Spring Garden Field, 844 Spring Garden Avenue, Spring Garden
While Pittsburgh never built an extensive underground subway system (plans were proposed but never materialized), an extensive above-ground trolley system traveled throughout many of the 90 neighborhoods. Launched as part of the newly consolidated Pittsburgh Railways in 1915, the Spring Garden route transported folks to Spring Hill, Troy Hill, the East Street Valley, and the Strip District. Because of the transportation and social changes that came after World War II (highways, suburbia, more automobiles), the trolley lines in Spring Garden closed by the late 1950s, and buses serviced the area’s ever-shrinking population.
These bits of history dart through my mind as I amble around the “Tot Park and Dog Lot” at 845 Spring Garden Avenue. Built on a previously empty lot (after the abandoned building had been demolished), the park is simple but well-cared for and clean. The mulched groundcover is soft underfoot, and a comfortable bench overlooks planters containing fall-season flowers. I understand why this playground features a trolley “ride,” but I wonder if today’s neighborhood kids and their parents know its significance. They were born long after the entire system went away.
Few people living and working in Spring Garden in 1915 would have correctly guessed the massive changes that would occur over 40 years. Who knows what will happen in the next four decades? Your guess is as good as mine.
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