WQED Studios - Where the Neighborhood Was Taped

Stop on Mister Rogers, a free self-guided tour.

This plain modern building on Fifth Avenue is where it all happened. WQED went on the air on April 1, 1954, as the first community-sponsored educational television station in the United States, and a young Fred Rogers was there almost from the start.

His first job here was behind the scenes on a local children's program called The Children's Corner, where he worked the puppets while Josie Carey hosted. Several characters who later moved into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe began on that show. When Mister Rogers' Neighborhood went national, taping for the first season began on September 21, 1967, and the first episode reached stations across the country on February 19, 1968.

The program was made in the station's Studio A, the largest television studio in the region. In 2008 WQED renamed it the Fred Rogers Studio. It is still a working station, so enjoy it from the sidewalk.

Getting here: Drive about 4 miles east on Bigelow Boulevard and Fifth Avenue into Oakland. The building is at 4802 Fifth Avenue, near the Carnegie Mellon campus.

Did you know?: Rogers came to WQED after working in network television in New York. He moved back to Pennsylvania because he believed public television could do more for children.

Photo op: From across Fifth Avenue you can fit the whole building and its signage in one frame.

For kids: Ask children to imagine the cameras and lights inside. What would they want to make a show about?

Hours and cost: Working television station, exterior only. The building is open to the public only for occasional special events.