Gateway to Pittsburgh by Dawn Pogany, Jim Bristol

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Spreadsheet of Pittsburgh Public Art and blog archives
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The mural stretches along both sides of a ramp leading down to the Monongahela River where the Gateway Clipper Fleet docks. You can see parts of the mural from the Station Square Trail, which passes overhead. To really view it though, you need to walk down the ramp.

About halfway down on the right side there’s a plaque from the old Manchester Bridge. That was a bridge over the Allegheny River between The Point and the Northshore. (A pier from that same bridge is the one used for A Tribute to Children.) There’s another plaque from the John P. Moore Bridge and a decorative piece (all provided by Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation), but there’s no information to indicate where that coat of arms came from. The three small pieces of the city’s history are intwined with a huge mural depicting the history of this area from the late 1600’s to the start of the 21st century.

For anyone that has difficulty reading the narrative on the mural from the photographs, we’ve included the text verbatim below each section.

Gateway to Pittsburgh
Illustrated timeline of Pittsburgh 1682–2006

Kiasutha (Guyasuta) the Seneca Chief had a great hand in The French and Indian War. He helped the French defeat the British and also fought in the battle on Fort Pitt.
1682 The Fork in the Ohio

France and Britain fought extensively over The Fort in the Ohio, which was considered to be a strategic key to winning America.

This bridge was authorized in the bond issue of 1910 and replaces the union bridge which was an obstruction to navigation. The bridge is 2845 feet long and each river span is 531 feet. Construction was begun April 5 1911 under the administration of Mayor William A. Magee. It was opened to traffic August 9 1915 under the administration of... (lists mayor, engineer, contractors).

As I got down before the boat, I spent sometime in viewing the rivers, and the land in the fork...
George Washington

1759
Fort Pitt
Colonial Pittsburgh

Fort Pitt was greatly relied upon for the security of the settlements of colonial Pittsburgh. The fort also helped hold the territory for western exploration.

George Washington (1732–1799)
Commander and Chief of the Virginia regiment later he became the First President of the United States of America.

General John Forbes (1710–1759)
General Forbes is the man who named Pittsburgh.

1803 Lewis and Clark Expedition
The 8,00 mile, 28 month journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, better known as Lewis and Clark, began on August 31, 1803, on the Monongehela (sic) River near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania with two large, fully stocked keelboats.

1811
The New Orleans
Construction of the first steam ship, The New Orleans began by builder Robert Fulton.

1870
Glassmaking Industry
In the 1800’s South Side produced more glass than anywhere else in the United States.

1890
Pittsburgh
The Iron City

Out of the smoke and ash of the great fire of 1845, Pittsburgh emerged as an industrial haven at this time, Pittsburgh was a leader in the manufacturing of coal, glass, iron, steel and boat making.

During the beginning of the 1900’s coal barges and steamboats crowded the Monongahela due to the high demand for all the products produced in Pittsburgh.

1910
Pittsburgh The Industrial City

Due to the demand for iron and steel, the coal production of Pittsburgh grew tremendously. One third of the coal mined was turned into coke for the steelmills (sic), and the remainder was used as fuel.

On St Patricks Day, Monday, March 17, 1936, the rivers rose to 21.7 feet, two days later they rose 46 feet swallowing the point. In total, 3,000 people were injured, 100,000 lost homes and many had lost their lives.

1941
World War II

Pittsburgh in World War II was a key shipbuilder in America for the United States Navy. In a one week period before D–Day, 15 LST’s were built at Neville Island. Also during this time Pittsburgh was a massive steel producer.

1947
Pittsburgh Renaissance
At this time legislators passed a country–wide smoke regulation. Industries in Pittsburgh had to introduce cleaner means of production such as: non–smoke producing fuels, and stokers. This made for a dramaticly (sic) cleaner Pittsburgh.

Both the Pirates and the Steelers won championships in the year 1979. Pirates winning the World Series, and the Steelers winning the Super Bowl.

Gateway to the Future
Pittsburgh has expanded its industry base in recent years to include finance, technology, retail, education and medicine.