Card Lane
| Card Lane | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | Point Breeze |
| Origin of name | William Warren Card |
Card Lane is a short segment of the originally planned Tuscarora Street, which was to be a continuous street from Hastings Street to the city line at Peebles Street.[1] Only the easternmost part of Tuscarora Street was built. Card Lane was dedicated and opened in 1925.[2]
It is named for William Warren Card (1831–1903), who had previously owned an estate here. Card worked in the railroads, and in 1868, as a superintendent of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, he allowed George Westinghouse to test his newly invented air-brake system with a locomotive and four cars on two miles of track. Following the successful experiment, the Westinghouse Air Brake Company was formed, with Card as one of the first stockholders. Card left the railroads and joined the Westinghouse firm in 1870, becoming corporate secretary in 1880 and vice president in 1902. In 1892 he purchased about 2.7 acres of land on Penn Avenue between Lang Avenue and Osage Lane and built a stone mansion and carriage house, both of which still survive (today Card Lane passes between them). On April 4, 1903, after alighting from a streetcar on Penn Avenue in front of his mansion, Card was struck and killed by another streetcar coming the opposite way.[3][4][1][5][6][7]
In a 1937 newspaper column about Pittsburgh street names, Charles F. Danver quipped, "There's a Card lane and an Ace way, a King avenue, a Queen street and a Jack way. (Oh, yes—and Riffle way.) Your correspondent looked hopefully for a Deuces Wild way, but with his usual luck. It's too bad when a guy can't even find a deuce on the map!"[8] Pittsburgh still has no Deuces Wild Way, but it does have One Wild Place.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Real Estate Plat-Book of the City of Pittsburgh, vol. 1. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1904. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1904-volume-1-plat-book-pittsburgh; included in the 1903–1906 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] hopkins-1904-vol-1
- ↑ "An ordinance accepting the dedication of certain property in the Fourteenth ward of the City of Pittsburgh for public use for highway purposes, opening and naming the same Card lane, and establishing the grade thereon." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1925, no. 260. Passed June 23, 1925; approved June 27, 1925. Ordinance Book 36, p. 370. Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, July 2, 1925, p. 19 (Newspapers.com 88696003), and July 3, p. 17 (Newspapers.com 88696059). [view source] ordinance-1925-260
- ↑ "W. W. Card is victim of street car: Wealthy manufacturer and engineer meets death near his Penn avenue home: Steps from rear of one car in path of another: Leaves notable record as official in great Westinghouse interests: Gave air brake first test." Pittsburg Post, Apr. 5, 1903, pp. 1–2. Newspapers.com 86389714, 86389725. [view source] card-victim
- ↑ Real Estate Plat-Book of the City of Pittsburgh, vol. 1. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1898. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1898-volume-1-plat-book-pittsburgh-east. [view source] hopkins-1898-vol-1
- ↑ Atlas of Greater Pittsburgh. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1910. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1910-atlas-greater-pittsburgh; 1910 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] hopkins-1910
- ↑ Basil Meyer. The William Warren Card Mansion: 7110–7116 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15208: 1893 to 1977. Unity Center, Pittsburgh, 1977. Included with the Individual Property Historic Nomination Form for the Card Lane Carriage House, Historic Review Commission, Division of Development Administration and Review, Department of City Planning, City of Pittsburgh, https://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/Card_Carriage_House_Combined_Nomination.pdf. [view source] meyer
- ↑ Ronald Olsen. "Mission: stop a train: How inventor George Westinghouse Jr., investors, railroad officials, and test trains helped put the brakes on the wheels 150 years ago." Trains, Nov. 2019, pp. 30–37. [view source] olsen
- ↑ Charles F. Danver. Pittsburghesque. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 12, 1937, p. 8. Newspapers.com 90316941. [view source] danver-1937
