South Side Flats in Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Immigrant Steel Workers

Three Rivers Heritage Trail

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, May 30, 2021

1. Immigrant Steel Workers Marker

Inscription. In the late 19th century, tens of thousands of immigrants, primarily from Europe, came to America searching for an opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families. Overcoming the hardships of the trip, resettlement in a foreign land, and the struggle to learn a new language and customs, many of the immigrants ultimately realized their goal here in the Pittsburgh area. Their descendants still live here and are a living testament to their forbearers' hard work, courage and faith in themselves and their new country.

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In crowded workers' houses, the kitchen was one place where everything happened. The tight family relationships and ethnic traditions were maintained at home, and developed into the strong neighborhoods that are found in city today. Rochna Family in Kitchen, 1950 Sol Libsohn. Carnegie Museum of Art

Thousands of immigrants who moved to Pittsburgh seeking employment had few housing choices when they first arrived here. Families lived in company houses or in cramped and crowded tenements like these that often lacked the most basic facilities, such as in-door toilets. Wooden Tenements in the Hill District, 1914

Pittsburgh immigrants produced generations of patriotic Americans. Workers and manufacturers alike labored intensively to win World Wars I and II and made

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Pittsburgh "The Arsenal of America." Armed Forces Day Parade on Grant Street, 1951 Richard Saunders. Carnegie Museum of Art

Steelworkers at the Russian Boarding House, Homestead. Lewis Hine, 1907-08. Carnegie Museum of Art

Erected by Friends of the Riverfront, DCNR, Steel Industry Heritage Corporation, City of Pittsburgh, The Laurel.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce.

Location. 40° 25.926′ N, 79° 58.945′ W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. It is in the South Side Flats. It is on Three Rivers Heritage Trail 0.1 miles west of South 18th Street, on the right when traveling west. Not accessible by motorized vehicle. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pittsburgh PA 15203, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic, in the Ohio River Valley, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Oliver Iron and Steel (about 800 feet away, measured in a direct line); First Associated Reformed Church of Birmingham (approx. 0.2 miles away); Ormsby River Farms (approx. 0.2 miles away); Black Diamonds (approx. 0.2 miles away); Coal Transportation (approx. 0.2 miles away); South Side Vietnam Veterans Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away); Polish Army

Three Rivers Heritage Trail image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, May 30, 2021

2. Three Rivers Heritage Trail

(approx. 0.3 miles away); South Side Market House (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pittsburgh.

Also see . . . Friends of the Riverfront. (Submitted on June 2, 2021.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 2, 2021, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 676 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 2, 2021, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.