Millvale Avenue

From Pittsburgh Streets
Millvale Avenue
Neighborhoods Bloomfield, Garfield
Origin of name Millvale Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad
➤
Fitch Street (until 1894)
Portion North of the Pennsylvania Railroad (East Busway)
Origin of name Harriet Fitch Ingalls

Most of modern Millvale Avenue was originally named Fitch Street. It was first laid out from Liberty Avenue to Penn Avenue in a plan of lots by Augustus H. Gross, for whom Gross Street is named. This plan was approved by City Councils in 1869.[1] The original plan was later revised by the Friendship Park plans of 1887 and 1894.[2][3]

Fitch Street was named for Harriet Fitch Ingalls (1802–1869),[4] the mother of Eveline Gross, Augustus' wife.[5][6] Evaline Street in Bloomfield is named for Eveline Gross.

Fitch Street appears in the 1872 Hopkins atlas, which shows the street leading all the way down the hill to the Pennsylvania Railroad.[7] This was modified by Rebecca Baum's plan of lots in 1873, which terminated Fitch Street at Cypress Street.[8]

The name Millvale Avenue was first given to the portion running from Centre Avenue north to the Pennsylvania Railroad. This section of Millvale Avenue was officially located by a Pittsburgh city ordinance in 1873.[9]

Millvale Station

The name Millvale refers not to Millvale Borough on the north side of the Allegheny River opposite Lawrenceville, but rather to the Pennsylvania Railroad's Millvale Station. This station was located on the north side of the tracks, just west of where the modern Millvale Avenue Bridge crosses above the tracks and the East Busway. It had been built by 1855 and was originally named Denny's Station[10][11] for Dr. W. H. Denny, whose house was on the opposite side of the tracks.[12]

By 1859, the station had been renamed Millvale Station and James Gartside had established a woolen factory here.[13][12] John M. Gartside graduated in 1866 from Duff's Mercantile College (see Duff Street) and used "Millvale, Pa.," as his address.[14] Gartside's factory was called the Millvale Woolen Factory by 1872.[7]

Millvale Borough, on the north side of the Allegheny River, was incorporated by an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1868.[15] It had no apparent connection to Millvale Station; it seems to have been an independent coinage of the name Millvale.

A plan of lots named Ben-Venue Place was laid out just to the south of Millvale Station in 1886,[16] and by 1888 Millvale Station had been renamed Ben Venue station,[17] presumably to avoid confusion with Millvale Borough.

Millvale Avenue Bridge

The first Millvale Avenue Bridge was constructed in 1893–1894, joining Millvale Avenue on the south to Fitch Street on the north.[18]

Fitch Street was made part of Millvale Avenue by a city ordinance in 1894.[19] In 1915, another ordinance officially split Millvale Avenue into two streets, North Millvale Avenue and South Millvale Avenue, on either side of Penn Avenue.[20]

