Pittsburgh Mercantile Company Building

Last updated
Pittsburgh Mercantile Company Building
Pittsburgh Mercantile Company Building.jpg
February 2015, looking east on East Carson St
Pittsburgh locator map 2018.png
Red pog.svg
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location2600 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°25′38″N79°58′06″W / 40.42722°N 79.96833°W / 40.42722; -79.96833
AreaDecember 29, 2014
Built1907 to 1908
Architect Rutan & Russell
Architectural styleBeaux Arts and Commercial Style
NRHP reference No. 14001099 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 8, 2013
Designated PHLF2014 [2]

The Pittsburgh Mercantile Company Building in the South Side Flats neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, was built in 1907 to 1908 and functioned as the company store for the nearby Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. [3] It is currently used as an apartment building. The structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. [1]

Contents

Architecture

The original portion of the building, constructed during 1907 and 1908, is six stories tall, buff-colored Roman brick with steel frame, with concrete floors and roof. Fronting on East Carson street, the main commercial road in the South Side Flats, it is 108 ft wide by 116 ft deep, with terra cotta first-story wall cladding and cornice trim work. A three-story-and-mezzanine addition, 36 ft wide by 116 ft deep, was built on the building's east side in 1936. A one-story addition was added to the rear in 1950. The building has been renovated and rehabilitated several times, including 1967–1968 when it was purchased by Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh for use as its headquarters, store, and workshop, and again in 2012 when it was converted to use as an apartment building. [3]

Company store

Though Pennsylvania had laws in place to keep industrial firms from owning company stores directly, these laws were easily evaded by having a separate corporation own the store; such was the case with J&L Steel and the Pittsburgh Mercantile Company. The original officers of the Pittsburgh Mercantile Company were the same as the officers of J&L. Arguments against the company store system, which had dated back to 1464 in England with what was there called the truck system, included the potential of abuse by paying workers in scrip, which could only be used at company's facilities. Arguments in favor included reducing the problems faced by immigrant workers that were unfamiliar with the language, customs, and problems of acquiring clothing, housing, and food, by setting up company housing and stores with payment in scrip. [3]

Pittsburgh Mercantile Company ran a general purpose store at its South Side Flats flagship location, including groceries, dry goods, hardware, and home furnishings. At least seven other locations were established, including Aliquippa and California, Pennsylvania. [3]

While hearings, investigations and legislation to end the scrip/company store system continued through the Great Depression and beyond, the scrip system didn't end until 1950. The Pittsburgh Mercantile Company remained profitable for another decade after that. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homestead, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Homestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The borough is located in the Monongahela River valley 7 miles (11 km) southeast of downtown Pittsburgh and directly across the river from the city limits. The borough is known for the Homestead Strike of 1892, an important event in the history of labor relations in the United States. The population of Homestead was 2,884 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butler, Pennsylvania</span> City in Pennsylvania, United States

Butler is a city and the county seat of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 35 miles (56 km) north of Pittsburgh and is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 13,502.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Pittsburgh</span>

The history of Pittsburgh began with centuries of Native American civilization in the modern Pittsburgh region, known as "Dionde:gâ'" in the Seneca language. Eventually, European explorers encountered the strategic confluence where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio, which leads to the Mississippi River. The area became a battleground when France and Great Britain fought for control in the 1750s. When the British were victorious, the French ceded control of territories east of the Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Company store</span> Store selling almost exclusively to employees of a specific company

A company store is a retail store selling a limited range of food, clothing and daily necessities to employees of a company. It is typical of a company town in a remote area where virtually everyone is employed by one firm, such as a coal mine. In a company town, the housing is owned by the company but there may be independent stores there or nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny, Pennsylvania</span> Former city in Pennsylvania, United States

Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by the Ohio River, and is known today as the North Side. The city's waterfront district, along the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, became Pittsburgh's North Shore neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaufmann's</span> Department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Side (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhoods of Pittsburgh in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States

South Side is an area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Monongahela River across from Downtown Pittsburgh. The South Side is officially divided into two neighborhoods, South Side Flats and South Side Slopes. Both the Flats and the Slopes are represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Bruce Kraus. The business district stretches along East Carson Street, which is home to many small shops, restaurants and bars. In 2006, more than 80 bars and pubs operated in the South Side Flats. The neighborhood has an urban fabric with rowhouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Side Flats</span> Neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

