Bridge of Sighs - The Warden's Wife

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

Now look up. That enclosed stone bridge over Ross Street links the courthouse to the old Allegheny County Jail, and it was named for the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Prisoners crossed it between their cells and the courtrooms without ever setting foot on the street.

The jail's most famous story starts here. In December 1901, brothers Ed and Jack Biddle were sentenced to death. Kate Soffel, the warden's wife, began visiting them, and on January 29, 1902, the brothers escaped with saws and guns she had smuggled in - and she ran away with them. A posse caught up with them two days later in Butler County. Neither brother survived, and Kate served two years in prison. Hollywood retold the tale in the 1984 film Mrs. Soffel, filmed at this very jail.

Now the legend. In 1907 a widely printed news story reported prisoners complaining that the Biddle brothers' ghosts were roaming the halls. The jail closed in 1995 and now houses family court, but on an October night you may see why the inmates were nervous.

Getting here: Follow the courthouse wall around the corner onto Ross Street, about 2 minutes; the bridge crosses the street overhead.

Did you know?: Mrs. Soffel starred Diane Keaton as Kate Soffel, with Mel Gibson and Matthew Modine as the Biddle brothers.

Photo op: From the Ross Street sidewalk just south of the bridge, shoot upward so the stone arch frames the street and the jail walls.

More on Wikipedia: Bridge of Sighs · Allegheny County Jail · Jack and Ed Biddle · Mrs. Soffel

Bridge of Sighs - The Warden's Wife

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