Pittsburgh Arts & Entertainment Winter 2013 | Page 19

Street views Museums Saved by the foundations Robinson later became the mayor of Allegheny, and Allegheny was annexed by Pittsburgh. What does the area look like? Residents living in the Mexican War Streets had almost everything they needed in walking distance. There were grocery stores, a dairy, pharmacies, a doctor, firehouse and police station. W Jefferson St E Jefferson St Monterey St When cars became available, many of the residents started to migrate to the suburbs. The neighborhood started to fall apart. Jacksonia St Mattress Factory Arch St N Taylor Ave Sherman Ave Palo Alto St Buena Vista St Although the style of architecture is called “Victorian,” it is instead build to the era of Queen Victoria’s reign and the styles include the Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Italianate, the French Second Empire and Richardsonian Romanesque. However, many of the houses incorporate more than one of these styles as well as traces of façade remodeling. Brighton Rd Finally, in the late 1960s, organizations, such as Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation and the Mexican War Streets Society, had to intervene to prevent the neighborhood from being demolished. Alpine Ave Eloise St Today, the general boundaries of the almost exclusively residential neighborhood are Brighton Road and Federal Street on the east and west and North Avenue and Jefferson Street on the south and north. The Society also conducts an annual House Tour to show off the neighborhood’s intimacy and unity of scale. Where did these streets come from? A banner hangs in the streets honoring the street’s strong historical ties to the region. 1846 to 1848 Mexican American War 1848 to 1855 Gen. William Robinson returns from the war and lays out the “Buena Vista Tract” 1872 Neighborhood is well-settled 1907 City of Allegheny annexed by Pittsburgh 1920 Many residents migrate to the suburbs 1960 Urban planners slate area for demolition; historical societies step in 1975 Mexican War Streets Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places 2008 District added an additional 288 building W North Ave 203