Learn About Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh continues to thrive and reinvent itself in exciting, fresh ways.

Pittsburgh was established in the mid-18th century as the British Fort Pitt, named after their prime minister of the time. It was jostled between the French and British for a number of years due to the land’s convenient location, its vast supply of natural resources, and the fact that it was situated at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, which together form the Ohio River. This is where Pittsburgh got one of its nicknames, “Gateway to the West.”

George Washington himself, then just a major in the British army, was involved in the French and British conflicts over the region in the 1750s.

A Booming Metropolis of Steel

At the end of the 19th century into the beginning of the 20th, Pittsburgh grew substantially, multiplying in size many times over. This was largely due to its supply of natural resources (including coal, limestone, natural gas, and oil) and the accessibility provided by the rivers.

Because of these factors, among others, it played a central part in the industrial revolution. Those in need of work – including tens of thousands of immigrants – moved to the city to find jobs, of which there was no shortage, in the steel mills or other manufacturing plants.

The importance of steel to the city of Pittsburgh is hard to overstate. It was used as the name for the city’s NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, for good reason. In the early 20th century, Pittsburgh was supplying half of the steel in the United States, and their high volume of production continued for many decades behind industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, himself a Scottish immigrant. In the 1940s, Pittsburgh was responsible for much of the steel produced for the United States’ military equipment during World War II.

The Downfall of Steel

Things took a turn for the worse for Pittsburgh as we headed into the latter part of the 20th century. As the 1970s and 1980s came about, with transportation – and therefore importation – becoming a greater factor in the business world, the United States’ steel production began to diminish.

This hit Pittsburgh extremely hard, as it experienced a massive decline in employment and population. In the 1950s, there were nearly 700,000 residents in Pittsburgh. By 1980, the population fell to just over 400,000.

The Resurgence of Pittsburgh

Nevertheless, while the city had relied on the steel industry to support its economy, there was so much more to the city, as there is to this day. In fact, many believe that Pittsburgh is experiencing its greatest resurgence since the collapse of steel, attracting new inhabitants with its low cost of living, historical vibrance, scenic beauty, and laid back – yet hard working – culture.

Indeed, although Pittsburgh lost the economic strongholds that it once relied upon, it has replaced them with new types of businesses, particularly in the tech space. Google, Apple, Uber, and Intel all operate offices out of Pittsburgh, along with hundreds of other tech companies. This is sure to attract a younger, ambitious generation to write the next chapter of Pittsburgh’s history, and we’re thrilled to be along for the ride.

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