Trip #478 Junius Street to Journal Street, Ridgemont, Pittsburgh took place on August 2, 2020, and was published on August 19, 2020.
When searching historical records for a particular person, we often find a published obituary or a burial marker. We can frequently discover where the person lived, what they did for work and family members’ names. A person’s life is a never-ending stream of intersections (each school attended, each marriage or divorce, each accident or injury, just to name a few), and through these exchanges, we learn more about their existence.
.
But as I wander the narrow hillside streets of Ridgemont, searching for the crumbling remains of city steps, I’m thinking not about particular people but rather all of the specific addresses that no longer exist. While we can trace the path of a person’s life, we can’t always do the same with buildings. Unless it’s a famous building, there’s no “obituary” or marker indicating the structure is no longer with us. Call me overly sentimental, but I feel a little kernel of sadness in this. How can we pay our respects to the places that once served us so well?
Field Notes: There are two flights on either side of Journal Street – one goes up and the other goes down. They’re kind of part of the Endness Street stairs that start on Woodville Ave – except there are train tracks that cut through the middle. This flight and #477 (and #476) are pretty much destroyed and the houses that were in this area are long gone.
See the Risograph print of this photo and story in the Mis.Steps Shop.
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.
