Sunday, December 2, 2012

Hawaii
Places to Visit Part III,
Mount Washington lays directly across the Monogahela River and offers a spectacular view of Downtown Pittsburgh. Originally the mount was called "coal hill" , since it was the source of many coal mines. The mount is only 367 feet high and in order to get to the top is to one must ride in a passenger carrier that was once used to transport coal miners. The cable cars have been restored to their 1870 's conditions.

Sources:
 http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/neighborhoods/p/mt_washington.htm



The North Pacific Coast
Places to Visit in Pittsburgh Part.II
Andrew Carnegie, philanthropist and business tycoon left a legacy in Pittsburgh that can be seen through his Museum of Art and Natural History. First founded in 1895, this complex includes a music hall and free library. The Natural History Museum is one of the largest  in the nation and houses dinosaur bones and other specimens. Also a gem and mineral collection can be found there, one of the largest in the world. Carnegie's personal collection of Art can be found in the Museum of Art. The collection includes, paintings, prints, and sculptures. The most magnificent part of the museum is the the Hall of Architecture  which has replicas of architectural masterpieces from around the world.

Sources:
http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/things_to_do/p/carnegie_museum.htm
http://www.heinz.org/userfiles/spotlight/cr_7833cmnh%20family.jpg
California
Tourism in Pittsburgh Part I
Now that the rest of the chapters concern the West Coast, here are some of the top places to visit while in Pittsburgh. Tourism is one of the largest industries in Pittsburgh and helps to create many jobs and helps to improve the economy of the city. The first stop is the Andy Warhol Museum, since Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh. Commonly referred to as the "Warhol", the museum offeres guest a view of the collection as the famous artist's works. on display are paintings, photographs, films and videos. Also the museum contains the Warhol Archives, which document the daily life of the famous artist. 

Sources:
http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/things_to_do/p/warhol.htm
http://www.attractionsinpa.com/wp-content/uploads/Andy-Warhol-Museum2-685x310.jpg

Saturday, December 1, 2012


The Southwest Border Area: Tricultural Development
Pittsburgh is a city in which many different cultures have come together to create a unique cultural community. Immigrants from Europe settled in Pittsburgh in the early formation of the United States. The Europeans that came and settled the land were, German, Polish, Italian and Irish. Today the city consists of dominantly the races of white, African Americans, Asians and Hispanics. Diversity can be seen through out the different neighborhoods that make up Pittsburgh. In the enclaves you can find restaurants, music and shops of countries such as Germany, Italy and  Eastern European Countries . There are also cultural festivals held in order to keep old traditions alive. 


Sources:
http://www.carnegielibrary.org/research/socialstudies/ethnic/easteuropean.html
http://www.city-data.com/city/Pittsburgh-Pennsylvania.html
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania_neighborhoods.svg/300px-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania_neighborhoods.svg.png

The Empty Interior
Pittsburgh is located near many beautiful state state parks and national forests  that offer many beautiful scenic hikes
. One of the largest National Forest in the Pittsburgh ares is Allegheny National Forest. It is located in northwestern Pennsylvania and is over a half a million acres. Within the the forrest is the Allegheny Reservoir and Kinzua Dam. The Allegheny Reservoir is between the Pennsylvania and New York border. 


Sources:
http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/day_trips/p/alleg_forest.htm   
http://photo.accuweather.com/photogallery/2009/10/500/6f8f297df.jpg

The Great Plains and Prairies
Farmer's Markets in Pittsburgh
A great way to get fresh produce in the Pittsburgh area is at a farmer's market. Local farms in the greater Pittsburgh area bring produce straight from the farms and right to the consumers. Local farms include, Kretschmann Farm, Jamison Farm and Frankferd Farms. These farms are located just thirty minutes outside of Pittsburgh. Farmer's Markets provide a great opportunity to support local farms. Farmer's Markets can be found through out the city at different times and locations.  One of the first Farmer's markets in the Pittsburgh area, as pictured above, has been around since 1940.

Sources:
http://gretchenmckay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/farmers-market-nside.jpg
http://www.carnegielibrary.org/research/food/pittsburgh/farmers.html

Monday, November 26, 2012


The Agricultural Core
Just outside of Pittsburg lays the Agricultural core of the Untied States. Pittsburg is centered in the overlap between the two regions of the manufacturing and agricultural core. The agricultural core begins in Erie, Pennsylvania and extends up to the Great Lakes and West to the Great Plains. Immigrants from Europe passed through Pittsburg to enter the west where there were more jobs and opportunities. Pittsburg is the gateway between the midwest and Megalopolis.

