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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Strip District in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Seige at the 26th Street Roundhouse

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

 
 
Seige at the 26th Street Roundhouse Marker image. Click for full size.
circa 2007
1. Seige at the 26th Street Roundhouse Marker
Inscription. On July 21st 1877, the Philadelphia militia fired into a vocal crowd of striking Pennsylvania trainmen and sympathizers. Twenty people were killed, including at least three children. Many more were wounded. Following the attack, the militia retreated to the roundhouse at 26th Street and Liberty Avenue as family, friends and neighbors prepared to avenge the dead.

While the tired and hungry militia hunkered down inside, a howling mob began to assemble outside the roundhouse. Accompanied by drums and fifes, the crowd aimed stones, bricks, and bullets at the doors and windows. Unable to flush the militia out of the roundhouse, the mob set fire to freight cars carrying coal, oil, whiskey and wine. The flaming cars were sent careening down the Liberty Avenue tracks, into the roundhouse. As flames engulfed the building, General Brinton and his troops evacuated on the morning of July 22nd. Using rifles and two Gatling guns to sweep their path, the militia killed an additional 20 civilians while retreating eastward out of the city.
 
Erected 2007 by the Howling Mob Society.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Labor UnionsNotable EventsRailroads & Streetcars. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1865.
 
Location. 40° 27.273′ 
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N, 79° 58.687′ W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. It is in the Strip District. Marker is at the intersection of 26th Street and Spring Way, on the left when traveling south on 26th Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pittsburgh PA 15222, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Westinghouse Railroad Air Brake (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Railroad Strike of 1877 (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Menace of the Iron Horse (approx. ¼ mile away); Saint Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church (approx. 0.3 miles away); State Violence Incites Rioting (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Desperate and the Decadent (approx. 0.3 miles away); Greenlee Field (approx. 0.4 miles away); Joshua (Josh) Gibson (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pittsburgh.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Other Great Railroad Strike of 1877 Markers erected by the Howling Mob Society in 2007.
 
Also see . . .  The Howling Mob Society Website. (Submitted on January 4, 2010.)
 
Additional commentary.
1. Interesting backstory of the Howling Mob Society and its 10 markers.
“The Howling Mob Society (HMS) is a collaboration
Seige at the 26th Street Roundhouse Marker image. Click for full size.
the Howling Mob Society, used with permission, circa 2007
2. Seige at the 26th Street Roundhouse Marker
of artists, activists and historians committed to unearthing stories neglected by mainstream history. HMS brings increased visibility to the radical history of Pittsburgh, PA through grassroots artistic practice. We chose to focus on The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, a national uprising that saw some of its most dramatic moments in Pittsburgh.” From their website.
    — Submitted August 2, 2019, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.

 
Additional keywords. Social Justice Struggles
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 1, 2010. This page has been viewed 1,316 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on January 5, 2010.   2. submitted on January 1, 2010. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024