Bonus #5 Morgan Street, Bedford Dwellings, Pittsburgh took place on April 4, 2022, and was published on April 13, 2022.
When I first moved to Pittsburgh ten years ago, a native-born Polish Hill resident took me on a fascinating walk to a long-forgotten set of stone stairs built into Bigelow Boulevard’s southern hillside. As we meandered along, I marveled at the handsomely cut stone walls, wide slab steps, and park-like setting. This abandoned place belonged to another, more genteel time, and I felt like a time-traveling interloper in my dirty jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. In the decade since that adventure, I’ve often glanced at that hidden hillside world every time I’ve passed by in my car. Unfortunately, Bob Regan’s book (on which this project is based) does not include the stone stairs at the bottom nor the concrete ones at the top, as fences “theoretically” seal off the area. If I wanted photographs, I would need to do so independently of his book’s list. Recently, the stairs’ siren song has been demanding, and it wasn’t long before an opportunity to return appeared. Ten years is a significant amount of time, and this spot is not immune to change. Today, there are many fallen trees and branches, and the walk up the broad stone steps is no longer easy or even fully passable. But it was worth a visit if only to reconnect and acknowledge the disappearing beauty of another time. And what will the next ten years offer? We can only wait and see. I look forward to 2032 and everything that may happen until then.
Field Notes: It was great to come back and visit this flight that Terry Doloughty took me to back when I first moved here! It may have been my very first excursion in the neighborhood! However, it was a bit disappointing to see so many fallen trees – it made it impossible to walk the stairs all the way up to the top. Still, there’s hardly any trash – and most of what is there is very old (like this moss-covered tennis ball).
Love city steps? Get yourself the latest issue of Mis.Steps: Our Missed Connections with Pittsburgh’s City Steps! Each copy is unique and features 10 randomly selected “trading cards” of Pittsburgh’s 739 public stairways. Visit the Mis.Steps online store to see all issues and place your order.
Want to visit these stairs? You can locate them on the Pittsburgh City Steps Plan website!
Be a good neighbor! Have you visited these stairs and found them in poor condition or that illegal dumping (large items like tires, old furniture, and construction debris) and trash were abundant in the area? There are two things you can do to take action and make our city steps cleaner and safer for everyone! First, grab a photo if you can, and submit a report to Pittsburgh 311. All problems, both broken stairs, and railings, as well as trash and dumping, should be reported to the city. You can easily do this online or by calling.
