Book Way

From Pittsburgh Streets
(Redirected from Bank Alley)
Book Way
Book Way from Forbes Avenue.
Neighborhood Central Business District
Origin of name Modification of Bank, an earlier name
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Sturgeon Alley (until 1910)
Portion Between Forbes Avenue and Fifth Avenue
Origin of name Jeremiah Sturgeon
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Bank Alley (until 1881)
Portion Between Fifth Avenue and Oliver Avenue
Origin of name First National Bank of Pittsburgh, ancestor of PNC Financial Services
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Book Alley (1881–1914)
Origin of name Modification of the former name Bank

This narrow alley, running from Forbes Avenue to Fifth Avenue just west of Wood Street, was laid out in a plan of lots by the heirs of Jeremiah Sturgeon.[1] An 1834 newspaper advertisement describes it as "a 10 feet alley recently laid out by the widow and heirs of Jeremiah Sturgeon, dec'd."[2] The alley appears, unlabeled, in R. E. McGowin's 1852 map of Pittsburgh.[3] It was named Sturgeon Alley by 1873.[4]

Continuing along the same line on the north side of Fifth Avenue was another alley, which also appears without a name on McGowin's 1852 map.[3] An 1856 map by McGowin labels this alley "Baxters Ay.,"[5] but this was an error: Baxter's Alley (formally Hillsborough Alley) was further west.

By 1868, the northern alley had been named Bank Alley.[6] The 1872 Hopkins atlas shows a number of banks on Fifth Avenue near this alley, including the Allegheny National Bank and the Central Bank on the north side of Fifth and the Exchange National Bank on the south side, but the most likely origin of the alley's name is the First National Bank, which stood on the north side of Fifth Avenue between Wood Street and Bank Alley.[7] This bank started business in 1852 as the Pittsburgh Trust Company and moved to this location at the corner of Fifth and Wood in 1854.[8] It became the First National Bank of Pittsburgh in 1863, Peoples First National Bank and Trust Company in 1946, and the Pittsburgh National Bank in 1959.[8] It continues business today as PNC Financial Services, whose headquarters at PNC Plaza still occupy the same site.

After the annexation of the South Side in 1872,[9] a City Council committee was formed to fix duplicate names among the city's streets and alleys. At the end of 1873, the committee proposed that Bank Alley downtown should be renamed Book Alley to avoid confusion with various other streets and alleys named Bank (including Bank Street in Lawrenceville, today Bandera Street).[10][11] This proposed ordinance was never passed. But eight years later an ordinance was finally passed to establish the names of all thoroughfares in Pittsburgh, and this ordinance officially gave this alley the name Book Alley.[12] The name Book is probably just a modification of the name Bank.

Sturgeon Alley was made part of Book Alley in 1910.[13]

Book Alley became Book Way in 1914, when a city ordinance changed all alleys in Pittsburgh to ways.[14]

The northern portion of Book Way, between Fifth Avenue and Oliver Avenue, was vacated in 1967 by petition of the Pittsburgh National Bank.[15]

