Editing History of Pittsburgh (section)

==Iron City (1800–1859)==
[[File:Courthouse Pittsburgh 1857.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Second Court House, completed 1841<ref name="Ballous">{{cite book |title=Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion |date=February 21, 1857 |publisher=Ballou's, Boston |isbn=0-942301-23-4}}</ref>]]
Commerce continued to be an essential part of the economy of early Pittsburgh, but increasingly, manufacture began to grow in importance. Pittsburgh was located in the middle of one of the most productive coalfields in the country; the region was also rich in petroleum, natural gas, lumber, and farm goods. [[Blacksmiths]] forged iron implements, from horse shoes to nails. By 1800, the town, with a population of 1,565 persons, had over 60 shops, including general stores, bakeries, and hat and shoe shops.<ref name="Lorant"/>

The 1810s were a critical decade in Pittsburgh's growth. In 1811, the first [[steamboat]] was built in Pittsburgh. Increasingly, commerce would also flow upriver. The [[War of 1812]] catalyzed growth of the Iron City. The war with Britain, the manufacturing center of the world, cut off the supply of British goods, stimulating American manufacture.<ref name="Lorant"/> In addition, the British blockade of the American coast increased inland trade, so that goods flowed through Pittsburgh from all four directions. By 1815, Pittsburgh was producing $764K in iron; $249K in brass and tin, and $235K in glass products.<ref name="Lorant"/> When, on March 18, 1816, [[Pittsburgh]] was incorporated as a city, it had already taken on some of its defining characteristics: commerce, manufacture, and a constant cloud of [[coal dust]].<ref name=cl>{{cite web |title=Pittsburgh in 1816 |year=1916 |url=http://www.clpgh.org/research/pittsburgh/history/pgh1816.html |publisher=Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh |access-date=November 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202145839/http://www.clpgh.org/research/Pittsburgh/history/pgh1816.html |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Other emerging towns challenged Pittsburgh. In 1818, the first segment of the National Road was completed, from [[Baltimore]] to [[Wheeling, West Virginia|Wheeling]], bypassing Pittsburgh. This threatened to render the town less essential in east–west commerce. In the coming decade, however, many improvements were made to the transportation infrastructure. In 1818, the region's first river bridge, the Smithfield Street Bridge, opened, the first step in developing the [[Bridges of Pittsburgh|"City of bridges"]] over its two rivers.{{Cn|date=April 2023}} On October 1, 1840, the original Pennsylvania Turnpike was completed, connecting Pittsburgh and the eastern port city of [[Philadelphia]]. In 1834, the [[Pennsylvania Main Line Canal]] was completed, making Pittsburgh part of a transportation system that included rivers, roads, and canals.<ref name="WQED">{{cite web |title = Key Events in Pittsburgh History | work = WQED Pittsburgh History Site |url=http://www.wqed.org/education/pghist/units/WPAhist/keyevents.html |access-date=April 14, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080318002320/http://www.wqed.org/education/pghist/units/WPAhist/keyevents.html |archive-date = March 18, 2008}}</ref>

Manufacture continued to grow. In 1835, McClurg, Wade and Co. built the first [[locomotive]] west of the Alleghenies. Already, Pittsburgh was capable of manufacturing the most essential machines of its age. By the 1840s, Pittsburgh was one of the largest cities west of the mountains. In 1841, the [[Allegheny County Courthouse|Second Court House]], on Grant's Hill, was completed. Made from polished gray sandstone, the court house had a rotunda {{convert|60|ft|m}} in diameter and {{convert|80|ft|m}} high.<ref name="Boucher">{{cite book |title=A century and a half of Pittsburgh and her people |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryandhalfof03bouc |last=Boucher |first=John Newton |publisher=The Lewis Publishing Company |year=1908}}</ref>
[[File:WLA cma View of the Great Fire of Pittsburgh 1846.jpg|thumb|right|Great Fire of Pittsburgh, 1845]]

Like many burgeoning cities of its day, Pittsburgh's growth outstripped some of its necessary infrastructure, such as a water supply with dependable pressure.<ref>{{cite book |title=History of the Allegheny Fire Department |publisher=Allegheny Fire Dept. |year=1895}}</ref> Because of this, on April 10, 1845, a [[Great Fire of Pittsburgh|great fire]] burned out of control, destroying over a thousand buildings and causing $9M in damages.<ref name="Ballous"/> As the city rebuilt, the age of rails arrived. In 1851, the [[Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad (1848–1856)|Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad]] began service between Cleveland and [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania|Allegheny City]] (present-day [[Northside (Pittsburgh)|North Side]]).<ref name="WQED"/> In 1854, the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] began service between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Despite many challenges, Pittsburgh had grown into an industrial powerhouse. An 1857 article provided a snapshot of the Iron City:<ref name="Ballous"/>
* 939 factories in Pittsburgh and Allegheny City
** employing more than 10K workers
** producing almost $12M in goods
** using 400 steam engines
* Total coal consumed — 22M bushels
* Total iron consumed — 127K tons
* In steam tonnage, third busiest port in the nation, surpassed only by New York City and [[New Orleans]].
[[File:Monongahela River Scene Pittsburgh PA 1857.jpg|thumb|right|370px|Monongahela River Scene, 1857.<ref name="Ballous"/>]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|-
!Year
!City Population
!City Rank<ref name="census">{{cite web | url = https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/twps0027.html | title = Population of the 100 largest cities and other urban places in the united states: 1790 to 1990 |access-date =May 16, 2013 |work=US Census Bureau}}</ref>
|-
|1800
|1,565
|NA
|-
|1810
|4,768
|31
|-
|1820
|7,248
|23
|-
|1830
|12,568
|17
|-
|1840
|21,115
|17
|-
|1850
|46,601
|13
|-
|1860
|49,221
|17
|}