Steve Seventy Street
| Steve Seventy Street | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhoods | South Side Flats, South Side Slopes |
| Origin of name | Steve Seventy |
This street is named for Steve Seventy (1927–1988), a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the district covering the South Side from 1978 to his death. An accordion player and music teacher of Slovak descent, Seventy was active in the local Slovak community. As the South Side representative, he pushed for the reopening of South 30th Street, which had been closed in 1950 at the request of the railroads serving the area's steel mills. This closure had cut off access to Carson Street for the small neighborhood called South Side Hollow and its largely Slovak residents; their only remaining street connection to the rest of Pittsburgh was via Mary Street and South 27th Street. Seventy died of pancreatic cancer in 1988 in the South Side house next door to the one where he was born. South 30th Street was finally reopened in 1998 by his friend Tom Murphy, who was then mayor. The reopened portion of the street was named in Seventy's memory.[1][2][3][4]
When it was first opened, it was named Steve Seventy Way.[1][5] Current street signs say Steve Seventy Street.
"Seventy" is an Anglicization of the name Svienty; the name on Seventy's grave marker in Loretto Cemetery is Stephen J Svienty.[6] Steve Seventy Street includes the highest number to appear in the name of a Pittsburgh street (if Gross Street in Bloomfield doesn't count). Compare Zero Way, which is the lowest.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jan Ackerman. "Hollow promised quick access: South Side neighborhood has had no direct route to nearby Carson Street since 1950." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mar. 23, 1998, p. A-11. Newspapers.com 94368579. [view source] hollow-promised
- ↑ Chris Potter. "My boyfriend's South Side home is near a street called Steve Seventy Way. We've spent the last year wondering who the hell Steve Seventy is, and why he has a tiny little back street near the Slopes named after him. Can you help?" Pittsburgh City Paper, Jan. 29, 2004. https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/Content?oid=1335986. [view source] potter-steve-seventy
- ↑ Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the City, Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks and More Got Their Names, p. 74. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source] regan
- ↑ "Rep. Steve Seventy of South Side." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 8, 1988, p. 8. Newspapers.com 89960622, 89960297, 89960579. [view source] steve-seventy-obit
- ↑ Robin Rombach. "Quick access to the Hollow." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 28, 1999, p. C-3. Newspapers.com 91112491. [view source] quick-access
- ↑ "Stephen John Svienty (1927–1988)." Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39609080/stephen-john-svienty. [view source] steve-seventy-grave
