Riding the 81

6 Locations | Curated by Hill District Digital History

This tour draws your attention to the historically-significant sites along your trip between downtown and several city neighborhoods.



Start at the historic site that’s closest to you! If you’re traveling outbound on the 83 route, click “Next” to follow along. If you’re traveling inbound, click “Previous.”

This small yellow brick church, topped with a traditional orthodox onion dome, served as a spiritual home for Pittsburgh's Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian communities from 1917 to 1959. It was during this time that August Wilson, who wrote the famous "Pittsburgh Cycle," frequently…
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A Refuge in the New Industrial City Industrial growth between the 1890s and 1920s transformed Pittsburgh’s population. Predominantly poor, non-English-speaking immigrants of diverse cultures poured into densely-packed, dilapidated neighborhoods that were often unprepared to provide basic needs.…
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The Halfway Art Gallery was a short-lived but pivotal cultural institution in the Hill District. The gallery's origins can be traced to 1966, a time when the neighborhood was undergoing significant social and political changes. The gallery emerged from the vision of local activists and artists…
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This now vacant lot was once the site of the Ellis Hotel, a safe haven for traveling Black artists and celebrities, and a hub of culture for the local Hill community. Originally established by James and Frank Ellis in Pittsburgh's South Side, the hotel eventually relocated to this Centre Avenue…
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The building at 2145 Centre Avenue was for many years the home of Lutz's Meat Market; indeed, the owner's name is still visible on the building's cornice. German immigrant Charles Lutz founded the meat market in 1894 at a site across the street from where he eventually built the three-story…
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