Editing Pittsburgh (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Pittsburgh}}
{{For timeline}}
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===Native Americans===
The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the [[Shawnee]] and several other settled groups of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=eHz4jgmAhMIC&q=difficulties+for+the+delaware&pg=PA25 Solon J. Buck, Elizabeth Buck, ''The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania''], 1976, Google Boeken. Books.google.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.</ref> [[Shannopin's Town]] was an 18th-century [[Lenape]] (Delaware) town located roughly from where [[Penn Avenue]] is today, below the mouth of Two Mile Run, from 30th Street to 39th Street. According to [[George Croghan]], the town was situated on the south bank of the Allegheny, nearly opposite what is now known as Washington's Landing, formerly [[Herrs Island, Pittsburgh|Herr's Island]], in what is now the [[Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh)|Lawrenceville]] neighborhood.<ref name = "Hanna1">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/wildernesstrailo01hann|title=The wilderness trail; or, The ventures and adventures of the Pennsylvania traders on the Allegheny path, with some new annals of the Old West, and the records of some strong men and some bad ones|first=Charles A. (Charles Augustus)|last=Hanna|date=December 6, 1911|publisher=New York, London, G.P. Putnam's Sons|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|289}}

===18th century===
{{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}
[[File:Bouquet blockhouse.JPG|thumb|left|[[Fort Pitt Block House]], built by the British in 1764, is the oldest extant structure in Pittsburgh.]]
The first known European to enter the region was the French explorer [[Robert de La Salle]] from [[Quebec]] during his 1669 expedition down the [[Ohio River]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/new_pages/historical.htm |title=friendsoftheriverfront.org |publisher=Friendsoftheriverfront.org |access-date=January 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111125520/http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/new_pages/historical.htm |archive-date=January 11, 2008}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2023}} European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century. Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European [[fur trade]]rs established area posts and settlements.<ref name="chronology">{{cite web |url=http://exhibit.library.pitt.edu/chronology/ |title=Historic Pittsburgh: Chronology |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Library System |access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref>

In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite [[Canada (New France)|Canada]] with [[Louisiana (New France)|French Louisiana]] via the rivers.<ref name="chronology" /> During 1753–1754, the British hastily built [[Fort Prince George]] before a larger French force drove them off. The French built [[Fort Duquesne]] based on LaSalle's 1669 claims. The [[French and Indian War]], the North American front of the [[Seven Years' War]], began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General [[Edward Braddock]] was dispatched with Major [[George Washington]] as his aide to take Fort Duquesne.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9580/ |title=The Battle of the Monongahela |website=[[World Digital Library]] |year=1755 |access-date=August 3, 2013}}</ref> The British and colonial force were defeated at [[Braddock's Field]]. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758. He began construction on [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]], named after [[William Pitt the Elder]], while the settlement was named "Pittsborough".<ref name="Lorant">{{cite book |title=Pittsburgh, The Story of an American City |edition=5th |author=Lorant, Stefan |publisher=Esselmont Books, LLC |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-685-92012-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/pittsburghstoryo00lora}}</ref>

During [[Pontiac's War]], a loose confederation of Native American tribes [[Siege of Fort Pitt|laid siege to Fort Pitt]] in 1763; the siege was eventually lifted after Colonel [[Henry Bouquet]] defeated a portion of the besieging force at the [[Battle of Bushy Run]]. Bouquet strengthened the defenses of Fort Pitt the next year.<ref name="EB1911">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/462222/Pittsburgh |title=Pittsburgh |publisher=Encyclopædia |year=2008 |access-date=November 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=American Indian Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic |date=June 2, 2011 |first=Phillip M. |last=White |page=44 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]}}</ref><ref>Ranlet, Phillip (2000). The British, the Indians, and smallpox: what actually happened at Fort Pitt in 1763? Pennsylvania history; 67(3).</ref><ref>Dixon, David (2005). Never Come to Peace Again: Pontiac's Uprising and the Fate of the British Empire in North America. University of Oklahoma Press.</ref>

During this period, the powerful nations of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]], based in New York, had maintained control of much of the Ohio Valley as hunting grounds by right of conquest after defeating other tribes. By the terms of the 1768 [[Treaty of Fort Stanwix]], the [[William Penn|Penns]] were allowed to purchase the modern region from the [[Iroquois]]. A 1769 survey referenced the future city as the "Manor of Pittsburgh".<ref name="PCC">{{cite book |title=Pittsburgh First, the Official Organ of The Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh |author=Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh |year=1921}}</ref> Both the [[Colony of Virginia]] and the [[Province of Pennsylvania]] claimed the region under their colonial charters until 1780, when they agreed under a federal initiative to extend the [[Mason–Dixon line]] westward, placing Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. On March 8, 1771, [[Bedford County, Pennsylvania]] was created to govern the frontier.

