Fourth Avenue Historic District (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

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Fourth Avenue Historic District
Pittsburgh's oldest skyscraper.jpg
The Arrott Building in the Fourth Avenue Historic District
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Location4th Ave. and Wood St., Downtown Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates 40°26′22″N80°0′2″W / 40.43944°N 80.00056°W / 40.43944; -80.00056
ArchitectMultiple
Architectural styleLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian
NRHP reference No. 85001961 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPSeptember 5, 1985
Designated PHLF1989 [2]

The Fourth Avenue Historic District is a historic district in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The district was the center of finance and banks for the city during the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century. [3]

Contents

Many structures still exist from that era, including the location of the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street from 1864 to 1903, the now vacant lot of its location at 229 Fourth Avenue from 1903 to 1962 and the still standing structure of the Exchange from 1962 until it closed in 1974. It is roughly bounded by Smithfield Street, Third Avenue, Market Square Place, and Fifth Avenue.

The period of significance for the District is from 1871, when the initial phase of the Dollar Bank building construction was finished, to 1934, 50 years before preparation of the nomination to the NRHP. [4]

Some of its structures are:

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 5, 1985. [1] A boundary increase was added on March 20, 2013. [5]

Fourth Avenue

Fourth Avenue in 2011 4th Avenue (6313544907).jpg
Fourth Avenue in 2011

Outside the historic district, Fourth Avenue contains a number of neoclassical and other buildings.

Notable buildings on Fourth Avenue include:

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  3. Scarpaci, Joseph L. (June 15, 2010). Pittsburgh and the Appalachians: Cultural and Natural Resources in a Postindustrial Age. University of Pittsburgh Pre. pp. 14–15. ISBN   978-0-8229-7104-7. Fourth Avenue was once the center of dozens of banks, private investment houses, and savings institutions, which arose from lucrative investments in oil, gas, coal, and iron and steel. Although the local stock exchange closed early in the century and demolition had diminished the number of buildings, the street's designation as a national historic district has helped to preserve its turn-of-the-century office architecture and canyonlike streetscape reminiscent of lower Manhattan.
  4. "Fourth Avenue Historic District (Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation)". Archived from the original on May 11, 2015.
  5. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Fourth Avenue Historic District (Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation)" (PDF). National Park Service. March 20, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 1, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.

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