Since Pittsburgh’s early days, when residents called it “the Diamond,” Market Square has been a place where people go to have a drink. But from the days of the Whiskey

How many times while driving around Pittsburgh have you seen a street sign which states No Outlet? Pittsburgh may lead the country with the number of dead-end streets. Many are

Explore 80 years of the Glen Hazel Defense Housing Project’s history. Originally built for relocation of steelworkers during World War II, the project was the largest of four federally owned

Pittsburgh’s beautification efforts are ever evolving. Henry Hornbostel’s early twentieth century advancements in elegant architecture made Pittsburgh a leader in the City Beautiful movement. Employing his mastery of the Beaux

Western Pennsylvania has long been viewed as the home of the steel industry but what happens when the landscape changes and mills close or move away? Long before the dominance

The Pittsburgh jazz community has fostered diversity across sectarian lines of race, gender, age and socioeconomic factors for decades. Learn about the depth of the jazz scene of the 60s

Do you ever wonder what happened to the old Garden Theatre ticket booth? How about the nickelodeon theatre on Spring Garden Avenue? Join storyteller, Jim Kastner, as he takes you on a

Squirrel Hill has been the “Jewish part of Pittsburgh” for nearly a century. How did that happen? To find the answer, we’ll follow the trail year by year, looking at

Did you know the ball in Pittsburgh goes up instead of down? Join DOORS OPEN Pittsburgh and storyteller Chris Whitlatch as he shares the obscure holiday traditions of Pittsburgh along

Think you know Pittsburgh’s bridges? Think again. Join author and engineer Todd Wilson for a virtual tour of Pittsburgh’s bridges where he will point out many of the secrets of

Western State Penitentiary is a former Pennsylvania state prison, originally constructed between 1878 and 1893 on the east banks of the Ohio River. The facility has been closed since 2017,

Your Storyteller
Michael Walter is the Tour Coordinator for the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Walter is an exhibiting artist and educator and his interests and public presentations have involved history, art and science.

Maps change how we see the places where we live. For the past seven years, local cartographer Stentor Danielson has been drawing maps of Pittsburgh and other real cities in

For more than 200 years, Western Pennsylvania has been a center for the production, design and marketing of glass. It is also home to an internationally-known education center and studio,

This story will provide a sense of what the Hill District was like during the era when Pulitzer prize-winning playwright August Wilson was growing up there and how this iconic

Join storyteller Alan Irvine for an evening exploring the darker side of Pittsburgh’s history with ghost stories from the City’s days as a frontier settlement up to modern times. Discover

George Washington played a critical role in what turned out to be the worst British-American defeat during the French and Indian War. That disaster–Braddock’s Defeat–took place less than 10 miles

Kennywood Park has been Pittsburgh’s playground since the 19th century, when baseball games, track races and pony rides were more common than Potato Patch fries and amusement rides! One of

Everyone who is old enough remembers where they were on April 12, 1955 when the Polio Vaccine was heralded. Horns honked, church bells rang, people celebrated in the streets. It

Get virtual access inside the City’s Vault. The City Vault is where hundreds of years of legislative records are stored and preserved. In 2016 the City hired the first-ever archivist

Take a walk through Isaly’s history to learn why so many Pittsburghers have fond memories of the company, why its ice cream and chipped ham are still regional favorites, and

Pittsburgh has evolved in all things having to do with food and culinary. With humble beginnings dating back to the produce terminal in the Strip District to Pittsburgh being a

Ever wonder what it might be like to live in a “tiny house?” DOORS OPEN Pittsburgh invites you into a Pittsburgh astronomer’s tiny house. This 500-square-foot house was built by

Get nostalgic and reflect on the lost treasures of Pittsburgh with local author Rossilynne Culgan who is writing a book about the lost treasures of Pittsburgh. Rossilynne will share her

Did you know that Pittsburgh represents the birth of the “movie theatre?” This story begins in 1896, on the day that an image first flickered on a screen in Downtown

Let us take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of Penn Brewery where you will learn the fascinating history behind our 19th-century building, as well as show you how we make

Frank Lloyd Wright was the most talked about “starchitect” of the mid-20th century and inventor of Prairie style architecture. He had a twenty-year relationship with Pittsburgh. Fallingwater was only the

On this fast-paced virtual tour, we will visit 12 city neighborhoods. With an eagle eye and help from archival records, we will find Pittsburgh’s Jewish history hidden in the cityscape.

Explore the region’s historically-significant buildings which document the accomplishments of Pittsburgh’s African American Community. We share the architecture and more importantly the pride, perseverance, and perspective of resourceful and creative local

This is the story of a girl from Pittsburgh who proved her mettle one front page headline after another. She took on prickly social issues. She went undercover when undercover