{"nrhp_refnum":"88001215","name":"Firstside Historic District","other_names":["Monongahela Wharf"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"211--249 Fort Pitt Blvd.; 1--7 Wood St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.43825726600005,"lon":-80.00277630699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-07-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of twelve contiguous commercial warehouse buildings occupying a city block on the north bank of the Monongahela River in downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The buildings were constructed between 1845 and 1914 and were part of the Monongahela Wharf, the city's primary commercial waterfront.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be commercially significant for its role in Pittsburgh's river trade, since the Monongahela Wharf was the city's principal commercial wharf from the 1840s through the 1930s. It is also architecturally significant as an intact, representative collection of mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century warehouse architecture in downtown Pittsburgh, including Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque examples.","narrative":"Along the north bank of the Monongahela River in downtown Pittsburgh, a row of twelve mostly three- to five-story brick warehouses was built between 1845 and 1914 to serve the Monongahela Wharf, the city's main commercial waterfront. Reconstruction after a fire in 1845 produced many of the early buildings, and their facades stand in one plane. The styles range from Greek Revival at 211 Fort Pitt Boulevard to Italianate at 213-233, Queen Anne at 239-249, and Richardsonian Romanesque at 243-245 and the seven-story Conestoga Building at 1-7 Wood Street, designed by Longfellow, Alden & Harlow and built in 1892 by G. A. Cochran. The buildings housed commission merchants, manufacturers and wholesalers who depended on steamboat freight. Their warehouse architecture is considered intact and representative of mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century Pittsburgh. Two later-altered buildings are excluded from the historic count. The district was listed for its commercial role on the river and for this architectural record.","period_of_significance":"1845 - 1938","architect_builder":"1-7 Wood Street: Longfellow, Alden & Harlow (architects); G. A. Cochran (builder)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most contributing buildings are described as relatively intact with some storefront alterations and window replacements; two buildings are non-contributing; restoration of 243-245 Fort Pitt Boulevard was underway at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.448099-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/88001215.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001215/fe2f11a2b7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001215/fe2f11a2b7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conestoga_Building_in_the_Firstside_Historic_District.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conestoga_Building_in_the_Firstside_Historic_District.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997708","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firstside_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5454286"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/firstside-historic-district-88001215/"}