Trip #132 St. Mark’s Place to B Street, California-Kirkbride, Pittsburgh took place on May 2, 2018, and was published on May 11, 2018.
In William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, there’s a saying, “If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.”
It has now been a year since I started this “folly” of documenting Pittsburgh’s city steps (this is stairway 132 of 739) and while I don’t know if I’ve become wiser, I’ve certainly seen a lot of new places. I’ve spent time in neighborhoods I’d never heard of or been to before, traveled stairways masquerading as streets (or is that streets masquerading as stairways?), witnessed inspiring views and bushwacked my way through crushing amounts of Japanese knotweed. If anything has changed over these 365+ days, it’s how I take-in the spaces around me. I relish the slow look around for curious details I’ve not seen elsewhere. Will this make me wiser? I don’t know, but it certainly can’t hurt.
Field Notes: This area around St. Mark’s Place offers some interesting relics! Raised sidewalks stairs that are very decayed, but at one time went to several houses above the street (those houses are no longer standing, but you can see foundations and personal stairs that would have gone to the property).
Want to visit these stairs? You can locate them on the Pittsburgh City Steps Plan website!
See the Risograph print of this photo and story in the Mis.Steps Shop.
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. If the location has an abundance of illegal dumping and trash, also contact Allegheny Cleanways, letting them know the location and the nature of the garbage. Thank you!!