The South Side Flats is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. It is located just south of the Monongahela River. The neighborhood has one of the City of Pittsburgh's largest concentrations of 19th-century homes, which has prompted outsiders to call the neighborhood the City's Georgetown. It includes many bars and restaurants as well as residences. The main throughway in the South Side Flats is East Carson Street. The street is home to a significant portion of Pittsburgh's nightlife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny County Courthouse</span> Courthouse and jail complex in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is part of a complex designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Revival style for which Richardson is well known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercantile National Bank Building</span> Skyscraper in Dallas, Texas

The Mercantile National Bank Building is a 31-story, 159.4 m (523 ft) skyscraper at 1800 Main Street in the Main Street district of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the former home of the Mercantile National Bank, which later became MCorp Bank. The design of the skyscraper features Moderne styling from the Art Deco era and was designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager. The building has a series of setbacks that is crowned by an ornamental four-sided clock along with a decorative weather spire. The Merc was the main element of a four-building complex that eventually spanned a full city block.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May Company Ohio</span> United States historic place

The May Company Ohio was a chain of department stores that was based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.

The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 to support the preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bost Building</span> United States historic place

The Bost Building, also known as Columbia Hotel, is located on East Eighth Avenue in Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States. Built just before the 1892 Homestead Strike, it was used as headquarters by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and for reporters covering the confrontation. It is the only significant building associated with the strike that remains intact. It is a contributing property to the Homestead Historic District. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wilbraham</span> Historic building in Manhattan, New York

The Wilbraham is an apartment building at 282–284 Fifth Avenue and 1 West 30th Street in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The nine-story structure was designed by David and John Jardine in the Romanesque Revival style, with elements of the Renaissance Revival style, and occupies the northwestern corner of 30th Street and Fifth Avenue. It was built between 1888 and 1890 as a bachelor apartment hotel. The Wilbraham is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longfellow, Alden & Harlow</span>

Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, of Boston, Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the architectural firm of Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. (1854–1934), Frank Ellis Alden (1859–1908), and Alfred Branch Harlow (1857–1927). The firm, successors to H. H. Richardson, continued to provide structures in the Romanesque revival style established by Richardson that is often referred to as Richardsonian Romanesque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newman Brothers Building</span> United States historic place

The Newman Brothers Building is a former commercial building in Joplin, Missouri. The building was the home of Newman's Department Store from 1910 to 1972. In 1990, the building was entered into the National Register of Historic Places. After going through several owners, the building is now occupied by Joplin city offices. It is located in the Joplin Downtown Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. J. Heinz Company complex</span> Historic industrial complex in Pittsburgh

The H. J. Heinz Company complex, part of which is currently known as Heinz Lofts, is a historic industrial complex in the Troy Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The buildings were built by the H. J. Heinz Company from 1907 through 1958. The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and five of the buildings are listed as a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank & Seder Building (Pittsburgh)</span> Commercial in Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Frank & Seder Building is a 30-metre (98 ft), 7-story, former department store building completed in 1918 on Smithfield Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The building is a contributing structure in the Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jones & Laughlin Headquarters Building</span> United States historic place

The former Jones and Laughlin building is located at 200 Ross Street in the Downtown neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Built in 1907 in the Jacobean Revival architectural style, the building served as the headquarters of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company from its construction until 1952 and currently holds offices for various governmental agencies in the City of Pittsburgh. It was designated a City of Pittsburgh Historic Landmark in 2020 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

The Perley Block is a historic commercial building at 366 Main Street in the Enosburg Falls village of Enosburgh, Vermont. Built in 1908 in the Renaissance Revival style, its ground-floor facade was given a Modernist update c. 1960. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021 for its architecture.

References

  1. 1 2 "Weekly list of actions taken on properties: 12/29/14 through 1/02/15". National Park Service. January 9, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  2. Historic Landmark Plaques 1968–2014 (PDF). Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2014. p. 19. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Jesse Belfast (July 2014). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Pittsburgh Mercantile Company Building" (PDF). City Of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2015-02-06. Includes photos, drawings, and maps.