You Had to Ask

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On the 1900 block of Sarah Street on the South Side, there is a building that has “Congregation Talmud Torah” carved above the door. Can you find out anything about the Jewish community here that would have supported a temple?

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Photographer Eugene Smith’s iconic portrait of 1950s Pittsburgh brought “Dream Street” to life. Where is Dream Street located?

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What was the name of the burlesque house that used to be on Diamond Street (excuse me, Forbes Avenue) between Smithfield and Wood? What do you know of its history?

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Why are the 31st and 40th Street bridges arched so much? It’s not like they have to allow room for tall-masted ships to pass underneath …

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Why do so many Pittsburghers think that the city is their personal dump site?

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To what extent was the streetcar used in Pittsburgh, and when did it stopped being used for transportation?

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Why is Bellefield Presbyterian Church in Oakland not located on Bellefield Street but Thackeray Avenue? Was the structure relocated to its current site?

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I was told that there was a wooden street located in Shadyside or Squirrel Hill. Is this true? And if so, what is the history behind it?

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What kind of libraries did Pittsburgh have before the Carnegie libraries were built?

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How did the “Strip District” get its name? If I tell visitors we are going to the Strip District, they immediately get an entirely different idea of what they will see!

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Was there a baseball field that the Pittsburgh Pirates played in before Forbes Field in Oakland?

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Is it true CBS television almost moved its corporate headquarters to Pittsburgh in the 1990s? I thought there was talk of a merger between CBS and Westinghouse.

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When passing Trinity Cathedral on Sixth Avenue, I stopped to check on the renovations, and to pay my respects to the Shawnee Indian chief Red Pole. But a workman told me there are no bodies buried there! Where are they?

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Is it true that the first drive-in service station for selling gasoline was created in Pittsburgh?

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My husband and I moved to Pittsburgh about four years ago. Our house has the usual basement toilet and four other bathroom toilets — but two of them have no sinks. Are these sinkless bathrooms from before they knew about germs?

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I grew up in Pittsburgh, and noticed something when I was home for Christmas: What is up with the toilets in everyone’s basements? I have never seen this in any other city!

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While walking Downtown, I note a lot of lion sculptures on local buildings. Why are lions such a prominent part of the Pittsburgh landscape?

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How did the Marquis Duquesne, a long-ago governor-general of French Canada who as far as I know never set foot here, get so many things — like a university, an old-boys’ club and a now-defunct beer — named after him?

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Whenever I pass the plaque on Smithfield Street, claiming the University of Pittsburgh was founded there in 1787 (in a log cabin, no less), I see red. I believe that plaque is a big corporate lie. Is it?

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So does this Mark DeSantis guy actually have a chance to be mayor?