Saw Mill Way

From Pittsburgh Streets
Saw Mill Way
Neighborhoods North Shore, Troy Hill
Origin of name Steam sawmill of Painter, Warner & Co.
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Saw Mill Alley (until 1914)

This alley was laid out as Sawmill Alley (or Saw-Mill Alley) in 1836 in the plan of lots of G. E. Warner, Jacob Painter, and F. Lorenz.[1][2] It was named for the steam sawmill of Painter, Warner & Co., which stood on this alley at Sycamore Street (today Heinz Street).[3][4][5]

A stream formerly flowed into the Allegheny River just upstream from Sycamore Street; it drained what are now known as the East Street Valley and Spring Garden.[4][6][7] This stream was called Saw Mill Run, a name it had at least as early as 1815[8][9][10] (not to be confused with Saw Mill Run on the south side of the Ohio River, for which Saw Mill Run Boulevard is named). A letter from Isaac Craig to James O'Hara dated June 12, 1797, described a failed attempt to find coal in the area around a sawmill in a run. Half a century later, Craig's son Neville B. Craig wrote, "The saw-mill referred to in the above letter must have been up the run at the upper end of Allegheny city, for in no other direction near Pittsburgh could they have failed to find a vein of coal of a proper depth."[11]

After Allegheny City was annexed by Pittsburgh, a Pittsburgh city ordinance officially established the name as Saw Mill Alley.[12] It became Saw Mill Way in 1914, when another ordinance changed all alleys in Pittsburgh to ways.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Plan of town lots laid out by the subscriber A. D. 1836 for Messrs Warner, Painter & Lorenz and this is a true copy April 18, 1839: James Sterritt." Laid out 1836; recorded Dec. 29, 1869, Plan Book 1, p. 81. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3778779. [view source] warner-painter-lorenz-plan
  2. ↑ "Warner Painter and Lorenz plan of lots 8th Ward Allegheny." Recorded Apr. 12, 1873, Plan Book 5, pp. 105–107. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3779118. [view source] warner-painter-lorenz-plan-1873
  3. ↑ Isaac Harris. Harris' Pittsburgh Business Directory, for the Year 1837: Including the names of all the merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, professional [sic], & men of business of Pittsburgh and its vicinity. Isaac Harris, Pittsburgh, 1837, p. 73. DonsList.net PGH1837_BDM; Historic Pittsburgh 00afv6656m, 31735056287505. [view source] harris
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 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
  5. ↑ George H. Thurston. Pittsburgh and Allegheny in the Centennial Year, p. 120. A. A. Anderson & Son, Pittsburgh, 1876. Google Books q1pAAAAAYAAJ, _zkVAAAAYAAJ; HathiTrust 008651603; Historic Pittsburgh 00aee6760m; Internet Archive cu31924028863863, pittsburghallegh00thur, pittsburghallegh01thur. [view source] centennial-year
  6. ↑ The Cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, with Parts of Adjacent Boroughs, Pennsylvania. 1855. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0089; https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~1688~130047; https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/32240; 1855 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). In George W. Colton, Colton's Atlas of the World: Illustrating physical and political geography, J. H. Colton & Co., New York, 1856 (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Pub_List_No%3D0149.000). [view source] colton
  7. ↑ S. N. & F. W. Beers. Map of Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Smith, Gallup & Hewitt, Philadelphia, 1862. LCCN 2012592151; https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/31783; 1862 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] beers
  8. ↑ Wm. Darby. Plan of Pittsburg and Adjacent Country. R. Patterson and W. Darby, Philadelphia, 1815. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0197, DARMAP0198. Reproduced in John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States, p. 207, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J., 1965 (LCCN 63023414); and in Bruce J. Buvinger, The Origin, Development and Persistence of Street Patterns in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, p. 24. Also reproduced as "Plan von Pittsburg und Umgebungen" in Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Heinrich Luden, ed.), Reise Sr. Hoheit des Herzogs Bernhard zu Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach durch Nord-Amerika in den Jahren 1825 und 1826, vol. II, following p. 200, Wilhelm Hoffmann, Weimar, 1828 (Internet Archive reisesrhoheitdes00bern, reisesrhoheitdes00inbern). [view source] darby
  9. ↑ Jean Barbeau and Lewis Keyon. Map of Pittsburgh and Its Environs. N. B. Molineux, Pittsburgh, 1830. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0576; https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/36c3ab00-57aa-0136-8f4f-08990f217bc9. [view source] barbeau
  10. ↑ Lewis Keyon. Map of Pittsburgh and Its Environs. Johnston & Stockton, Pittsburgh, 1835. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0577; 1835 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] keyon
  11. ↑ Neville B. Craig. The History of Pittsburgh: With a Brief Notice of Its Facilities of Communication, and Other Advantages for Commercial and Manufacturing Purposes, pp. 276–277. John H. Mellor, Pittsburgh, 1851. Google Books cE0OAAAAIAAJ; HathiTrust 001263103; Historic Pittsburgh 00aee7261m, 31735056285699; Internet Archive historyofpittsbu00crai. [view source] craig
  12. ↑ "An ordinance establishing the names of the avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1909–1910, no. 716. Passed Mar. 31, 1910; approved Apr. 5, 1910. Ordinance Book 21, p. 359. 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. 328–381, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1910 (Google Books doQzAQAAMAAJ; HathiTrust uiug.30112108223832; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1909). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 29, 1910, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616256, 86616285, 86616314, 86616333, 86616343), and Apr. 30, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616643, 86616672, 86616694, 86616726, 86616748). [view source] ordinance-1909-1910-716
  13. ↑ "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
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