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Nov 16, 2009
More Hopkins Maps Added to Historic Pittsburgh
As part of an ongoing effort to identify and digitize all the
Hopkins maps produced for Pittsburgh between 1872 and 1940, we added eight more real estate plat maps of Pittsburgh created by the G.M. Hopkins Company to the
Historic Pittsburgh Maps Collection. They include an
1882 atlas;
Volume 3,
Volume 4 and
Volume 5 [1890];
Volume 1 [1898];
Volume 2 [1899]; a
1910 atlas; and
Volume 2 [1914]. Twelve more volumes will be coming soon in the following months.
Oct 29, 2009
Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection Updated
We are pleased to announce the largest update to the Archives Service Center's online
Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection with the addition of nearly
2,000 digitized images. The new images are part of an initiative to reformat all the glass plate negatives in the Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection (
AIS.1971.05) to facilitate preservation and access. The images found in the newest addition, which represent the earliest ones in the collection (1901-1908), document improvements to city infrastructure, such as the construction of the Aspinwall and Ross Pumping Stations, the development and condition of roads in many neighborhoods (e.g., Shadyside, Point Breeze, and Morningside, among others), and residents and construction workers in these neighborhoods.
Oct 12, 2009
Ancestors: House-by-House Search Retraces an Ancestor
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Patricia Lowry wrote about her use of the Historic Pittsburgh website in tracing Joanne Baker's great-grandfather, Timothy D. Casey. She cites several publications from the website, including city directories.
Read article.
Aug 14, 2009
Improvements Using the Hopkins Maps
To improve your experience navigating the
G.M. Hopkins Company Maps, we now offer viewing of the maps through the Zoomify interface. This enables a big improvement when zooming and moving around in a map. We also now offer two methods for
browsing the Hopkins maps. In addition to browsing the maps using the Index page, we offer thumbnail browsing of entire volumes. Also note that you can now freely download map plate images as 200 dpi JPEG files for noncommercial and educational purposes.
HSWP Catalog Now Hosted by Heinz History Center
The
Library & Archives at the Heinz History Center now serves its own online catalog to users of their library collection. The HSWP Catalog, as it has been known on Historic Pittsburgh, was hosted for many years by the ULS Digital Research Library; it is now hosted independently by the Heinz History Center. Please visit their
new online catalog to search for books, archival collections, periodicals, and more from their collection.
Aug 03, 2009
Separate Search for Historic City Directories
To improve the usefulness of our full-text search, we have separated the full-text City Directories into
a new collection that may be searched alone, or in combination with the Historic Pittsburgh General Text Collection. The Historic Pittsburgh City Directories collection contains 125 directories published between 1815 and 1945. The majority of the directories were published by J.F. Diffenbacher and R.L. Polk & Company. While most of the directories cover Pittsburgh and Allegheny City, a portion includes Homestead and nearby boroughs.
To search the directories alone, simply visit the collection's home page; to search directories in combination with all Historic Pittsburgh full-text content, visit the Historic Pittsburgh Full-Text page.
Jul 29, 2009
New Image Collection Released
Today we added a new image collection from the Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh to the Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections: Ken Kobus Photograph Collection. The online collection features 246 images documenting the railroad and steel industries in Pennsylvania taken primarily during the 1980s and early 1990s. CONRAIL and the LTV Steel Company are the main focus of the collection while secondary points of interest include the Pennsylvania Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad, Amtrak, and Union Switch and Signal.
Jun 19, 2009
Historic Pittsburgh Chronology Updated
The Historic Pittsburgh
Chronology was updated to include events from 2008.
Jun 11, 2009
Chatham University Archives Image Collection Updated
Chatham College has added
new images to the Historic Pittsburgh image collection.
Apr 13, 2009
Chatham Image Collection Updated
Chatham College has added
new images to the Historic Pittsburgh image collection.
Mar 24, 2009
Welcome Point Park University Archives as a New Partner!