Today Book Way is fenced in and publicly inaccessible, though there is still a faded street sign for it on Forbes Avenue.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Atlas of the Cities Pittsburgh and Allegheny, plate 1. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1882. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1882-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; 1882 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] hopkins-1882
  2. ↑ Daniel M'Lane. "Wood Street property for sale." Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, Feb. 4, 1834, [p. 3]. Newspapers.com 96006192. [view source] wood-street-property
  3. ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 R. E. McGowin. Map of the Cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny and of the Boroughs of South-Pittsburgh, Birmingham, East-Birmingham, Lawrenceville, Duquesne & Manchester etc. Schuchman & Haunlein, Pittsburgh, 1852. https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/32269. [view source] mcgowin-1852
  4. ↑ C. H. Love. "At auction: Valuable property: Two large lots on Fifth avenue, adjoining the Exchange National Bank, and one lot on Diamond alley." Pittsburgh Commercial, July 1, 1873, [p. 4]. Newspapers.com 85643371. [view source] valuable-property
  5. ↑ R. E. McGowin. Pittsburgh: Engraved from R. E. McGowin's map for Geo. H. Thurston. Wm. Schuchman & Bro., Pittsburgh, 1856. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0091. [view source] mcgowin-1856
  6. ↑ The Municipal Record: Containing the Proceedings of the Select and Common Councils of the City of Pittsburgh: 1868, Oct. 26, 1868, Select Council. Pittsburgh Daily Commercial, Pittsburgh. Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1868_20200904_2014. [view source] municipal-record-1868
  7. ↑ Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, p. 19. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1872. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1872-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; 1872 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] hopkins-1872
  8. ↑ Jump up to: 8.0 8.1 George Swetnam. "Biography of a bank: City's newest is oldest, too, and has a long history from the days when it first opened back in 1852, to present billion-dollar institution." Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 22, 1959, Pittsburgh's Family Magazine, pp. 4–5. Newspapers.com 141375277. [view source] swetnam-bank
  9. ↑ Mark A. Connelly. "Pittsburgh City 1872 Borough Mergers." Local Geohistory Project. https://www.localgeohistory.pro/en/pa/event/pittsburgh-city-1872-borough-mergers/. [view source] lgeo-south-side-annexation
  10. ↑ "Street nomenclature: The changes proposed by the committee." Pittsburgh Commercial, Dec. 30, 1873, [p. 4]. Newspapers.com 85549642. [view source] street-nomenclature
  11. ↑ "Notice—the following ordinances relative to Street Improvements is [sic] published for information, in accordance with the provisions of Section 6 of an Act of Assembly, entitled 'a further Supplement to an act entitled an act concerning Streets and Sewers in the City of Pittsburgh,' approved March 20th, 1873." Pittsburgh Gazette, Jan. 5, 1874, [p. 4]. Newspapers.com 86344686. [view source] ordinances-relative-to-street-improvements
  12. ↑ "An ordinance establishing the names of avenues, streets, lanes and alleys of the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1880–1881, no. 33. Passed Feb. 28, 1881; approved Mar. 4, 1881. Ordinance Book 5, p. 212. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Select and Common Councils of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1880, pp. 213–234, Herald Printing Company, Pittsburgh, 1881 (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1880). [view source] ordinance-1880-1881-33
  13. ↑ "An ordinance changing the names of certain avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1909–1910, no. 715. Passed Mar. 31, 1910; approved Apr. 5, 1910. Ordinance Book 21, p. 342. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh for the Years 1909–1910, appendix, pp. 312–328, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1910 (Google Books doQzAQAAMAAJ; HathiTrust uiug.30112108223832; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1909). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 19, 1910, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86611990, 86612022), Apr. 20, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86612278, 86612297), and Apr. 21, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86612601, 86612625). [view source] ordinance-1909-1910-715
  14. ↑ "An ordinance changing the name 'alley' on every thoroughfare in the City of Pittsburgh to 'way.'" Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1914, no. 402. Passed Nov. 10, 1914; approved Nov. 16, 1914. Ordinance Book 26, p. 360. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh for the Year 1914, appendix, p. 226, McClung Printing Co., Pittsburgh (HathiTrust uiug.30112108223899; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1914). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Nov. 23, 1914, p. 11 (Newspapers.com 86505785), and Nov. 24, p. 12 (Newspapers.com 86505809). [view source] ordinance-1914-402
  15. ↑ "An ordinance vacating Book Way, from Fifth Avenue to Oliver Avenue, in the Second Ward of the City of Pittsburgh, reserving the 15-inch and 12-inch sewer lines located therein." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1967, no. 120. Passed Mar. 27, 1967; approved Mar. 29, 1967. Ordinance Book 68, p. 563. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh: For the Year 1967, appendix, pp. 98–99, Park Printing, Inc., Pittsburgh (Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1967). [view source] ordinance-1967-120
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