PITSSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Founder of the Odd, Mysterious and Fascinating History of Pittsburgh, John Schalcosky, joined KDKA Radio on Friday morning to talk about the history of St. Patrick's Day in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh has a long, rich Irish history and Schalcosky highlighted some of the things that tightly connects the Irish to Pittsburgh.
St. Patrick’s Church in the Strip District
Founded in 1808.
First Catholic Church of Pittsburgh.
Used to be Catacombs underneath building, longer than 100 yards.
Burned down three times – Catacombs were mostly destroyed during third fire.
Whiskey Rebellion
Irish led protests against a whiskey tax that was put on people in the Pittsburgh area. A lot of people were dependent on whiskey for trading and drinking. This had a major influence of organizing, being one of the first nationalities to organize labor together through shared connections.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
It is generally known that 1868 was the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pittsburgh. However, Schalcosky found a parade dated back to 1847, where there were over 600 Irishmen walking down the street. Hotels were rented and celebrations took place.
March 16, 1936
The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers flooded and washed out the entire Northside. A peak of 46 feet was reached, mainly due to 36 inches of snow. 500 people were injured and over 135,000 were left homeless.
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