We welcome
Point Park University Archives as our sixth local institution to contribute images to Historic Pittsburgh. They contributed an initial
98 images to the
Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections site. The online collection represents the dynamic life of Point Park University and the surrounding area.
Jan 23, 2009
New Archival Finding Aids from the Archives Service Center
The Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh has added 49 new archival finding aids (and updated 30 others) to the
Historic Pittsburgh Finding Aids Collection.
Jan 07, 2009
Latest Additions Push Full-Text Collection Over 1,000 Items
In 2008, we nearly doubled the number of books in our Historic Pittsburgh Full-Text Collection. There are currently
1,039 volumes available online, totalling 272,996 pages, all of them
full-text searchable. Use
this link to see only items added in 2008.
Dec 15, 2008
New Archival Finding Aids from the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
The Library and Archives of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania has added 30 new archival finding aids to the
Historic Pittsburgh Finding Aids Collection.
Nov 05, 2008
Two New Image Collections Released
Today two new image collections from the Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh were added to Historic Pittsburgh:
The Bruce Drisbach images depict the construction of the American Steel & Wire Company building, equipment, and worker housing construction in Donora.
The Progress Photographs show the construction of the William Penn Hotel in chronological order, including the groundbreaking ceremony held on July 7, 1914. The photographs in this album were taken every two weeks to show construction progress.
Oct 06, 2008
Historic Pittsburgh Chronology Updated
The Historic Pittsburgh
Chronology was updated to include events from 2007.
Historic Pittsburgh Maps in the Darlington Digital Library
Of the hundreds of maps now available in this collection, over 70 of them were created in the mid-18th through early-20th centuries and depict
Pittsburgh or Allegheny County, including maps of Fort Pitt, plans of Pittsburgh, maps of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, Bird's-eye maps of Carnegie, Duquesne, Glassport, Homestead, and other western Pennsylvania cities.
Sep 03, 2008
Chatham Image Collection Updated
Chatham College has added
new images to the Historic Pittsburgh image collection.
Jul 07, 2008
Chatham Image Collection Updated
Chatham College has added
new images to the Historic Pittsburgh image collection.
Jun 02, 2008
Chatham Image Collection Updated
Chatham College has added
new images to the Historic Pittsburgh image collection.
Apr 30, 2008
Chatham Image Collection Updated
Chatham College has added
new images to the Historic Pittsburgh image collection.
Apr 28, 2008
New Books Added
We are adding books to the Historic Pittsburgh Full-Text Collection on a weekly basis. To see a list of new books, please visit this
link.
Apr 14, 2008
Historic Pittsburgh Celebrates Pittsburgh's 250th Anniversary
In recognition of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary, we are adding hundreds of newly digitized titles to the full-text collection throughout the year. Today, we added
157 new titles. The 250th anniversary marks the naming of the city by General John Forbes. In 1758, shortly after taking possession of the abandoned remnants of French Fort Duquesne at the Point, Forbes named the city in honor of the English Prime Minister Sir William Pitt.
Dec 03, 2007
Three New Image Collections Added and Updates
We added three new Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections and updated a fourth. Images are now available from the Archives Service Center's
Pittsburgh Print Collection and
Rust Engineering Company Records as well as from the Heinz History Center's
Charles M. Stotz Collection. We also added
181 images to the
Frank B. Fairbanks Rail Transportation Archive from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Nov 30, 2007
Historic Pittsburgh Chronology Updated
The Historic Pittsburgh
Chronology was updated to include events from 2006.
Sep 27, 2007
"Zoomify" View Added To Maps
Two of our map collections now use the
"Zoomify" tool for map viewing. Zoomify allows for dynamic zooming and panning within a high-resoultion map image, without the need to reload the entire page each time. A navaigation thumbnail shows which section of the map is currently on display. Give it a try, and
let us know what you think.
The two map collections using Zoomify are the
City of Pittsburgh Geodetic and Topographic Survey and
Maps from the Report of the Flood Commission of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, 1912.
