Famous photojournalist Clyde Hare moved to Pittsburgh in 1950 and went to work at the Pittsburgh Photographic Library to help document the city’s urban renewal. Later on, he worked for magazines such as Life, Fortune, Time, and the National Geographic.
Hare took this photo in April 1951, when Polish Hill was still named Herron Hill. The photo is titled Steps Leading to Harding Street at the End of Herron Avenue Bridge — but the title — and the description in the Historic Pittsburgh Image Archive — are actually misleading.
The steps actually lead from Downing and Hancock Streets down to Herron. Here are the same steps now — it even looks like same railings are still in place:
This photo was taken from higher up, but it’s the same angle of descent, same turn. The houses that were there in 1951 are mostly gone, and the knotweed obscures the stone outcropping. But if you’re one of the people that walk these stairs regularly, they’re immediately recognizable.
…..and these steps are one of the many “heart-healthy” reasons that Polish Hill Girls have always had some of the most beautiful legs in Pittsburgh !!! <3
Is that the Norreh Club’s parking lot? I used to walk by there going across the 28th Street Bridge on my way to St. John the Baptist parochial school on Liberty Avenue from Melwood Avenue on Polish Hill.