The Urbanization of

Pittsburgh
10.7.1 Human Systems:
Explain the causes of urbanization (e.g. Job Opportunities,
Immigration Patterns, Technological Innovations)

Round 1

Native Settlements (Pre1700)

Native American
Settlements
For thousands of years, Native
Americans inhabited the
region where the Allegheny
and the Monongahela Rivers
join to form the Ohio.
By 1700, the Iroquois, who had
been displaced from eastern
Pennsylvania by European
settlement, held dominion over
the upper Ohio valley.
By 1748, Shannopin's Town, a
native tribal village on the east
bank of the Allegheny River,
was the home village of an
estimated 300400 residents.

Round 1
3 RIVERS

Draw 3 rivers on your

paper that resemble what
you see on the map below.

Round 2

Trading Post (1710-1740)

Trading Post
The
. first Europeans arrived as
traders in 1717 and was the
first to describe the forks of
the Ohio.
They established a trading
post and settlements.
Europeans first began to
settle in the region in 1748.

Round 2
To make money in the new
area, establish a trading
post at the center of the 3
rivers so native peoples can
come to you.
You must remain on the
east side of the river
because it is too dangerous
to cross.
Also, create a road from
coming from the east
directly to your trading post
so you can sell your goods.

Draw the following:

1 Trading Post (1 block
in origin spot)
1 Road (block wide)

Round 3

Military Fort (1750s)

Military Fort
The strategic rivers juncture
became a battleground when
France and Britain fought for
control in the 1750s.
In 1754, the British began
building a fort at the Forks of
the Ohio.
Before finishing, the French
tore down the British fort and
built Fort Duquesne.
In 1758 the British burned the
French fort and constructed of
Fort Pitt.

Round 3
Your area is a strategic point
to control the region.
Several countries would like
to control the area to make
their claim on the land.
You will need to provide a
defense for area to make a
permanent claim of the land.
To do so, you must also
protect your trading post.
Draw a Military Fort to
defend the strategic area
around your trading post.

Draw the following:

Military Fort to defend
the strategic area.

Round 4

Settlement (1760-1780)

Settlement
In 1760, the first
considerable settlement
around Fort Pitt began to
grow.
Traders and settlers built
two groups of houses
and cabins, the "lower
town," near the fort's
ramparts, and the "upper
town," along the east
edge of the southern
river.
(Population 332 people)

Round 4
Trading has become
successfully established.
People are moving to town
to work so you will need to
create and infrastructure to
support your new citizens.
New buildings must remain
close to the fort for
protection and cant be
located across the river.
Because you need to walk
in town, houses need to be
built together and can not
be further than 3 blocks
from shopping and food.

Draw the following:

10 Houses (5 near fort & 5 up
river.)
1 Church
1 Cemetery
1 Shopping area
1 Food area

Remember:
Everything needs to be
connected.
No drawing in water or across
river. No bridge available.

Round 5

First Industries (1780-1800)

First Industries
Following American independence in
1783, the village around Fort Pitt
continued to grow.
One of the first industries was boat
building. Flatboats could carry large
numbers of pioneers and goods
downriver, while keelboats were
capable of traveling upriver.
Farmers distilled their corn harvest
into whiskey (used as frontier
currency), increasing its value while
lowering its transportation costs.
In 1797, the manufacturing of glass
began.

First Industries (continued)

Commerce (trade) was important
part of economy but
manufacturing began to grow in
importance.
Pittsburgh sat in the middle of
one of the most productive
coalfields in the country; the
region was also rich in petroleum,
natural gas, lumber, and farm
goods.
By 1800, the population was
about 1,565 persons
There were over 60 shops (e.g.
general stores, bakeries, and
hat/shoe shops.

Draw the following:

Round 5
To increase the success of
your first industries, create a
shipyard on the rivers edge
where people can walk to
work.
Also, build some factories to
manufacture your goods.
Finally, more people are
moving to town for work.
Creating additional housing,
shopping, and food areas to
support the workers.

1 Shipyard (5 blocks)
3 Small factories (4 blocks each)
5 Houses
1 Shopping area
1 Food area

Remember:
Shipyard needs to be allow river
so boats can float.
People walk to work.
If you get to far from fort you
will die

Round 6

Iron City (1800-1820)

Iron City
In 1811, the first steamboat was built in
Pittsburgh. Increasingly, commerce
would also flow upriver.
War of 1812 cut off the supply of
British goods. This led to an increase
in production in American
manufacturing. Trade of goods flowed
through Pittsburgh from all four
directions.
By 1815, Pittsburgh was producing
large quantities of iron, brass, tin, and
glass products.
In 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as
a city.
(Population grew to 7,300)

ROUND 6
Pittsburgh is now a city
focusing on expanding its
trade.
Build a warehouse district
to store goods close to the
factories and river until its
ready to be shipped. It
should be close to the river
but within walking
distance.
Also, the population is still
growing.
Build additional housing,
shopping and food areas.