Sep 19, 2007
New Finding Aids Added
We added 16 new archival finding aids from the University of Pittsburgh's
Archives Service Center to the
Historic Pittsburgh Finding Aids Collection.
Aug 02, 2007
New Partner and Image Collection Added
We welcome
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation as a new institutional partner contributing images to our
Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections site. Today we released a collection of images from
The Frank B. Fairbanks Rail Transportation Archive. This online collection contains slides taken by Mr. Fairbanks between 1948 to 1987 that document train engines and stations in the western Pennsylvania area. He spent his entire adult life riding, documenting, and collecting material from rail lines all over the world.
Jul 11, 2007
Upgraded Format for Historic Pittsburgh News
We've upgraded the Historic Pittsburgh News page to use a blogging software tool (we're using
blosxom). As a result, you can now subscribe to an RSS feed of our news items. If you're not familiar with RSS feeds or how to read them, these Wikipedia articles on
RSS and
aggregators (feed readers) will get you started.
Also, please note that the URL to the news page has changed to
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/news/historic_pittsburgh/.
Please update your bookmarks and links accordingly.
Jun 18, 2007
New Additions to Full-Text Collection
Jan 05, 2007
Two New Map Collections Released
We added two new map collections to Historic Pittsburgh. The
City of Pittsburgh Geodetic and Topographic Survey Maps (1923-1961) contain 171 plates that depict contours and spot heights of much of Allegheny County. The
Flood Commission of Pittsburgh maps (1912) contain 14 plates produced as part of the Report of the Flood Commission. They depict the results of the surveys, investigations and studies made by the commission for the purpose of determining the causes of, damage by, and methods of relief from floods in the Allegheny, Monogahela and Ohio rivers at Pittsburgh.
Jan 03, 2007
Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections Update
We added
83 new images to the Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections from the following collections: Darlington Family Photographs, Kingsley Association, Pittsburgh City Photographer, and University Archives.
Dec 01, 2006
Bungee View and Image Collection Updates
In conjunction with CMU research scientist Mark Derthick, we now offer an experimental visualization prototype called
Bungee View for viewing selected Historic Pittsburgh image collections.
We also added 133 new images to the Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections from the following collections: Chatham College Archives, Darlington Family Photographs, Kingsley Association, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, Edward J. Shourek, and University Archives.
Nov 01, 2006
Two New Image Collections Released, and Updates
We released two new
Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections from the Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh:
CONSOL Energy Mining Archives and the
Edward J. Shourek Collection. We also added
97 new images from the Pittsburgh City Photographer collection and Chatham College Archives.
Oct 12, 2006
Chronology Updated
The Historic Pittsburgh
Chronology was updated to include events from 2005.
Oct 04, 2006
New Finding Aids Added
We added 62 new archival finding aids from the University of Pittsburgh's
Archives Service Center to the
Historic Pittsburgh Finding Aids Collection.
Oct 02, 2006
Image Collections Updated
We added a total of
147 new images from the Chatham College Archives collection as well as the Pittsburgh City Photographer and
UE News collections held by the Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh to the
Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections.
Sep 01, 2006
New Partner and Image Collection
We welcome
Chatham College Archives as a new institutional partner contributing images to our
Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections site. Today we released a small collection of images that begins to chronicle the students, faculty, and college community as academic pursuits, college events, student life and social activities have grown and changed throughout the college's history. More images will be added to the site in the coming months.
Aug 01, 2006
New Image Collection and Updates
A new Historic Pittsburgh Image Collection was added documenting the city of Pittsburgh in the 1940’s and 1950’s before and after smoke control ordinances were passed regulating the burning of coal:
Smoke Control Lantern Slides. We also added
205 new images to the Pittsburgh City Photographer and University Archives collections maintained by the Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
Jul 01, 2006
Image Collections Updated
200 new images from the following collections held by the Archives Service Center at the University of Pittsburgh were added to the
Historic Pittsburgh Image Collections: Pittsburgh City Photographer, Irene Kaufmann, and University Archives.
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Historic Pittsburgh is hosted by the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Research Library.
