[Illustration: Crest] [Illustration: PITTSBURGH IN 1817 From a sketch made by Mrs. E. C. Gibson, wife of James Gibson of the Philadelphia bar, while on their wedding tour.] PITTSBURGH IN 1816 COMPILED BY THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH ON THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRANTING OF THE CITY CHARTER [Illustration: 181] PITTSBURGH CARNEGIE LIBRARY 1916 Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. Words printed in italics are noted with underscores: _italics_. Preface This little book will interest the Pittsburgher of 1916 chiefly because the parts and pieces of which it is made were written by men who were living here or who passed this way in 1816. The three newspapers of the day--the Gazette, the Mercury, and the Commonwealth--have furnished, though somewhat sparingly, the items of local news. They have also furnished advertisements--these in greater abundance and variety. The men who were the tourists of the day in America, traveling by stage, wagon, boat, or on horseback, often made Pittsburgh a stopping place in their journey. Many of them wrote books, in which may be found two or three pages, or a chapter, on the city as it appeared at that time. It is from these books that the section "Impressions of early travelers" has been gathered. The date given with these extracts is the date of publication, but the period referred to in every case is between 1815 and 1817. In addition to these gleanings from contemporaries, a number of paragraphs from various histories of the city have been included. The sketches that have thus been bought together do not form a systematic or well proportioned description of the city; yet they may help, through their vivid pictures and first-hand impressions, to give some idea of life in Pittsburgh a century ago. Table of Contents Page THE NEW CITY 7 IMPRESSIONS OF EARLY TRAVELERS 13 UNITED STATES CENSUS 20 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIES 21 TRAVELING EASTWARD 26 TAVERNS 30 STEAMBOATS AND RIVER TRAFFIC 31 FERRIES AND BRIDGES 40 THE NEWSPAPERS 42 CHURCHES 44 SCHOOLS 48 LIBRARIES 50 THE NEW BOOKS OF 1816 51 THE THEATRE 52 THE MORALS EFFICIENCY SOCIETY OF 1816 55 FOURTH OF JULY, 1816 55