Pittsburgh's 250-Year-Old Name
The Battle of Duquesne, and How a French Fort Became "Pittsburough"
Pittsburghers have never had an easy time: Factory labor was a tough line of work, the skies were long coal-choked, and strike-breakers tended to get violent. Then the steel industry fell apart, thousands of workers emigrated, the Pirates started their decade-long losing streak, and so on.
This September, Pittsburghers celebrate their city’s 250th birthday. After two and a half centuries, Pittsburgh has turned out pretty well: It boasts cutting-edge hospitals and several acclaimed universities. Local buildings have become models for “green” architecture, and the city was recently rated the Most Livable City in the U.S. , according to the Places Rated Almanac. The “250 Celebration” includes food festivals, gallery crawls, and the first-ever “Tour of Pennsylvania” bike race. But what was Pittsburgh like, 250 years ago? And how did the city even come to exist?
The Battle of Fort Duquesne
Pittsburgh’s first settlers were French, who built an outpost called Fort Duquesne . When the French and Indian War began to affect Western Pennsylvania, and the English colonists realized that Fort Duquesne controlled water-traffic along the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, the Crown sent Gen. Edward Braddock to commandeer the fort. In 1755, Braddock was defeated and fatally wounded in the fight.
Three years later, the British resolved to try again. This time they set Gen. John Forbes, a former cavalry officer and a veteran of both the Scottish Uprising and the Austrian Wars of Succession.
During the summer of 1758, Gen. Forbes led 7,000 redcoats and colonial volunteers through the Pennsylvania wilderness, cutting a supply trail called Forbes Road (now long disappeared). He detailed the journey in his letters, later collected and published as The Letters of General John Forbes. When the army reached Fort Duquesne , a bloody battle ensued, and Forbes’ men were forced to retreat. A few months later, the French burned the outpost and abandoned it, allowing the British to build the larger Fort Pitt.
Gen. Forbes decided to name the city “Pittsburough,” after William Pitt, the then-secretary of state of Great Britain . How this name was eventually shortened nobody knows, but Forbes never lived to see the city rise: The Scottish Briton died the next March, at age 51 in Philadelphia , after months of illness.
Pittsburgh in 1758
At its founding, no land had been chartered beyond “Pittsburough”. The settlement defined the frontier of British occupation, and its legal status was so ambiguous that the colony was claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia. During the American Revolution, the British used Fort Pitt as headquarters, but the walls were never attacked. Until the beginning the 19th century, Pittsburgh was a sleepy backwater, home to boat-builders and a rendezvous point for trappers and explorers. The most excitement Pittsburgh saw was the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, when farmers opposing the Whiskey Tax organized an armed revolt.
Gen. Forbes could never have anticipated the effects of the Industrial Revolution – Pittsburgh ’s population skyrocketed throughout the 19th Century, and at its height the city claimed around 500,000 official residents. While the population has never rivaled fellow industrial capitals like Chicago or Detroit , Pittsburgh attracted thousands of immigrants from Greece, Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe . When the forest-covered hills were logged and replaced by factories and row-houses, the bucolic early portraits of Pittsburgh were barley recognizable. Pittsburgh has come a long way to become the Steel City – and this September, Pittsburghers can realize just how far.
Pittsburgh Museums
For visitors in search of more information, Pittsburgh boasts two exceptional museums: The Fort Pitt Museum is housed in the "Blockhouse," the oldest known structure in Allegheny County. The Sen. John Heinz History Center offers several floors of exhibits, as well as Sports Museum and refurbished trolley car. Each museum features in-depth coverage of Western Pennsylvani's Colonial past.
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