Screwed by Pittsburgh

A history of Allegheny City Part I

Dish HQ is located on the North Side. But if Dish were founded in 1905, as opposed to 2005, and Charles Fairbanks invented the internet rather than Al Gore, our offices would have been in Allegheny City.

See, in 1907 Pittsburgh was seeking additional tax revenue. And, as you know, land doesn't exactly grow on trees (yes, that is the worst metaphor ever. Thanks). So, the politicos in Steeltown set their greedy eyes on that independent city across the Allegheny river. Get the land, tax the people and, yay!, a bigger, more powerful and richer Pittsburgh.

And the Pittsburghers pounced. Then Allegheny residents fought back. Then, naturally, the courts got involved. By 1907, after going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the matter was settled and Allegheny City became the part of Pittsburgh known as the Northside, North Side, North Shore, or that neighborhood across the river where Pittsburgh Dish is headquartered.

These broad strokes are known to many, but there are plenty of gems that are known to only a few. Over the next few months Pittsburgh Dish hopes to share some of these stories with our readers through the voice of guest writers. Dish is also soliciting Allegheny City stories to help us mark the centennial of the annexation. So, if you think you have a good one, please contact us about making a submission at editor@pittsburghdish.com. Perhaps these tales will inspire North Siders to start a counterrevolution a century in the making. (Watch your hiney, Ravenstahl.)

This 1877 Allegheny City firehouse is for sale.