Source:
http://www.ioling.org/images/maps/iol-2011.png

The Southern Coastlands:On the Subtropical Margin
Oil in Pittsburg
In the river valley of the Allegheny, beneath the surface laid salt and oil wells. Samuel Kier ,a Pittsburg druggiest began selling the oil from the rocks found in the salt wellsin the 1850's. He found that he could use the oil in lamps and thus founded the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. Once word got out about his find, investors began taking interest in him and his "black gold". The area transformed from a farm town into a booming oil region. Drill and pumps were made to extract the oil and town were created to support the boom. At the height, Pennsylvania was responsible for 1/3 of the world's oil production. it was not until oil was found in Texas in 1901 that the oil boom ended.




Sources:
http://www.enopetroleum.com/earlyoilpennsylvania.html

Saturday, October 13, 2012


The Changing South
Andrew Carnegie born in 1835 in Scotland soon immigranted the the U.S and lived in Pittsburgh. He worked in a cotton factory in town and always had a fancy for the railroads and steel. He made his fortune being a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and in 1870 he broke away and formed his own company. He founded his first steel company near Pittsburgh and thus created a steel company, The Carnegie Steel Company. John Pierpont Morgan bought the company in 1901 and was then soon incorporated it into the U.S Steel corporation. The Pittsburgh U.S Steel Company was in direct competition with steel mills in the South. To decrease the competition and make them more supreme c the Pittsburgh Plus was created, which was an extra tax for consumers of steel in Alabama. Firms in the South found it cheaper to get steel from Pittsburgh than from Alabama. The policy was eventually ruled illegal but it left damage to the Alabama steel economy. This Pittsburgh Plus contributed to the South's slower economy. 


Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/andrew-carnegie
http://explorepahistory.com/kora/files/1/2/1-2-1317-25-ExplorePAHistory-a0k9q9-a_349.jpg

Appalachia
With Pittsburgh being on the outskirts of the Appalachia region, coal is found in the foothills near the city. Coal is what put the city on the map and made it an important part of U.S history. Coal seems were discovered in the plateaus, and were exposed by the rivers and stream's erosive powers. These seems of coal are what powered Pittsburgh steel mills. According to William Edmund, from his book, Coal in Pennsylvania, " The earliest record of actual coal mining in Pennsylvania is shown on a “Plan of Fort Pitt and Parts Adjacent” in 1761. Fort Pitt was located in what is now downtown Pittsburgh where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join to form the Ohio River. The mine was located across the Monongahela River near the top of Coal Hill (now called Duquesne Heights). These early miners removed the first few tons of coal from the fabulous Pittsburgh seam, which has been called, with considerable justice, the world’s most valuable single mineral deposit." With the rich deposit of coal, mining became a major industry in Western Pennsylvania. The mines gave new job opportunities to immigrants and neighborhoods in Pittsburgh began to swell in the 1800's and 1900's. The immigrants brought with them their rich culture and religions.Today many of the mines have been closed since the 1980's. When the mines closed the ethnic culture began to leave Pittsburgh since people had to search for new job opportunities else where.

Sources:
http://pittsburgh.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcnr.state.pa.us%2Ftopogeo%2Feducation%2Fcoal%2Fes7.pdf
http://www.coalcampusa.com/westpa/index.html
http://images.asc.ohio-state.edu/is/image/eHistory/mmh/doc_humanmachinery/coalminers.jpg
The Bypassed East
Since Pittsburgh is located near three rivers, fishing is easily accessible. After the closer of the mills and steel plants, the rivers became less polluted and fish began to live in the waters again. Fish found in the rivers are, smallmouth bass, walleyes and saugers and rainbow trout. The best places to fish are off bridges and near the cement barriers of the rivers. Also old docks and boat ramps have been found to have large sources of fish near them. Even though Pittsburg is a large city, there are still opportunities to fish and make you feel as if you have left the city behind you for a moment. The Allegheny  Monongahela and Ohio Rivers are excellent places to go fishing while in the Pittsburgh area.

Sources:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/hunting-fishing/city-fishing-lots-of-action-for-anglers-who-know-where-to-go-347446/
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/fishing-pittsburgh-pennsylvania-5008.html

Friday, October 12, 2012

Manufacturing Core
As mentioned perviously, Pittsburgh was a part of the Eastern manufacturing core in the U.S. Its location near three major rivers for access to other markets and transportation, and a supply of bituminous coal made in to a central player in the Steel Rail- Epoch from 1870 -1920. During this time steel began to replace the iron used in making railroads. The development of the city of Pittsburgh began through the United States Steel Corporation and became a steel producing center. Plants were created near Pittsburgh to take advantage of the low coast water transportation and the steel being created there. As the steel industry grew so did the city and an urban center was thus formed. AndrewCarnegie can be attributed to the reason Pittsburgh became a major steel town. In 1875 he opened the largest steel plant, the Edgar Thompson, in the Pittsburg area. And in 1899 he created the Carnegie Steel Company which soon became a major leader in the Steel and Railroad industry.