On April 16, 1771, the city's first civilian local government was created as [[Pitt Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Pitt Township]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/countycourtford00pagoog/countycourtford00pagoog_djvu.txt Full text of "The county court for the district of West Augusta, Virginia, held at Augusta town, near Washington, Pennsylvania, 1776–1777"]. Archive.org. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.co.greene.pa.us/secured/gc2/history/Struggle-for-Possession.pdf |title=A brief history of Greene County and its courts: a struggle for possession}}</ref> William Teagarden was the first constable, and William Troop was the first clerk.<ref>{{cite web |last=Christopher |first=Joan |url=http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?46,219527 |title=Constables for 1771 |website=Pa-roots.org |date=December 9, 2005 |access-date=May 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822074611/http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?46,219527 |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following the [[American Revolution]], the village of Pittsburgh continued to grow. One of its earliest industries was boat building for settlers of the [[Ohio Country]]. In 1784, Thomas Vickroy completed a town plan which was approved by the Penn family attorney. Pittsburgh became a possession of Pennsylvania in 1785. The following year, the [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] was started, and in 1787, the [[University of Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh Academy]] was chartered. Unrest during the [[Whiskey Rebellion]] of 1794 resulted in federal troops being sent to the area. By 1797, glass manufacture began, while the population grew to around 1,400. Settlers arrived after crossing the [[Appalachian Mountains]] or through the [[Great Lakes]].<!-- and then what? up the Ohio River? --> [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]] (now Pittsburgh) at the source of the Ohio River became the main base for settlers moving into the [[Northwest Territory]].

===19th century===
{{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Civil War}}
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The federal government recognizes Pittsburgh as the starting point for the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bauder |first1=Bob |title=Pittsburgh recognized as starting point for Lewis and Clark expedition |url=https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/pittsburgh-recognized-as-starting-point-for-lewis-and-clark-expedition/ |agency=Pittsburgh Tribune Review |date=March 10, 2019}}</ref> Preparations began in Pittsburgh in 1803 when [[Meriwether Lewis]] purchased a [[keelboat]] that would later be used to ascend the [[Missouri River]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'NEILL |first1=BRIAN |title=Lewis & Clark started here (sorry, St. Louis) |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/brian-oneill/2018/05/13/brian-o-neill-lewis-and-clark-trail-pittsburgh-mississippi-river/stories/201805130067 |publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=May 13, 2018}}</ref>

The [[War of 1812]] cut off the supply of British goods, stimulating American industry. By 1815, Pittsburgh was producing significant quantities of iron, brass, tin, and glass. On March 18, 1816, the 46-year-old local government became a city. It was served by numerous river steamboats that increased trading traffic on the rivers.

In the 1830s, many [[Welsh people]] from the [[Merthyr]] steelworks immigrated to the city following the aftermath of the [[Merthyr Rising]]. By the 1840s, Pittsburgh was one of the largest cities west of the [[Allegheny Mountains]]. The [[Great Fire of Pittsburgh]] destroyed over a thousand buildings in 1845. The city rebuilt with the aid of Irish immigrants who came to escape the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]]. By 1857, Pittsburgh's 1,000 factories were consuming 22&nbsp;million coal bushels yearly. Coal mining and iron manufacturing attracted waves of European immigrants to the area, with the most coming from [[Germany]].

[[File:Harpers 8 11 1877 Destruction of the Union Depot.jpg|thumb|left|Burning of Union Depot during the [[Pittsburgh railroad strike of 1877]]]]

Because Pennsylvania had been established as a free state after the Revolution, enslaved African Americans sought freedom here through escape as refugees from the South, or occasionally fleeing from travelers they were serving who stayed in the city. There were active stations of the [[Underground Railroad]] in the city, and numerous refugees were documented as getting help from station agents and African-American workers in city hotels. The Drennen Slave Girl walked out of the Monongahela House in 1850, apparently to freedom.<ref name="freedom">William J. Switala, ''Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania'', Stackpole Books, 2001, pp. 88-89</ref> The Merchant's Hotel was also a place where African-American workers would advise slaves the state was free and aid them in getting to nearby stations of the Underground Railroad.<ref name="exhibit">[http://exhibit.library.pitt.edu/freeatlast/fugitive_laws.html Exhibit: ''Free at Last? Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries''], 2009, University of Pittsburgh Library</ref> Sometimes refugee slaves from the South stayed in Pittsburgh, but other times they continued North, including into Canada. Many slaves left the city and county for Canada after Congress passed the 1850 [[Fugitive Slave Act]], as it required cooperation from law enforcement even in free states and increased penalties. From 1850 to 1860, the black population in Allegheny County dropped from 3,431 to 2,725 as people headed to more safety in Canada.<ref name="freedom"/>

The [[American Civil War]] boosted the city's economy with increased iron and armament demand by the Union. [[Andrew Carnegie]] began steel production in 1875 at the [[Edgar Thomson Steel Works]] in [[North Braddock, Pennsylvania]], which evolved into the [[Carnegie Steel Company]]. He adopted the [[Bessemer process]] to increase production. Manufacturing was key to growth of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. Railroad lines were built into the city along both rivers, increasing transportation access to important markets.

