Island: (
Satellite, the island in the Allegheny River)
Tower: (
Satellite)
The island contained stockyards and slaughterhouses, then warehouses and now residential units, offices & parks. It was renamed Washington's Landing when it was cleaned up in the 1990s for residential use and when the
30th Street Bridge was built for easy access.
Note that it also has an extensive marina.
Rather than do a Google search, I'm going to recognize that
pghbridges has written a better history than I would write.
The island was settled by Benjamin Herr who operated a water powered mill in the back channel. Federal regulations required that livestock being transported by railroad must be given rest stops. Stockyards were constructed on Herr's Island. Over time, the stockyards were expanded; slaughterhouses and processing factories covered the island.
Later the stockyards were closed and replaced by warehouses. Sculling teams from local universities discovered the still waters of the back channel and used this area for training. Herr's Island was rechristened Washington's Landing by the City of Pittsburgh as part of the clean-up and rehabilitation of the former industrial brownfield site. A new 30th Street bridge was built for reliable access by vehicles.
With the raised environmental consciousness of the early 1990s, Herr's Island was rediscovered, cleared and cleaned as part of a residential and recreational development which includes a marina, recreational trails and riverside park areas.
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| 1951/51 Pittsburgh East Quad @ 24,000 |
The oldest topo map that I could find more accurately depicts the stockyard pens.
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| 1904/04 Mc Keesport Quad @ 62,600 |
Actually, it looks like the island had been converted from stockyards to warehouses before the 1951 topo map was made.
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| Dave Kunt commented on his post |
CQ Junction Tower
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Darren Reynolds posted
Conrails ( Ex-PRR) "CQ" tower...... I don't know anything about this tower Any information would will be appreciated... Joe Cearfoss: CQ was on the Conemaugh Line just east of where the mainline came west out of Pittsburgh. If I remember correctly it controlled movement in and out of Herr's Island. Worked it one time and a cut of loaded cattle cars was set off. There must have been a slaughter house on the island. Ed Fraticelli: Joe Cearfoss A huge slaughterhouse. It took YEARS for the stink to go away before Herrs could be developed. Now it’s a beautifully-built residential and small business community. Nice to ride around on a bike! Michael Maitland: Have maps that show Herr Island as the stockyards for Pittsburgh so can imagine trains in and out, including the B&O, made this busy. |
The shadow makes it easier to see the tower near the middle-bottom of this excerpt. The
truss bridge is now used for a trail.
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