Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Campus buildings rich in history

In 1818, Pittsburgh entrepreneur John Thaw wished to match the decadence he had experienced in his hometown of Philadelphia, so he built a large home on the corner of Third Avenue and Wood Street, the future site of Point Park University’s Lawrence Hall.

As part of “Pittsburgh’s own Wall Street,” the Colonial Trust Company Building at 414 Wood St., which now houses Point Park’s University Center, boasted the longest bank desk in the nation in 1925. Designed in 1890 by the same architectural firm as the Carnegie Institute, the Conestoga Building is the oldest building on Point Park’s campus.

As the school purchases more of these historic buildings, especially those located along Wood Street, it not only cements itself as a keeper of Pittsburgh’s history, but provides Point Park with a unique opportunity to preserve structures that offer a combination of aesthetics and architecture as the city celebrates its 250th anniversary.

“[Wood Street] is a very interesting block,” Albert Tannler, historical collection director at the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, said. “Architecturally, the street runs from the ‘first’ skyscraper of the Conestoga Building to the newer more modern buildings at the other end, and there are a lot of important architects in there.”

During its hay day, Pittsburgh was a city of great prosperity, thanks in large part to the booming steel industry. This sense of grandeur is showcased in the brick skyscrapers, marble columns and intricate molding on the outside of buildings that still stand today. Pittsburgh was also a place for art, which is not only showcased through these buildings, but also through places like the J.J. Gillespie Gallery that once stood on 422 Wood St. in 1832, as well as the multiple art galleries that were located in the general vicinity of the current Lawrence Hall.

Despite the mixture of good and bad luck he found in Pittsburgh, Thaw, his wife and their 11 children found themselves in a position of high society thanks to the booming bank industry in Pittsburgh at that time. This wealth lead to Thaw building his large red brick home on Wood Street.

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