Downtown Walking Tour: Grant Street (from Sixth to Fourth Avenues)

In 2012, the American Planning Association designated Grant Street one of America’s Ten Great Streets for its exceptional architectural character, a mix of historic landmarks and modern skyscrapers, diversity of uses, tree-lined median, and “coherence and beauty.” Extending from the Monongahela River to Liberty Avenue, Grant Street is indeed Downtown’s grand civic boulevard. This tour focuses on the section from 4th to 6th Avenues, taking in exceptional works by Henry Hobson Richardson, Frederick Osterling, Henry Hornbostel, Rafael Guastavino, and Daniel Burnham. It also provides a primer on Pittsburgh’s history from 1758 to the early 20th century and reveals Henry Clay Frick’s enormous influence on this section of Grant Street.