Industrialization Of Pittsburgh Essay

It was in the late 1800’s when the American Industrial Revolution really began to transform the city of Pittsburgh into the industrial hub for which it will be known. Without the help of the Industrial Revolution Pittsburgh might never have grown into the cultural center it is today. Over time the population of Pittsburgh grew from around 140,000 people in 1870 to 2,355,968 according to the 2010 census. This kind of growth can be attributed to the industrialization of Pittsburgh and the increase of factories and immigration that would come with it.

Before Pittsburgh began to be really changed by the Industrial Revolution it was already one of the most industrial cities in the United States. Pittsburgh was known for its glass and iron production,

boat building, steel, and whiskey production. Oil refining and natural gas (1867) food processing and railroad cars. At the its height of glass production Pittsburgh was the leading glass producer in the world. By 1870 the glass industry held sixty-eight factories in Pittsburgh and was producing half of the United States’ total amount of glass. Not only was Pittsburgh the leading glass producer in the world but it was also the world’s largest refiner of petroleum products. This reign as the world’s largest refiner of petroleum products ended fairly briefly because soon after it began John D. Rockefeller created his Standard Oil company which would draw more customers to Cleveland, Ohio. Another already favorable industry found in Pittsburgh was the textile industry. There were five large textile mills in Pittsburgh and multiple smaller ones throughout the city.
Pittsburgh has many advantages in the world of industry.

One particular advantage is its proximity to raw materials needed to manufacture goods. Pittsburgh is particularly close to raw materials like wood, limestone, coal, sand, and cotton. In and around the city of Pittsburgh there were a good many coal mines to supply the coal used for household heat, light, powering steamboats, and powering factories manufacturing other goods. There are around twenty major forests in the state of Pennsylvania and the majority of them are located in central Pennsylvania. By using the rivers as a form of transporting raw materials Pittsburgh was able to transform into a large industrial

city.
Pittsburgh has a very unique and favorable geography.

It is situated on three major rivers, the Monongahela, Allegheny, and the Ohio. The Monongahela and Allegheny meet at “the Point” in Pittsburgh and combine to form the Ohio river.These three rivers were one of the most used methods of transporting goods. The Monongahela runs northeast while the Allegheny runs southeast and the Ohio runs west. Another admirable trait of Pittsburgh’s geography is its proximity to other industrial cities. It is only three hundred and sixty-eight miles from Pittsburgh to New York City and only about four hundred and sixty miles from Pittsburgh to Chicago. It is only three hundred and four miles to Philadelphia and only two hundred and eighty-six miles to Detroit. Because of closeness between these cities it makes it easier and less expensive to transport goods between these major cities.

Another asset that Pittsburgh could use to its advantage would be its banking. Pittsburgh today is the second leading banking city. It has become such a popular banking city that a section of Fourth Avenue has been nicknamed “Pittsburgh’s Wall

Street”.
Lastly another resource used to make Pittsburgh a powerful industrial city is immigration. Pittsburgh’s geographical location it makes a prime spot for immigration. Its situation on three main rivers and it being a major hub of transportation along with its abundance of factories and potential jobs makes it an ideal immigration destination. This was one of the most popular stops for immigrants and can be seen by the way former professor of American history at the University of Pittsburgh, Leland D. Baldwin describes Pittsburgh in his book Pittsburgh: The Story of a City in which he says “No picture of any river town in western Pennsylvania would be complete without notice of the omnipresent immigrants”.
With this immigration Pittsburgh began to fill with more people from different places, who came with with different and sometimes valuable new ideas that make life today as comfortable as it is. Without immigrants the comfortable life we live today would not be possible. Immigration brought people like Andrew Carnegie who was born in Dunfermline, Scotland and John Heinz whose parents came from Germany and Bavaria. Others brought able bodies to carry out work in factories and small businesses that helped Pittsburgh to thrive.