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Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Though it no longer stands, you can visit what remains of the former home of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1909–1970). Inside Pitt's brutalist-styled Posvar Hall, open to the public, you can see the old home plate in a glass case embedded in the floor near its original location. Of note, and hanging nearby on the ground floor of Posvar Hall, is one of two surviving Langley Aerodromes, Aerodrome No. 6, which in 1896 became one of the first heavier-than-air powered craft capable of sustained flight. Outside and just south of the building, you can see what remains of the left field wall and the stadium's flagpole, a replica of one of the stadium's gates and ticket windows, as well as a marker where Bill Mazeroski hit the 1960 World Series winning walk-off home run against the Yankees. Every year in October, Pirates faithful will come out to the wall to listen to a recording of the game.
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League (NFL) franchise. From 1909 to 1924, the stadium also served as the home football field for the University of Pittsburgh "Pitt" Panthers. The stadium sat on Forbes Avenue, named for British general John Forbes, who fought in the French and Indian War and named the city in 1758.
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Built as the Schenley Hotel in 1898, this historic beaux-arts building that was Pittsburgh's premier luxury hotel in its day. As a hotel, it hosted many dignitaries including four Presidents of the United States, a slew of Hollywood celebrities such as Lillian Russell and Katharine Hepburn, along with many of the visiting baseball teams that played across the street at Forbes Field. The turn-of-the-century grandeur of the main floor lobbies and ballrooms have been restored by the university and can be freely accessed by the public. The Millennium Panther statue outside the building serves as a popular photo spot.
A five acre plaza features features a restaurant, food kiosks, a tent, regular events, free wi-fi internet access, and the PNC Carousel.
Serves as a memorial, museum, and archive of the works of American folk songwriter Stephen C. Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "My Old Kentucky Home"). The Gothic Revival building also houses the two primary theaters for the university's Department of Theatre Arts. A schedule of shows is available on their website.
Designed to reflect an Italian Renaissance villa, this building contains in its cloister a large collection of scale reproductions by Russian artist Nicholas Lochoff of 15th-century Italian Renaissance masterpieces, considered to be among the best copies in the world. The building is open to public and free to explore. It is also home to the University Art Gallery, which contains rotating exhibits and is free to the public. (M-F 10AM-4PM; +1 412 648-2423) There are also several sculptures on the grounds around the building, including the popular photo spot of the Mary Schenley Memorial Fountain, titled A Song to Nature, by Victor David Brenner.
The 42-story Charles Klauder designed Gothic Revival skyscraper, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, serves as the symbolic and physical heart of the University of Pittsburgh. Construction began in 1926 and took a decade to complete. Visible from almost anywhere in Pittsburgh, it is the tallest school building in the Western hemisphere, and has been described as the "culmination" of Late Gothic Revival architecture. While impressive on the outside, it can be even more spectacular on the inside. On the first and third floors, surrounding its immense Gothic-style Commons Room, are the 31 Nationality Rooms. These working classrooms are each designed, constructed, and decorated in the characteristic style of 29 different cultures which represent the diverse population of Pittsburgh. A self-guided tour of the Nationality Rooms is available for a small fee ($4 for adults, $2 for youth; +1 412 624-6000, M-Sa 9 AM-4 PM (last tour 2:30 PM), Su 11 AM-4 PM (last tour 2:30 PM), audiotape tours only on weekends), while guided tours can be reserved in advance that give in-depth explanations of each room and can allow access to areas normally inaccessible to the public, like the historic Croghan-Schenley Ballroom and Early American Room. The Nationality Rooms on the 3rd floor are sometimes freely open to explore, depending on time and class schedule. Much of the upper floors of the Cathedral are composed of offices and other university facilities, however a trip to the Honors College on the 35th and 36th floors, accessible by most of the elevators, provides marvelous views of the city.
Andrew Carnegie funded 2,507 libraries all over the world. Today, his libraries here in Pittsburgh comprise the city's public library system. The welcoming Oakland branch is Pittsburgh's central library, with vast collections of not only printed matter, but also music, film, photographs, and more.