All that remained of Pittsburgh’s former military importance were the dry ditch and old ramparts of Fort Pitt,[49] in the westerly extremity of the town, together with some of the barracks and the stone powder magazine, and Fort Fayette near the northeasterly limits, now used solely as a military storehouse.[50] Not a trace of architectural beauty was evident in the houses. They were built without regularity and were low and plain. In one block were one- and two-story log and frame houses, some with their sides, others with their gable ends, facing the street. In the next square there was a brick building of two or possibly three stories in height; the rest of the area was covered with wooden buildings of every size and description. The Lombardy poplars and weeping willows which grew along the streets[51] softened the aspect of the houses before which they were planted. The scattered houses on the sides of the hills which commanded the town on the east[52] were more attractive. It was forty years before houses, even on the leading streets, were numbered.[53] The taverns and many of the stores, instead of being known by the number of their location on the street, or by the name of the owner, were recognized by their signs, which contained characteristic pictures or emblems. The signs were selected because associated with them was some well-known sentiment; or the picture represented a popular hero. In the latter category was the “Sign of General Washington,” conducted by Robert Campbell, at the northeast corner of Wood Street and Diamond Alley. Sometimes the signs were of a humorous character, as the “Whale and the Monkey” with the added doggerel: “Here the weary may rest, The hungry feed, And those who thirst, May quaff the best,” displayed by D. McLane[54] when he conducted the tavern on Water Street, afterward known as the “Sign of the Green Tree.” The sign was hung either on the front of the house, or on a board attached to a wooden or iron arm projecting from the building, or from a post standing before it. The last was the manner in which most of the tavern signs were displayed. This continued until 1816, when all projecting or hanging signs were prohibited, except to taverns where stabling and other accommodations for travelers could be obtained. Only taverns located at street corners were thereafter permitted to have signposts.[55]