The modern Millvale Avenue Bridge was built in 1927–1928 and rehabilitated in 2007.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "An ordinance approving, confirming and locating certain streets, avenues and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh, as laid in Dr. A. H. Gross' plan of lots, Twentieth ward, approved by Councils May 31, 1869, the names being as follows: Elm (now Edmond) street, Mathilda street, Fitch street, Gross street, Winebiddle avenue, Evaline street, Conrad (now Pacific avenue) street, Herman (now Atlantic avenue) street, Rebecca street, Coral street, Liberty avenue, Penn avenue, Archon alley, Amboy alley, Darwin alley, Comrie alley, and Corday alley and unnamed alleys lying between Gross street and Fitch street and Mathilda street and Fitch street and Elm (now Edmond) street and Mathilda street." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1893–1894, no. 286. Passed Oct. 9, 1893; approved Oct. 12, 1893. Ordinance Book 9, p. 286. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1893–4, appendix, p. 91, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1893–1894 (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1893; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_6cd4d954-8bdf-4af2-90b4-4c26e96c1a0f/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_4199c61c-7206-4139-b267-cdee45c1d712/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_8f160190-9c39-435e-8d70-e5cef777d9a8/). [view source] ordinance-1893-1894-286
  2. ↑ "Plan of Friendship Park: 20th Ward, Pittsburg." Recorded Feb. 12, 1887, Plan Book 7, p. 257. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3779839. [view source] friendship-park-plan
  3. ↑ "Revised plan of Friendship Park: 20th Ward · Pittsburg." Laid out Apr. 1894; recorded Oct. 13, 1894, Plan Book 15, pp. 42–43. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3781096. [view source] friendship-park-rev-plan
  4. ↑ Maria Sabina (Bogardus) Gray. A Genealogical History of the Ancestors and Descendants of General Robert Bogardus: Arranged and Compiled by His Great-Granddaughter, p. 203. Boston, 1927. Google Books dMY1AAAAMAAJ; HathiTrust 005729755; Internet Archive genealogicalhist00gray. [view source] gray
  5. ↑ John W. Jordan, ed. A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People: Genealogical Memoirs of the Leading Families of Pittsburg and Vicinity, vol. 3, p. 244. Lewis Publishing Company, 1908. HathiTrust 008651569; Historic Pittsburgh 03awn7797m; Internet Archive centuryandhalfof03bouc. [view source] pittsburg-and-her-people-3
  6. ↑ Janet Cercone Scullion. Bloomfield, p. 14. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S. C., 2009, ISBN 978-0-7385-6577-4. LCCN 2009920833. [view source] scullion
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, p. 63. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1872. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1872-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; 1872 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] hopkins-1872
  8. ↑ "Plan of building lots, situated in the 20th Ward, City of Pittsburgh, laid out for Rebecca Baum." Laid out May 1873; recorded July 29, 1873, Plan Book 5, p. 148. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3779163. [view source] rebecca-baum-plan
  9. ↑ "An ordinance locating Millvale avenue." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1873, no. 305. Enacted Dec. 15, 1873. Ordinance Book 3, p. 431. In The Municipal Record: Containing the Proceedings of the Select and Common Councils of the City of Pittsburgh, Together with the Ordinances, &c.: With an Index, vol. V, p. 138, Pittsburgh Daily Gazette, Pittsburgh, 1873 (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1872; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_354091a4-ac98-465c-b50a-c82749d79acd/). [view source] ordinance-1873-305
  10. ↑ "District Court." Pittsburgh Morning Post, May 28, 1856, [p. 3]. Newspapers.com 86509448. [view source] district-court-1856-05-28-post
  11. ↑ "District Court." Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, May 28, 1856, [p. 4]. Newspapers.com 85558360. [view source] district-court-1856-05-28-gazette
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 S. N. & F. W. Beers. Map of Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Smith, Gallup & Hewitt, Philadelphia, 1862. LCCN 2012592151; https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/31783; 1862 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] beers
  13. ↑ George H. Thurston. Directory of Pittsburgh & Vicinity for 1859–'60. George H. Thurston, Pittsburgh, 1859, pp. 82, 89, 322. Historic Pittsburgh 31735055723062. [view source] thurston-1859
  14. ↑ "Graduated at Duff's Mercantile College, Pittsburgh, Pa." Pittsburgh Gazette, May 26, 1866, p. 1. Newspapers.com 86353875. [view source] graduated-at-duffs
  15. ↑ Mark A. Connelly. "Millvale Borough 1868 Creation." Local Geohistory Project. https://www.localgeohistory.pro/en/event/millvale-borough-1868-creation/. [view source] lgeo-millvale-creation
  16. ↑ "Plan of Ben-Venue Place at Millvale Station, P. R. R.: 20th Ward, Pgh." Recorded May 20, 1886, Plan Book 7, p. 194. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3779783. [view source] ben-venue-place-plan-1886
  17. ↑ "For sale." Pittsburg Press, Mar. 9, 1888, [p. 8]. Newspapers.com 141335934. [view source] for-sale-1888-03-09
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Todd Wilson and Helen Wilson. Pittsburgh's Bridges, pp. 84–85. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S. C., 2015, ISBN 978-1-4671-3424-8. LCCN 2015949613. [view source] wilson-wilson
  19. ↑ "An ordinance changing the name of Fitch street, between Cypress street and Breedshill street, to Millvale avenue." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1894–1895, no. 158. Passed Oct. 8, 1894; approved Oct. 15, 1894. Ordinance Book 10, p. 6. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1894–5, appendix, p. 53, J. M. Kelly Printing Co., Pittsburgh (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1894; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_02d953aa-8e1a-428b-bf40-cf7df22d8fb0/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_f7a09c13-d2ea-4072-b9a9-c4d4d9e635e3/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_1965ca5b-fa46-42fe-b0bb-15c577b29a4b/). [view source] ordinance-1894-1895-158
  20. ↑ "An ordinance changing the names of certain avenues, streets and ways in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1915, no. 117. Passed Apr. 28, 1915; approved Apr. 29, 1915. Ordinance Book 26, p. 615. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh for the Year 1915, appendix, pp. 99–103, Arlington Printing Co., Pittsburgh, 1915 (Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1915; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_eef15f75-c6fa-46d8-a436-a3f3d0d36e42/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_be726e6c-6ede-4db8-84a4-1354b0256af1/). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, May 7, 1915, sporting section, p. 4 (Newspapers.com 88028157), May 8, p. 15 (Newspapers.com 88028802), and May 10, p. 11 (Newspapers.com 88030672). [view source] ordinance-1915-117
Retrieved from "https://www.zifyoip.com/pgh/index.php?title=Millvale_Avenue&oldid=25811"