Spooky Pittsburgh Walk
Photo: Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
As October evenings close in, downtown Pittsburgh shows its older face. This walk follows the city's documented history from the forts at the Point up to Grant Street and back, and along the way it shares the ghost stories Pittsburghers tell about these places. The history is fact; the ghosts are legend, and every stop tells you which is which.
You will see the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, the city's oldest building; Market Square; the hill where a British army was routed in 1758; the Bridge of Sighs and the jailbreak that scandalized the city in 1902; a grand hotel with a rumored night shift of spirits; one of the oldest burial grounds in the region; a theater that opened on Halloween night; and the Point itself, saved for last.
The loop is about 3 kilometers (just under 2 miles) on city sidewalks and park paths and takes about 100 minutes with stops. Start at the Fort Pitt Blockhouse in Point State Park and time it to reach the fountain around dusk. Every stop is free and seen from public space.
11 stops on this tour:
Fort Pitt Blockhouse - The Last Piece of the Fort
Portal Bridge - Inside Fort Pitt's Walls
Burke Building - The Survivor of 1845
Market Square - Where the City Began
Allegheny County Courthouse - The Hill Where an Army Fell
Bridge of Sighs - The Warden's Wife
Omni William Penn Hotel - The Grand Hotel's Night Shift
Trinity Cathedral Burial Ground - The Oldest Graves Downtown
Byham Theater - Opened on Halloween Night
Fort Duquesne Bridge - The Bridge to Nowhere
The Point - Where It All Began
More on Wikipedia: Pittsburgh · Fort Pitt Block House · Bridge of Sighs
Plan your visit
- Route: 11 stops · about 2.5 miles · walking loop
- Time: about 1.5 hours at an easy pace, with stops
- Start: Fort Pitt Blockhouse (directions)
- Cost: free tour
- Audio: narrated - tap ▶ Listen at the top of any stop
Stops on this tour
- Fort Pitt Blockhouse - The Last Piece of the Fort
- Portal Bridge - Inside Fort Pitt's Walls
- Burke Building - The Survivor of 1845
- Market Square - Where the City Began
- Allegheny County Courthouse - The Hill Where an Army Fell
- Bridge of Sighs - The Warden's Wife
- Omni William Penn Hotel - The Grand Hotel's Night Shift
- Trinity Cathedral Burial Ground - The Oldest Graves Downtown
- Byham Theater - Opened on Halloween Night
- Fort Duquesne Bridge - The Bridge to Nowhere
- The Point - Where It All Began
More tours nearby
- Mister Rogers (same area) - A gentle driving day through Fred Rogers
- Best of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (same area) - Steel city reinvented - history, art, three rivers, and one of America
- University of Pittsburgh Campus Walk (3 mi) - A self-guided loop of Pitt
- Carnegie Mellon University (4 mi) - Where robots, research, and the arts collide - explore one of the world