The Newtown Pentacle

Wednesday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

The history of Pittsburgh is pretty large.

There’s a whole lot of young George Washington, you’ve got Lewis and Clark, glass factories, steel mills, deindustrialization, and then rebirth under their ‘Eds and Meds’ conceit. It’s a lot to wrap your hands around, and I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the subject, but it’s still all quite confusing.

A big part of the confusion involves the rapacious business environment which was prevalent here, for much of Pittsburgh’s existence.

The darkest forms of capitalism were practiced hereabouts – company stores, unincorporated towns where the local Police were employees of the mill or mine and who were loyal to the boss and not any sort of actual law, with both the laborers and their families treated like medieval serfs.

I’ve decided to learn all of this ‘stuff’ by starting at the beginning.

Neither the Washingtonian nor post colonial eras for me, there are dozens of academic books authored by lettered historians on those subjects, if you’re interested in that particular part of the story.

Nope, I’ve decided that the thing I want to learn is the first rung on the industrial history local ladder, and that’s coal.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

I’ve mentioned my growing fascination with this coal subject in prior posts, but the tipping point at which I stop reading about something and then ‘go there’ to see what’s still extant occurred recently.

It should also be mentioned, the photos in this and subsequent posts were gathered during the week of the NFL Draft, which took over most of the central section of the city in late April, and which I avoided at all costs.

I don’t care about sportsball, and hate crowds.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

One boarded a T Light Rail unit in Dormont, heading southeast.

There’s a largish community nearby, which like Dormont is part of the larger ‘South Hills’ region, and is called ‘Bethel Park.’ I’m still getting my timelines and details together here, but I’m led to believe – by scholarly sources – that there used to be five distinct and enormous coal mining operations in Bethel Park, starting in the late 19th century, and one of these mines was in business all the way up to the early 1980’s.

Now, I’m fairly familiar with this ‘zone,’ but from the perspective of driving through it. Moe the Dog’s Vet is out here, and there’s a variety of retail establishments which we also frequent in the area.

There’s freight tracks rolling through here as well, with the logic of their location now making some sense to me, given a history of mining.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Washington Junction is the T stop where I debarked from the light rail.

I’m led to understand that part of the reason that the transit people set these lines in where they are had to do with assuming or ‘nationalizing’ the abandoned ‘rights of way’ once enjoyed by the defunct freight rail services that were laid down to service the mines.

Washington Junction is set upon a large flat space, which is largely depressed downwards, and away from the surrounding hilly landforms. Guess what used to be here?

– photo by Mitch Waxman

There’s a fair bit of housing density nearby. One and two family homes from the look of them. These also look decidedly 20th century in design.

A bit of a ‘shlep’ carried me across the parking lot of the T station’s ’park and ride’ lot and up towards Route 88/Library Road.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A local gas station chain had sponsored free rides on the T during the NFL Draft, with said chain called ‘Sheetz.’ Interesting family owned company, which is expanding, and if they ever go public I’m buying stock. They have a great business model, excellent marketing, and a pretty big multi-state footprint in the Appalachian region.

In return for their sponsorship, Sheetz got to do vehicle wraps with their brand colors for the T, advertising their wares to the MFL crowd.

Tomorrow, hunting for coal town remnants, and Andy Warhol.

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