Mercer Street
| Mercer Street | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | Crawford-Roberts |
| Origin of name | Hugh Mercer |
Mercer Street is named for General Hugh Mercer (1726–1777), a Scottish soldier and physician who served in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.[1] He was part of the November 1758 expedition of General John Forbes (eponym of Forbes Avenue) that captured the Point from the French. Afterward, Forbes left Mercer in command with a small force, and they built Mercer's Fort, a temporary fortification that served as a winter shelter until construction on Fort Pitt began the following March. Later Mercer, by then a Virginian, fought on the American side during the Revolution and fell in the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777.[2][1]
Mercer was the inspiration for Graeme Stewart, a character in a 1908 historical novel, "The Head of Iron,"[3] for whom Graeme Street was probably named; see Market Place.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 George T. Fleming. "Wood's [sic] plan of Pittsburgh: Thomas Vickroy's account of the survey of 1784 and parts taken in city's early life by Craig and Bayard." Pittsburgh Gazette Times, Dec. 13, 1914, sec. 2, p. 2. Newspapers.com 85908612. [view source] fleming-woods
- ↑ Stuart P. Boehmig. Downtown Pittsburgh, pp. 15–18. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S. C., 2007, ISBN 978-0-7385-5042-8. LCCN 2007922534. [view source] boehmig-downtown
- ↑ Burd Shippen Patterson. "The Head of Iron": A Romance of Colonial Pennsylvania, p. v. T. M. Walker, Pittsburgh, 1908. Google Books rw8ZAAAAYAAJ; HathiTrust 008612936; Historic Pittsburgh 00awk9111m. [view source] patterson