Sources:
http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/famous/p/andrew_carnegie.htm
http://steelcityartist.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/young.jpg
Megalopolis
Pittsburgh has a population of 350, 363, with a median age of 33 years. Population density is 5500 people per square mile. The top three races that make up Pittsburgh are,White, Black and Asian with a per capita income of $18,000. The unemployment rate is currently at 4.25 %. It is the 13th largest city in the U.S and is 500 miles from the cities that are a part of Megalopolis, with its neighbor being Philadelphia. The major religions are, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish. "The Pittsburgh area is at the center of an extensive highway system focused around Interstates 70, 80 and 76/376 (the Pennsylvania Turnpike) which run east and west, and Interstate 79/279 that runs north and south."Being a part of Allegheny County, there more than 1,700 bridges and 720 are within the Pittsburgh city limits. Because its location near the Allegheny and Ohio River  bridges are necessary for transportion. Pittsburgh is the largest inland port in the U.S., providing access to the nation's 9,000 mile inland waterway system.


Sources:
http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/aboutpittsburgh/a/facts.htm
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-Population-Profile.html
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-Transportation.html
http://pittsburgh.net/about_pittsburgh.cfm
http://pghbridges.com/articles/p1969.JPG
Foundations of Human Activity
The first people to inhabit the Pittsburgh area were from the Iroquois tribe. they originally came to the area after crossing the Bering Straight and settled the Pittsburgh area due to the proximity of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. These river also attracted British and French traders in the 1700's. General George Washington travelled to the area and found it a a good place to make a fort for the impending war against the British. Both the British and French made Forts along the rivers. The British named their fort, Fort Pitt. A small village named Pittsborough  developed around the Fort. The British settlers soon began to mine for coal in the hillsides.Before Pittsburgh became a manufacturing town it was a largely agriculture area. The major crop being grain, whiskey was a main by product. And in 1790 the Whiskey rebellion occurred in Pittsburg. Coal was first found in modern day Mt. Washington in 1762. During the war of 1812 many farmers turned to away from their farms and went into the  manufacturing of iron, ropes and boats. In the Civil War years the Pittsburgh factories aided the Union army through the manufacturing of warships and armor plate.


Sources:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Fort_Pitt_1795_large.jpg
http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/history/a/Three-Centuries-Of-Pittsburgh-History.htm
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-History.html

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Geographic Patterns of the Physical Environment
Pittsburgh is located in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, at the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join to form the Ohio. It is considered to be a part of the Appalachian Highlands. The climate is mostly humid and is located near the Atlantic ocean and the Great Lakes. Temperatures range from 90*F - zero allowing the city to experience all four seasons to their extremes. There is a consistent amount of rain fall  through out the year and a good amount of snow in the winter.
Area: 58.35 square miles
Elevation: 696 feet above sea level at river base; 1,223 feet above sea level at highest point
The natural resources found are coal and the rivers. With these Pittsburgh had a natural deposit of coal used in manufacturing and rivers for transportation.

Sources:
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-Geography-and-Climate.html
http://www.siahq.org/conference/pittsburgh/images/birdeye.gif
Regions and Themes
Pittsburgh is part of a three different regions, perceived and ones that are grouped by themes. First,  Pittsburgh is located in the East Coast and is considered to be a part of the Northeast. The other regions it is a part of are the Appalachia and the manufacturing core. It is a part of the manufacturing core because of it's past part in the steel and railroad industry.  "Andrew Carnegie opened the Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock in 1875 and brought inexpensive, mass-produced steel to the Pittsburgh area. He hired engineers to further streamline and mechanize the steel making process so as to maximize the profits of mass production." Through Carnegie Pittsburgh became a major Steel Town on the East Coast. Through the steel industry many were given jobs and new opportunities which led to the build up of the city. 



Sources: 

http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-History.html
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/createPostcard.php?cardNum=2599613

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The wonderful city of Pittsburgh is located in southwestern Pennsylvania. Once a major steel town, it is now  a modern city with skyscrapers and a center for technology. Home to the football team, the Steelers, this city founded in 1758 and has played a major role the United States economy over the years. Because of it's location,waterways and natural resources brought this city to life. Join me on a geographical journey through this fascinating city and see it's role in U.S History!

Sources:
http://www.chriswpage.com/tag/pittsburgh/
http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/aboutpittsburgh/a/facts.htm
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-Geography-and-Climate.html