History
The region including what is now Pittsburgh was inhabited by Iroquois Indians prior to European exploration. It was claimed by both England and France in the 17th century. In 1753 Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia sent George Washington to investigate French activity in the Ohio River Valley. Washington recommended that a fort be built at the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers form the Ohio.
A group of Virginians began to build the fort in early 1754, and a party under Washington was sent to occupy it. Meanwhile, however, the French had driven the Virginians out and erected Fort Duquesne on the site. Washington's party was attacked and defeated by the French at Fort Necessity, a fortified camp some 50 miles (80 km) to the southeast. This incident opened the French and Indian War.
In 1755 General Edward Braddock was fatally wounded while leading British and colonial soldiers, including Washington, against Fort Duquesne. General John Forbes marched against the fort in 1758, but before his arrival the French burned it and retreated. Forbes named the site Pittsburgh for William Pitt the Elder. A new fort was built on the site and named Fort Pitt. During Pontiac's Conspiracy (1763) Ottawa Indians tried to capture the fort. Pittsburgh became part of Pennsylvania in 1781, when Virginia relinquished its claims.
Shipbuilding, rope making, wood crafts, and glass making were early Pittsburgh industries. The city, because of its strategic location, became an important trading center and an embarkation point for migration to the West. One of the principal activities of farmers in the area was making whiskey, and they rose in rebellion in 1794 after the federal government had placed a tax on whiskey.
The first steamboat to sail down the Mississippi River to its mouth was launched from Pittsburgh in 1811. In 1834 Pittsburgh was linked to Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania Canal, bringing new commercial shipping to the city. Water transportation declined when railways entered the city in the 1850's. In 1845 a large part of the business area was destroyed by fire.
The Civil War brought unparalleled prosperity and rapid growth to a city already known for thriving iron works. Vast armament orders were placed by the federal government. After the war, large steel mills were built in Pittsburgh. The first tin plate (1872) and aluminum (1888) made in the United States in commercial quantities were manufactured here. During this period industrial and financial leaders such as Carnegie, Frick, Schwab, Mellon, and Westinghouse amassed great fortunes.
Labor unrest was another result of the sudden expansion after the war. There were riots and property destruction during a rail strike in 1877 and during the bitter Homestead steel strike of 1892. The American Federation of Labor was founded at Pittsburgh in 1881.
The city of Allegheny (now northern Pittsburgh) was annexed in 1907. An extensive flood-control system was constructed following a disastrous flood in 1936. After World War II a massive rehabilitation program was undertaken. Smoke pollution was virtually eliminated and the business district was almost totally rebuilt. By the 1970's the Golden Triangle had become a showplace of commercial and civic architecture, and various urban-redevelopment programs had been undertaken. In the 1980's, the city engaged in a second phase of downtown construction activity, known as Renaissance II.
