I have
given my self deadline in which to have my book ready. Whether it is possible or not remains to be
seen. I am shooting for the end of
August. Three months may not be enough
time but if I am going to ever finish my book a tighter deadline is demanded. I have always worked better under tight
deadlines than the when ever you finish is fine type. This is the single largest reason, I think,
that people don’t finish their masters and PhD degrees. But I digress. I have described the current state of my book
as a block of Swiss cheese. It is
recognizable as cheese but full of holes.
I do have a recognizable storey but the historical detail I am striving
for is mostly missing.
In an
effort to fill in some of the larges holes I spend a good part of my time
researching the parks in Pittsburgh. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that
the beautiful green spaces Pittsburghers now take for granted were just
becoming a reality in the 1890’s. The
view of Pittsburgh in this period
was once famously described as looking like hell with the lid off. The fires from the Iron, Steel and Glass
factories put so much smoke into the air that it was not always possible to see
probably one of the most famous views of the city looking down on the Golden
Triangle and North shore area from Mt.
Washington. The creation of Green Space, much like Central
Park in New York,
was intended to give the residents of Pgh a peaceful place to get away from the
factories and crowded inner city. It is
highly unlikely that the people who would have benefited the most from these
garden spots actually had time for such frivolous activates. Most mills ran 24 hours a day and many other
supporting businesses kept similar hours.
Never the
less the parks created at this time remain.
Probably Pittsburgh’s
largest Schenley Park
was a gift to the city from Mary Schenley.
Although she lived primarily in England,
having defied her father and created an international scandal at the age of 15
when she ran away and married 43 year old Captain Edward Wyndham Harrington
Schenley. She never forgot her home and
in 1889 she gave the city 300 acres
and sold the city a further 120
acres at a greatly reduced rate. Schenley
Park started out mostly as a baron
space. Today it is so completely filled
with trees and wide open grassy spaces that it is difficult to imagine the area
as anything other than the lush green space it appears today. William Falconer the fist landscaper
supervised the planting of thousands of trees and probably millions of flowers. Given the natural feel of the park it is hard
to see his original design but it must have been a stunning effort to transform
the completely baron land he started with.
One can almost see the middle and upper class families enjoying the
space for taking the air and holding picnics.
The park even hosted the city’s first automobile race. The park returns to that heritage in mid July
when it hosts the Pittsburgh Vantage Grand prix. The park is also home to the Phipps
Conservatory as well as the Main Carnegie Library.
I plan to
spend next week researching the neighborhoods of Pgh. More to come.
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