deconstruction of an exterior wall and reuse of its bricks among other neat and impressive discoveries in the historic property.

Renewing Communities; Building Pride

www.phlf.org

08/05/2026

Clare Horner, a lifetime member and longtime supporter of our organization, stopped by our James D. Van Trump library to deliver a copy of her manuscript, The Mexican War Streets: A Story of Historic Preservation and Community Building in Pittsburgh.

Clare and her husband, Duncan, are long-time Mexican War Streets residents, who purchased their house from PHLF in 1975 when we were working to save distinctive parts of the North Side from demolition during the era of “urban renewal.”

Clare used our library and archives to conduct research for her project and even interviewed PHLF co-founder Arthur Ziegler.

Seen here: Archivist Anna Samuels and Clare Horner in the James D. Van Trump Library.

The James D. Van Trump Library is open to members of our organization and to the public. Members have unlimited reference use of the library, and non-members may use the library for a fee of $25.

To schedule a research appointment contact Anna Samuels ([email protected]) or Frank Stroker ([email protected]).

08/04/2026

Last Friday, we hosted a tour of The Garden on Pittsburgh’s Central North Side— a four-building complex which consists of:

— the restored Bradberry Apartments (Frederick Osterling, 1901-02);

— the repurposed remains of the Garden Theater (Thomas Scott, 1914-15); and

— 6 West North and Morton House, which are new constructions designed PWWG Architects, and completed in 2023.

The Garden is the culmination of a decades-long project to bring new life and dignity to a block that had long been a very visible blight on the neighborhood.

The tour was led by Rick Belloli, a partner in Q Development, which, working for a time with TREK Development Group, brought the project to the finish line after numerous failed attempts by others to redevelop the site.

Joe Roy, of PWWG Architects, brought insights on the firm’s design process.

Together, they shared the ups and downs, fits and starts, disappointments and pleasant surprises, and financial and bureaucratic challenges of re-imagining a key neighborhood site in a way the community would embrace.

As one tour participant observed at the end of the program, “It makes you wonder why any sane person would undertake this kind of project.”

Renewing Communities; Building Pride

www.phlf.org

08/03/2026

August is “Make a Will Month,” an important time to think about your loved ones and the causes that matter to you. Creating a will can protect your loved ones, document your wishes, and provide you with peace of mind.

If you choose, it can be an opportunity to leave a gift for a cause or organization that is near and dear to your passions and interests. If you don’t have a will, please consider creating one by talking to your attorney, financial advisor, or accountant.

Our organization would be honored to be part of your plans if you choose to create a preservation legacy through a gift in your will. Please let us know if you would like to discuss how to include our organization in your plans.

If you have already decided to leave a gift to Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, please let us know; we would love to thank you appropriately.

For more information, contact Susan Drapkin, our Director of Planned Giving: [email protected] or 412-471-5808, ext. 536.

07/25/2026

Our tour on Friday of Desmone Architects’ offices, given by president Eric Booth, provided a behind-the-scenes look at a remarkably thoughtful example of historic preservation combined with new construction.

The firm has occupied the former Pennsylvania National Bank (Beezer Brothers, completed 1903) on Lawrenceville’s Doughboy Square since 1993, after a complete restoration saved it from demolition.

By the late 2010s, the firm grew so much that it needed more space. Instead of leaving the neighborhood, Desmone built an addition to the historic bank building that respectfully takes cues from it but clearly “reads” as a contemporary piece of architecture. The addition, completed in 2019, was the first WELL Gold-certified office in western Pennsylvania for providing a work environment that is comfortable and healthy for mind, body, and the planet.

This hat trick of a confection—restoration, sympathetic new construction, healthy work environment—makes a great contribution to a neighborhood that cherishes its history even as it is being renewed.

Renewing Communities; Building Pride

www.phlf.org

07/11/2026

Our tour this morning explored a 120-foot mosaic mural that embodies two major moments in Pittsburgh history and an inspiring story of advocacy and preservation.

In early 1964, the City of Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority commissioned Italian-born, Pittsburgh-based artist Virgil Cantini to create a work of art to enhance a new pedestrian tunnel beneath Bigelow Boulevard, in Downtown.

It was part of the Urban Renewal project in the Lower Hill that resulted in demolition of hundreds of buildings and displacement of thousands of people. The arts district that had been planned for the site was unrealized, but a highway passing through the district was completed, severing the Hill from Downtown. At the time Cantini was designing the mural, he said that “it should last for 200 years or more.”

Flash forward to 2015, when several City, County, State, and Federal agencies announced plans to create a community park over the hole that had been blasted in the Lower Hill to accommodate the highway.

This project, a much-lauded act of recompense for devastation of the Hill in the 1950s, would literally bury Cantini’s mosaic mural—an almost heartbreaking irony.

However, through the passionate advocacy of a group of experts in art and architectural history, planning, and the history of Pittsburgh, Cantini’s mural was removed from the tunnel, cleaned and repaired, and re-installed in its original formation in the Steel Plaza T Station.

Today, we discussed and learned more about the story of the rescue of one of Pittsburgh’s most unique treasures of public art in a presentation that included some of the people who helped ensure that this mural was saved, including the artist’s daughter.

Renewing Communities; Building Pride

www.phlf.org

Address

100 W Station Square Drive Suite 450
Pittsburgh, PA
15219

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Website

http://www.phlf.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation:

Featured

The TBCK Foundation

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Pittsburgh?