Draw the following:

Warehouse District (5
blocks)
3 Small factories (4
blocks each)
5 Housing
1 Shopping area
1 Food area

Round 7

Water & Land Transportation

(1820-1839)

Water & Land

Transportation
Many improvements were made to the
transportation infrastructure.
In 1818, the region's first river bridge,
(Smithfield Street Bridge) opened. This
marked the first step in building the
city of bridges.
In 1820, the original Pennsylvania
Turnpike was completed. This
connected the cities of Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia.
In 1834, the Pennsylvania Main Line
Canal was completed. Now, Pittsburgh
consisted of a transportation system
that included rivers, roads, and canals.
(Population increased to 21,00)

Round 7
Your city is growing and
different technological
advancements in
transportation is needed to
access other areas.
Create a larger transportation
network with bridges, roads,
and canal systems.
These additions allow for
expansion across the river.

Draw the following:

1 Bridge connecting to town the
southern side of the river
1 Road (turnpike) running from the
first road, across the bridge to the
south
1 Canal connecting the northern
bank of the river to the north to
connect to the great lakes for
shipping to Atlantic Ocean.

Remember:
People and business can be across
river if there is a bridge.
If you go too far from downtown,
your business will fail.

Round 8

Rebuilding Infrastructure
(1840s)

Rebuilding Infrastructure
By the 1840s, Pittsburgh was
one of the largest cities west of
the Allegheny Mountains.
Pittsburgh outgrew its
necessary infrastructure, such
as a water system with
dependable water pressure.
April 10, 1845, a great fire
burned out of control,
destroying over a thousand
buildings that caused $9M in
damages.
(Population 47,000)

Draw the following:

Round 8

Downtown Pittsburgh has been

destroyed by fire.
You many redesign (erase) this
section, but ONLY houses,
shopping, and food can be
moved.
You can move some housing up
town or across the river to make
space for growing businesses.
This way, you can add city
government buildings and create
an area for a downtown business
district for future skyscrapers.
Also, connect your city to the
north side of the river.
Remember people are still walking
or using horses.

1 Bridge connecting center to

north side.
Re-design downtown for
Business District (15 blocks
open)
Move houses to uptown. (20
houses total)
Add shopping (3 blocks total)
and food (3 blocks total)

Remember:
This is the only time you can
make improvements downtown
for future growth.
Churches and cemeteries cant
move

Round 9

Railway Transportation (1850s)

Railroad transportation
As the city rebuilt, the age of rails arrived.
In 1854, the Pennsylvania Railroad began
service between Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia.
(Population 49,000)

Round 9
The production of your
factories is great. Goods
need to be moved quickly
so railroads are built to
connect city to major
ports. Create railways and
bridges to move goods
from city. One railroad
moves goods from city to
northern ports while
another moves goods to
the Chicago and
Mississippi.

Draw the following:

4 Bridges
1st Railroad (1 block wide)
follows north side of river
from east to west
2nd Railroad (1 block wide)
follows southern side of
river from east to west.

Remember:
This structures are needed
to connect to other place.
Needed so people can
come

Round 10

Industrial Expansion (1860s)

Industrial Expansion
Industrialists such as
Andrew Carnegie, Henry
Clay Frick, Andrew W.
Mellon, and Charles M.
Schwab built their fortunes
in Pittsburgh.
In 1859, the Clinton and
Soho iron furnaces
introduced coke-fire
smelting to the region.
The Civil War boosted the
city's economy with
increased production of iron
and armaments.
By war's end, over one-half
of the steel and more than
one-third of all U.S. glass
was produced in Pittsburgh.

Round 10
New factories are
springing up as new
businesses are
established. You will need
to add factories close to
the railroads and building
living areas for your
workers to walk to work.

Draw the following:

5 Small Factories (4
blocks each)
20 Houses
2 Shopping areas
2 Food areas

Round 11

Steel Industry (1870s)

Steel Industry
In 1875, when the
Edgar Thomson
Works began to make
steel rail using the new
Bessemer process.
Independent iron and
steel manufacturers
survived and
prospered from the
1870s because they
concentrated on
specialized products,
particularly structural
steel.
(Population 156,000)

Round 11
There is a great demand for steel right
now. Large steel mills and mines need to
be built outside the city to be near
resources. Workers work long, hard
hours in the factories. The average
workday begins at 6:00 a.m. and ends at
9:00 p.m. There is only a 30 minute break
for lunch. After work, exhausted,
stressed out workers stop at their local
pub for some relaxation.The work is
dangerous and unhealthy. Men are
malnourished and unable to exercise or
eat properly. Casualty rates go up.Build
steel mills to the north of the city and
coal mines to the south. They must be at
least10 blocks from each other. You will
also need to build mass transit for
workers to get to work. (Houses can be
rebuilt to make way.

