If you walk through the North Side today, you'd never guess it was once a whole different city. A rival to Pittsburgh, even. That's right, before it was the North Side, it was Allegheny City, an independent municipality that sat across the Allegheny River and gave Pittsburgh a run for its money.
The City That Almost Was
Allegheny City was founded in 1788, the same year as Pittsburgh, but it grew up different. While Pittsburgh was all smoke and steel, Allegheny City was more genteel. It had tree-lined streets, grand homes, and a reputation as a place for the wealthy to escape the grime. The city's crowning jewel was the Allegheny Market House, built in 1862, which still stands today on Federal Street. You can grab a pierogi there on a Saturday morning and feel the history in the brick walls.
By the late 1800s, Allegheny City was the third largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It had its own schools, its own police force, its own everything. But Pittsburgh was hungry for land. The city was bursting at the seams, and Allegheny City was right there, ripe for the taking.
The Annexation That Changed Everything
In 1907, after years of political maneuvering and a contentious vote, Allegheny City was annexed by Pittsburgh. It wasn't a friendly merger. Many Allegheny residents fought it tooth and nail. They didn't want to be part of Pittsburgh's smog and corruption. But the vote passed, and on December 2, 1907, Allegheny City ceased to exist. Overnight, it became the North Side of Pittsburgh.
The loss of identity stung for decades. Old-timers would tell you they were from Allegheny, not Pittsburgh, well into the 1950s. The street grids still don't match up. If you drive through the North Side, you'll notice the streets are laid out different from the rest of the city. That's because they were designed by a different city, with different planners.
The Mexicans and the Churches
One of the coolest things about the North Side is its immigrant history. In the early 1900s, Mexican laborers came to work on the railroads and in the mills. They settled in the area around East Street, forming a tight-knit community. The result is St. Mary's Catholic Church on the North Side, one of the oldest Mexican-American parishes in the country. It's still active, and the annual Cinco de Mayo festival there is a blast.
You can also see the old German and Polish roots in the churches. St. Peter's Church on Federal Street is a Romanesque beauty that dates back to 1851. It survived the urban renewal of the 1960s, when much of the North Side was torn down for the Allegheny Center development. That was a dark time. The city bulldozed whole blocks of historic homes to build a shopping mall and apartment complex. It was a disaster. The mall failed, the apartments were ugly, and the neighborhood never fully recovered. But the churches held on.
The Sports Connection
The North Side is also home to some of Pittsburgh's most iconic sports landmarks. Three Rivers Stadium used to sit right on the North Shore, where PNC Park and Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) stand today. Three Rivers was a concrete doughnut that opened in 1970 and was demolished in 2001. I remember going to games there as a kid. It wasn't pretty, but it was ours.
PNC Park, which opened in 2001, is widely considered one of the best ballparks in America. It's got that old-school feel, with the skyline behind the outfield and the Roberto Clemente Bridge connecting it to downtown. Clemente himself played at Forbes Field, not on the North Side, but his statue stands outside PNC Park, watching over the river.
The Neighborhoods Today
The North Side isn't one place. It's a collection of neighborhoods, each with its own personality. There's Deutschtown, which has been going through a revival with new bars and restaurants. The Allegheny Commons, the oldest park in Pittsburgh, is a beautiful green space with a lake and walking paths. The Mexican War Streets, named after battles of the Mexican-American War, have some of the finest Victorian architecture in the city. And then there's Manchester, a historically Black neighborhood that produced jazz greats like Mary Lou Williams and Billy Strayhorn.
If you want to see the old Allegheny City, head to the North Side. Walk down Ridge Avenue and look at the row houses. Visit the Allegheny County Courthouse, which was originally the Allegheny City Hall. It's a gorgeous building with a clock tower that still chimes. Grab a coffee at Commonplace Coffee in the Mexican War Streets. You'll feel the layers of history under your feet.
The Thing About Identity
Here's what gets me: the North Side still has a chip on its shoulder. It's not quite Downtown, not quite the suburbs. It's its own thing. People who live there are fiercely proud of it. They'll tell you about the old days, the annexation, the urban renewal that tried to kill it. But they'll also tell you about the new breweries, the art galleries, the way the neighborhood is coming back.
The North Side is proof that a place can lose its name but not its soul. Allegheny City is gone, but it's not forgotten. It's in the brick streets, the old churches, and the stubborn pride of the people who call it home.