===20th century===
{{multiple image
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 | caption1 = An aerial view of Pittsburgh in 1902<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tedsvintageart.com/products/pittsburgh-pennsylvania-1902-historical-map/ |title=Vintage Map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1902 - Ted's Vintage Art |website=Teds Vintage Art - Buy Historic Art Prints & Wall Decor|access-date=June 3, 2019}}</ref>
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In 1901, [[J. P. Morgan]] and attorney [[Elbert Henry Gary|Elbert H. Gary]] merged [[Carnegie Steel Company]] and several other companies into [[U.S. Steel]]. By 1910, Pittsburgh was the [[Largest cities in the United States by population by decade|nation's eighth-largest city]], accounting for between one-third and one-half of national steel output.

The [[Pittsburgh Agreement]] was subscribed in May 1918 between the Czech and Slovak nationalities, as envisioned by [[T. G. Masaryk]], concerning the future foundation of [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref>PRECLÍK, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk democratic movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN|978-80-87173-47-3}}, s. 8 - 48, s. 84 - 124, s. 125 - 148, s. 157, s. 164 - 169, s. 170 - 194</ref>

The city suffered [[Pittsburgh flood of 1936|severe flooding]] in March 1936.

The city's population swelled to more than a half million, attracting numerous European immigrants to its industrial jobs. By 1940, non-Hispanic whites were 90.6% of the city's population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |access-date=January 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-date=August 12, 2012}}</ref> Pittsburgh also became a main destination of the African-American [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] from the rural South during the first half of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20030218kids0218p9.asp |title=Kids' Corner: 1910-30 saw huge black migration |last=Boucher |first=Amber |date=February 18, 2003 |website=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |access-date=May 18, 2019 |archive-date=December 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209121819/http://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20030218kids0218p9.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> Limited initially by discrimination, some 95% percent of the men became unskilled steel workers.<ref>Lubove, Roy, ed. ''Pittsburgh.'' New York: New Viewpoints, 1976.</ref>

During [[World War II]], demand for steel increased and area mills operated 24 hours a day to produce 95&nbsp;million tons of steel for the war effort.<ref name="Lorant"/> This resulted in the highest levels of air pollution in the city's almost century of industry. The city's reputation as the "arsenal of democracy"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_ssaAAAAIBAJ&pg=3214%2C363940 |title=The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search|access-date=June 11, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Pittsburgh-Magazine/December-2013/The-Way-We-Were/ |title=The Way We Were |date=November 21, 2013|access-date=June 11, 2015}}</ref> was being overshadowed by [[James Parton]]'s 1868 observation of Pittsburgh being "hell with the lid off."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kalson |first=Sally |title=Cartoonist draws, fires a blank with Pittsburgh joke |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=November 19, 2003 |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20031119sally104col2p2.asp}}</ref>

Following World War II, the city launched a clean air and civic revitalization project known as the "Renaissance," cleaning up the air and the rivers. The "Renaissance II" project followed in 1977, focused on cultural and neighborhood development. The industrial base continued to expand through the 1970s, but beginning in the early 1980s both the area's steel and electronics industries imploded during national industrial restructuring. There were massive layoffs from mill and plant closures.<ref name="diaspora"/>

In the later 20th century, the area shifted its economic base to education, tourism, and services, largely based on healthcare/medicine, finance, and high technology such as robotics. Although Pittsburgh successfully shifted its economy and remained viable, the city's population has never rebounded to its industrial-era highs. While 680,000 people lived in the city proper in 1950, a combination of suburbanization and economic turbulence resulted in a decrease in city population, even as the metropolitan area population increased again.

===21st century===
During the [[late 2000s recession]], Pittsburgh was economically strong, adding jobs when most cities were losing them. It was one of the few cities in the United States to see housing property values rise. Between 2006 and 2011, the [[Pittsburgh metropolitan area|Pittsburgh]] [[metropolitan statistical area]] (MSA) experienced over 10% appreciation in housing prices, the highest appreciation of the largest 25 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States, with 22 of the largest 25 metropolitan statistical areas experiencing depreciations in housing values.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nullspace2.blogspot.com/2011/12/more-pittsburgh-real-estate-trends.html |title=More Pittsburgh real estate trends |last=Briem |first=Christopher |date=December 30, 2011 |work=Nullspace|access-date=January 1, 2012}}</ref>

In September 2009, the [[2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit]] was held in Pittsburgh.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8072894.stm |work=BBC News |title=US to host next G20 world meeting |date=May 28, 2009 | access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref>
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