Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 109

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1936- Triangle" Real Estate Values Enhanced 26,000 Times rliest Settlers Appreciated Ea Growth of Pittsburgh Real Estate in Recent Years Demonstrated by Schenley Farms "A Desirable Location" yf W'-ajM-V By Maurice J. Sullivan Post -Gazette Staff Writer. the value of a piece of property in Pittsburgh's anu'e" has increased in value 26.000 times! -t- possible summary of the dramatic his- V- f0 -h real estate since the July days in 1783 when, of the Pittsburgh Gazette, Judge Hugh Henrv ft'l 1 "Vii -5i alter looking at the ''few buildings under the 2 i-nson," prophesied that "it appeared to me as be a town of note." i. ft ore Judge Brackenridge looked at the fron-i -i urph was what real estate men call a "desirable Km in the days when the only real estate men who triangle between the Monongahela and the red men. searching for good hunting and it was desirable.

Early colonists, French and 5 it for miii-O for C2 I 9mm in later years sought the reasons. to Sfi.OOO.OOO. fter Judge Brack- The growth of Pittsburgh's real estate In the last 30 years is illustrated ly this view of the Schenley Farms district as it was in IWHi. From nrf-i his first essay on (T't- i' Art Thrives With Industry 1783, who was reputed to be the largest property owner in the Pittsburgh district. The great tracts of land which he owned, inherited by his two daughters, Mrs.

William Croghan (the mother of Mrs. Mary K. Schenley) and Mrs. Harmar Denny, who married the son of the first mayor of Pittsburgh, are today valued at millions of dollars. Ornisby Showed Foresight.

Another of the foresighted settlers was John Ormsby, the youngest son of a good Irish family. he "tiazette, tne Union Trust far It Building and sold for $227. were is assessed at The story iicv fa-nion is me story pushed steadily up- was "discovered." His style was compared to that in the early primitives." He was accused or everything from bad painting toT painting over photographs. But ha just smiled and kept on painting His paintings sold. Mrs.

John Rockefeller, bought one. And? when he died he was one of Amer-ica's most famous artists. (Continued from page 7J bert, Samuel Rosenberg and Clifford Bayard. Malcolm Parcell has won national success. It has also contributed to the art life of the city by the many fine teachers the school has brought to Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh artist who took the highest sky-rocket to fame Walter Kaleign wno won a claim to the r.n'.v Pittsburgh. With of her hand, within recent years was John Kane, the old sign painter who die-i two as vague duc im- who came to Pittsburgh in 1752. He soon acquired by Government grants for service in the British army, and by purchase, between 2,000 and 3,000 acres of land that extended for miles along the south side of the Monongahela river. Southside streets still bear the names of his children and Mt. Oliver was named for his only son, Oliver.

After his death, his sons and daughters each in a home of his or her own, lived on his estates extent of the r.e years ago in the Tuberculosis far Wl-': Walter Raleigh upon her fa- vd League Hospital, almost penniless. Suddenly winning fame at the age 1 i i 0 Gil sSrS. 5 cn.st extending back m- Elegant Smoking Saloon Popular Here in 1856; In 1856 Don Carlos Garcia Sugero opened in St. Clair street, what was termed in those days "Ail elegant smoking saloon" for the use of their customers. Gentle- men, according to an item ing in the papers of that day could -not only procure the best of segars, the mountains of th unexplored in a unique family community extending from what is now Twenty- r-t.

But waiter never the land under the of 68 years, Kane discovered that fame is not a peaceful thing. It pushed him into the center of heated battles that raged across the continent. For years he had been painting scenes of Pittsburgh with such painstaking attention to detail that every cobblestone in a street was exactly reproduced, every tree on a hillside. Then he nrst street to the present Twenty-fourth street from the river back over the hills. Real estate value of course exist but also spend a pleasant hour, in conversation with a friend, amid -the fumes of fragrant Havanas.

