Allegheny County Courthouse - The Hill Where an Army Fell

A stop on Spooky Pittsburgh Walk, a free self-guided tour.

Look up at that tower. This is the Allegheny County Courthouse, the building its architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, considered his great achievement. The county's earlier courthouse was ruined by fire in 1882, and work on this one began in 1883. Richardson died in 1886, two years before it was finished. Near the end he is said to have asked, 'If they honor me for the pygmy things I have already done, what will they say when they see Pittsburgh finished?'

This ground holds an older story. On September 14, 1758, British Major James Grant led about 850 soldiers against the French at Fort Duquesne and was routed on this hill. Grant Street still carries his name, and a 1901 plaque on the courthouse wall at Grant and Fifth marks the battle.

The hill itself is mostly gone. Between 1912 and 1913 the city cut down the slope known as the Hump, and Richardson's carefully finished lower walls suddenly stood at street level.

Getting here: Walk east on Forbes Avenue, about 6 minutes and gently uphill, to Grant Street; the courthouse fills the block across Grant.

Did you know?: In a 2007 American Institute of Architects poll of America's favorite buildings, the courthouse ranked 35th - higher than any other courthouse except the U.S. Supreme Court.

Photo op: From the far side of Grant Street near Fifth Avenue, frame the full tower rising above the rough granite walls as the floodlights come on.

More on Wikipedia: Allegheny County Courthouse · Henry Hobson Richardson

Allegheny County Courthouse - The Hill Where an Army Fell

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