Trip #549 Bernd Street, Beltzhoover, Pittsburgh took place on December 30, 2020, and was published on February 12, 2021.
The Bernd Street city steps are almost-famous, and it’s not because of gorgeous views or funky public art or their cardiovascular challenge. It’s because they hold a relic of an old payphone. Growing up, I remember my Mom telling me how she and my Dad didn’t have a phone in their first apartment after they were married. If they wanted to call someone, they walked to the phone booth on the corner. As a teenager who lived and breathed for after school phone calls, I couldn’t imagine the hardship! When I went to college, I used payphones on occasion (and was always getting cut off for running out of quarters), but it wasn’t long before I had a cellphone by my side. It’s been a long, long time since anyone has placed a call from this little kiosk and its throwback style makes me think about other obsolete or almost-outdated technology. Like the land-line home phone I used to monopolize for hours at a time. And that causes me to wonder, what on Earth was so darn important in my 15-year-old life that it required hours of discussion?! 🙂
Field Notes: Excited to finally get to these “famous” city steps. Why are they famous? They still have a public payphone on them! The phone is not operational but the little kiosk is still there. I’ve seen plenty of photos of it on Instagram so it was nice to view it in person.
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.