T'rritnry Twice Granted. I in. 169 gave Rob- Cecil. Eir! of baiisDury, a in proportion to a city's population and in 1804 when the city had grown from 332 inhabitants in 1761 to approximately 1,700, we find Tarleton Bates, a young Virginian vtH included tne soum- part nf dav More than a half century Charles II. rrobaoiy the extent cf the former grant it remembered it at all, gave Fenn in 18S1 a charter in- -f-z the lar.d nbout the head- who was killed in a duel near the present Oakland, writing home: "I have given $1,050 for 20 acres in Grant's Hill in sight of the borough.

I have bought a donation tract of 200 acres for as many dollars with a little expense of brokerage and am to give $100 for seven acres of hill and one and one-half of bottom land below Robinson's on the Allegheny river i3-rr5 tne unio. cu it THOMSON McKINNON SUITE 221 OLIVER BUILDING MEMBERS NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE AND ALL PRINCIPAL SECURITY AND COMMODITY EXCHANGES LEWIS HAY, Manager TELEPHONE GRANT 2733 run- and Pennsylvania r.3 claimed the rich triangle un-: 'ii hter won out at a in to Pittsburgh real estate rra the to rivers date back made by William Penn's Th.iT.as snd Richard, in the When in 1769 a nith the Six Nations secured Penn brothers the major rn rf sn Pennsyl- Copyright, Aerial Surveys. The Srhenley Farms district today is the, imposing civic renter pictured above. nearly opposite its confluence with the Ohio. These two last I consider very good bargains and have bought four tracts for taxes which if valid are very good 800 acres for $200." Real estate was beginning to go up in monetary value.

Boroughs Spring Up. Meanwhile other boroughs were springing into being around the growing city-to-be. In 1785 when land was needed to give to Pennsylvania men who had served in ithe Revolutionary War, according rcere'i a -urvey ot the 2 preparatory to the less pcrt.crrs of But they certain rm.r-i manors, among fet. of Pittsburgh con- though the building assessment stands at only $250,000. The following table shows the growth of Pittsburgh property values since 1880 as the population of the city jumped upwards by leaps and bounds: r-6 acres includine the ni what is now the Pn r)ieited of Lands.

because the Penns re-riri Ir al to England during War, the state Assess? valuation. Tear. losses of real estate owners at from $20,000 to $60,000. But the men of Pittsburgh had confidence in their city, and in October, 1849, a survey showed that 2,000 new buildings, 609 of them in the burned-out area, had been built within a 10-month period, and that all of them were finer than the ones destroyed. Among the famous buildings rebuilt was.

the Monongahela House, a landmark in Pittsburgh until 1935, when it was demolished by the owners, B. F. Jones, Properties, Inc. Fabulous Dividends. The men who bought real estate in Pittsburgh in the early days were far-sighted and their invest- Population.

1.5S5 4.76 7.24H 12.5S 1ROO 1S10 1S20 1R30 to promises made them, 3,000 acres of land on the north shore of the Allegheny river had been surveyed, then laid out in lots. The land was given out for redemption of certificates of depreciation issued to the soldiers. Portions of the land were reserved for a courthouse, jail, market house, cemetery, churches, and common pasture in accordance with the customs of the times. On April 14, 1828, Allegheny became a i 1779 divested them ands except the manes in payment 130,000 all tr.e.r .3. sale of lands in the 184D 21.515 1850 46, (Mil 1860 49.221 1870 86,076 1SS0 99.600,000 156.3XS 1890 207,300.000 23S.617 1900 321.700,000 321.616 1910 745.700,000 523.905 1920 814,500,000 5SK.343 1930 1,165.000,000 H69.M7 rf Frtsbiirgh was made in whpn Isaac Craig and Bayard (Bayard later r.

the town of borough. On the same date a section of the Ormsby estate on the Southside which was called Birmingham and had 3.741 inhabitants, was incorporated as a bor Allegheny was annexed between ments paid fabulous dividends. But 1900 and 1910, and this added to fir his wife) bought! rs Fort Pitt and river. One of the 1 of the Pitts' sales ough. Despite the rapid growth of the I I I not all real estate deals recorded in this city were simply commercial adventures.

