INTHEKNOW
rthur
Kirk
Mansion
A SHARPSBURG
BY MELANIE LINN GUTOWSKI
B
eer, shipping, food manufacturing—
these are the industries commonly
associated with Sharpsburg’s past. But
one you may not expect to have represented
in the borough? Explosives.
Arthur Kirk & Son, founded in 1867,
manufactured powder and high explosives for
use in rock quarries, mines and railroad work.
It also sold compressed air drills and related
supplies for drilling through bedrock. The
company’s plant was located in downtown
Pittsburgh, on what is now the site of the
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, but
Kirk’s business success enabled him to build a
grand home across the river in Sharpsburg.
The handsome stone and shingle house
still stands today along North Canal Street. In
addition to a grand entrance hall and library,
the home featured an unusual but popular
East India room. These rooms were evidence
of the Victorian-era interest in exotic parts of
the world and were a way for wealthy families
to show off mementos of their world travels.
In 1892, Kirk’s daughter, Christine,
was married in the house in an Episcopal
ceremony, of which The Bulletin, a local
society paper, wrote, “The house decorations
were most effective and consisted of ferns,
roses, lilies and eucharis artistically placed.”
Kirk was prominent in local business affairs
and was one of the founders of the Pittsburgh
Chamber of Commerce. He interacted often
with other prominent industrialists such
as Henry W. Oliver, Jr., M.F. Herron and
William Frew. Socially, he was a member of
the Waverly Society, a group of Scotsmen
who held an annual dinner in honor of
Scottish poet Robert Burns. Kirk’s name is
engraved on a statue of Burns located outside
of Phipps Conservatory in Schenley Park.
David Kirk took over the house after his
father’s death in 1904. In 1915, the property
was transferred to the Fraternal Order of
Eagles and remained in the organization’s
possession until 2013, when it was sold back
into private hands. ■
Melanie Linn Gutowski is a local historian
and the author of “Pittsburgh’s Mansions.”
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