Draw the following:

Mass Transit System
connecting factories (1
block width and houses
can be relocated)
4 Large Factories (9 blocks
each)
4 Tenements close to
downtown (can replace
houses, but rebuild houses
in another location)
4 Shopping
4 Food
2 Cemeteries in walking
distance

Round 12

Immigrant Housing

IMMIGRANT
HOUSING

Between 1870 and 1920, the

population of Pittsburgh grew almost
sevenfold.

Many of the new residents were

immigrants who sought employment
in the factories and mills and
introduced new traditions,
languages, and cultures to the city.

Ethnic neighborhoods emerged on

densely populated hillsides and
valleys, such as South Side, Polish
Hill, Bloomfield, and Squirrel Hill

The Strip District, the city's produce

distribution center, still boasts many
restaurants and clubs that showcase
these multicultural traditions of
Pittsburghers.
(Population )

Round 12
More living space is needed
as large families live
together. Create a mass
transportation system to
move workers quickly.
Create neighborhoods for
the original immigrants to
move away from the
factories. New social
services to support these
groups were popping up. To
bring in more new workers,
transform old houses into
tenements closer to
downtown for new
immigrants.

Draw the following:

Extend Mass Transit to
new neighborhoods
6 Tenements
4 Neighborhoods (10
blocks each)
5 Shopping
5 Food
3 Churches in
neighborhoods
1 School for those families
wealthy enough to send
their children (boys) to
school.

Round 13

New Industrial Pittsburgh

(1880s)

New Industrial
Pittsburgh
Businessmen transformed the
economy from small factories
located inside the city limits to
a large integrated industrial
region stretching 25 miles
from the city center.
Pittsburgh was based on
integrated mills, mass
production, and modern
management organization in
steel and other industries.
Many manufacturers searched
for large sites with railroad and
river accessibility. They
purchased land and designed
modern plants.

New industrial
Pittsburgh
Transportation, capital, labor
markets, and the division of
labor in production bound the
scattered industrial plants and
communities into a sprawling
metropolitan district.
Pittsburgh was a complex
urban landscape with a
dominant central city,
surrounded by residential
communities build by
companies for their workers.
City leaders debated the
responsibility and expense of
creating a waterworks system
and disposal of sewage.
(Population 239,000)

Round 13
Build large factories near
resources to the north of
town where there is open
area. You will need to
build houses for workers
to be closer. Also you will
need to extend the mass
transit so workers can
access downtown for
business.

Draw the following:

5 Large factories with 3
steel to the north and 2
coal mines to the south
(9 blocks each)
10 houses per factory
Extend Mass
transportation

Round 14

Model Industrial Suburb

MODEL INDUSTRIAL SUBURB

Representative of the new industrial

suburbs was the model town of
Vandergrift. Some factory owners
believed with the company going
beyond paychecks to provide for the
social needs of the workers; the physical
environment made for happier and
more productive workers.

Wanting a loyal workforce, they

developed a town plan designed to
include a unique combination of social
reform, comprehensive infrastructure
planning, and private homeownership
principles.

The rates of homeownership and

cordial relationships between the steel
company and Vandergrift residents
fostered loyalty among skilled workers
and employers.
(Population 322,000)

Round 14
Factory owners wanted
workers closer to the
factories to cut
commuting time and get
more hours of work from
employees. They build
model suburbs close to
the factories.

Draw the following:

10 Houses per large
factory (total 50 blocks)
5 Shopping
5 Food

Round 15

Commercial Powerhouse

Commercial
powerhouse
By 1911, Pittsburgh was producing half
the nation's steel and had grown into an
industrial and commercial powerhouse:
Population 588,00

Nexus of a vast railway system, with

freight yards capable of handling 60K
cars

27.2 miles (43.8 km) of harbor

Yearly river traffic in excess of 9M tons

Value of factory products more than

$211M (with Allegheny City)

Allegheny county produced, as

percentage of national output, about:
24% of the pig iron, 34% of the Bessemer
steel, 44% of the open hearth steel, 53%
of the crucible steel, 24% of the steel
rails, 59% of the structural shapes

Round 15
Business is booming
create a downtown
district for the companies
to manage there
marketing and expanding
trade. Build 10 skyscrapers
downtown near the fort
and relocate any living
space in the way.

Draw the following:

10 Downtown
Skyscrapers

Pittsburgh Today

Reflection

Urbanization Issues