Some men had broader vision than that which permitted only a view of future profits to themselves. There was Edward Manning Bigelow, who dreamed of a fine park within the city limits, and i sees of land that Farms and Schen-'--) Edward Smith on Jan- I'l'l. 310 pounds, four 5 one peppercorn. ir- later, sold 170 acres i General James sranddaughter gave Un-is, to the city for I made his dream come true by going the increase between those years. The assessed valuation of Pittsburgh property in 1936 was Fire Caused Heavy Losses.

One of the great disasters of Pittsburgh's history the devastating fire of April 10, 1845 inflicted heavy losses upon Pittsburgh real estate. The fire, which was believed to have been started by a washerwoman in a shed in the rear of a house at Ferry street and Second avenue, was aided by dry weather and high wind3 and in the seven hours it swept through the city destroyed 982 buildings valued at $2,400,000. and left 2,000 families homeless. The city's losses from the fire were set at between and $8,000,000. and individual city, the sale prices of some important downtown locations even 55 years ago are surprising.

For instance, the property on the northeast corner of Fifth avenue and Wood street was sold in 1881 for $70,000. That lot plus a small bit more property upon which the Farmers Deposit National Bank stands today, is now assessed at more than $2,000,000. From $10,000 to $1,500,000. The old City Hall, now the Community Fund building, in Smith-field street and Oliver avenue (then Virgin alley), was completed in 1872. The land had cost $10,000, to England and persuading Mary Schenley to give to the city forever 380 acres of woodland, which in her honor were named Schenley Park.

But the beautiful section Pittsburgh's real civic center which adjoins that park is the dream-come-true of another man who saw more than dollars and cents in real estate. As a young man F. F. Nicola who set aside properties for 'h strict limitations sale. Even in 1902 the First Presby- ere unable to sell i'r.

the ground on flsr- the building $408,790. Today the land is assessed at $1,500,000, al- (Continued on Kert rape.) building now 'i by the will of the Fer.r,N. could only lease years, the long-' "ha lease can be i the church 1" 1 roiTuhed an annual Tra.fd tf Westmoreland. 1 the country in the were large and IRICOKPOEATED 1855 DAfJCj pdw antniBrjAn. 1771 Pittsburgh, like Pennsylvania, was md county.

Then in I part of Westmore-i i deeds for some i investments, will be attested by the fact that never in the 81 years of its history has Dollar Sa.I-gs failed to pay a regular dividend. How well the bank has served the community may be judged by the fact that the Dollar Savings has disbursed over $60,000,000 in Dividends during its years of service despite a unique requirement that not more than fifteen thousand dollars may be kept in any one account. In April 1835 a group of men, residents of Pittsburgh, founded the Dollar Savings Bank at Market Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. Their ideal was a Bank which would afford a place of deposit for small sums where, with a maximum of security, these funds would earn as much by way of interest as could safely be earned. How well this first board of trustees planned how wisely they provided for Situated in the very heart of downtown Pittsburgh we are easily and quickly accessible to our many local patrons and in position' to give quick service and contact to our out-of-town friends, as well.

rty may still be records. u.ty actually came nefnre Pittsburgh. "rgnnized by act t- in 1788,. until 1794 that s-" incorporated as a I i- until lsiR that it T-e city. 1 included the! 1 i the Point to I -v, Grant i by annexation I from 320 acres became a city! 5 than 34,749 acres! 1 most recent ad-1 1 founded Fortune.

1 influx of set- 1 i strict began about iyr'J 'me in steadily in- Small Accounts Are Particularly Welcome MEMBER Officers (X STtfDUMTY Chester A. Johnston Cashier Ralph W. Mercer Asst. Cashier Robert W. Sands Asst.

Cashier Charles A. Fisher President Andrew J. Huglin Vlc President Arthur F. Humphrey Vice President sr. drawn by the MUM SAVINGS MM 'r if a settler built raised a small crop 'ii to 400 acres of 1 -vas not long before an taken up.

Those lands before the di-1779 obtained deeds but after that PITTSBURGH, PA. FOURTH AVENUE -ii me state, except PITTSBURGH, PA. MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION lands. The Only Mutual Savings Bank in Pittsburgh nf a 1 the basis of several fortunes was rtara, a settler her la (V,.