INTHE KNOW
A period postcard depicts the Riverview Park zoo, which operated from about 1898-1910 in Allegheny City, now Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Pittsburgh’s Other Zoos
BY MELANIE LINN GUTOWSKI
T
he Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is a favorite spot of
western Pennsylvanians and visitors alike. Prior to its 1898
founding as the Highland Park Zoological Gardens by state
senator and philanthropist Christopher L. Magee, the Greater
Pittsburgh area was home to several other animal parks.
Perhaps the earliest of Pittsburgh’s zoos was the Castle Shannon
Zoological Gardens. This was a privately owned animal park
constructed by the Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon Railroad as a means
to attract more riders. Creating railside amusements was a common
advertising tactic of the period, just as roadside attractions are today.
Its grand opening on Memorial Day 1876 attracted nearly 3,000
visitors. By August of that year, the gardens boasted about a hundred
species of animals, including birds. However, the zoological gardens
were short-lived. By 1880, the railroad was placed in receivership and
lost hundreds of acres of land, including those housing the zoo.
Across the Allegheny River in what is today the city’s North Side,
Allegheny City had a modest zoo in Riverview Park. In addition to
small native animals, the grounds also featured a bear pit, an aviary—
dubbed a “flying cage”—and paddocks for deer, elk and zebu, a species
of Asian cattle. Riverview Park’s zoo lasted for about 12 years, closing
in 1910 due to the overwhelming popularity of the Highland Park zoo.
Perhaps the biggest and best-known of the area’s early zoos was the
Schenley Park Zoo, established shortly after the founding of the park
in 1889. According to historian Rachel Colker, it’s unlikely that the
zoo’s 300 animals were purchased; the collection was a combination
of donations from local farmers and trappers as well as “rescues” from
the circus. A period history volume recounts that children “divided
their sweetmeats with the monkeys while attending picnics on the
grounds.” Another favorite resident was Gusky, an Asian elephant
who was brought to town by the Gusky family as an advertising stunt
for their downtown department store. She was later transferred to
Highland Park when the Schenley Park Zoo closed in 1898. ■
Melanie Linn Gutowski is a local historian and the author of “Pittsburgh’s
Mansions.”
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