or PITTSBURG, a town of the United States of North America, state of Pennsylvania, stands at the head of the Ohio river, which is formed here by the confluence of the swift-flowing Alleghany from the N., and the deep and still Monongahela from the S., 252 miles W. by N. of Harrisburg, and 357 W. of Philadelphia. It is built on a triangular plain between the two rivers, and bounded on the E. by several hills. On the N. bank of the Alleghany stand Alleghany city and Manchester; and to the S. of the Monongahela, South Pittsburgh and Birmingham; all which suburbs form virtually one town with Pittsburgh itself, with which they are connected by bridges and steam ferries. The city proper is regularly laid out, the older portion, consisting of streets parallel and at right angles to the Monongahela, and the more recent streets being similarly arranged along the Alleghany; so that the various streets meet obliquely, and resemble in this respect the lower part of New York. The houses are generally of brick, many of them handsome, especially towards the E. end, where there are numerous delightful residences. The neighbouring country is picturesque and beautiful; and the only drawback to Pittsburgh as a place of residence, is the dense clouds of smoke which issue from the many chimneys, and hang over the town and vicinity. Among the public buildings, one of the most conspicuous is the courthouse, which stands on a hill near the E. end of the town. It is in the Grecian style, with a portico in front, and a dome 148 feet high. The custom-house, which includes also the post-office, the two new market-houses, and a large theatre, are all fine buildings. The churches in Pittsburgh and its suburbs are about ninety in number, and many of them are of great beauty. The Roman Catholic cathedral, the Episcopal church of St Peter, and the First Presbyterian church, are the most conspicuous. Of the educational establishments in Pittsburgh, the most important are the theological seminary of the Associated Re-

form Church, with three professors and thirty-five students in 1856-7; and that of the Presbyterian Church, situated in Alleghany Town, with two professors and forty-eight students in 1856-7. The Western University of Pennsylvania, which formerly existed here, was destroyed by fire in 1845, and has not since been restored. Besides the institutions already named, the town contains upwards of fifty schools of various kinds, attended by about 12,000 pupils. The town and suburbs also contain several literary associations, hospitals, banks, hotels, &c.; and numerous newspapers and other periodicals are published. Pittsburgh is chiefly important as a manufacturing and commercial town, in which respect it is rapidly increasing; and from its great natural advantages, will probably soon become one of the greatest cities in the world. The immense supplies of excellent coal, which are obtained in the vicinity with comparatively little labour and expense, not only supply a profitable article of export, but afford fuel for the numerous mills and factories in the town. Besides coal, various ores, timber, and agricultural produce can be easily obtained in the neighbourhood in the utmost profusion. Pittsburgh contained in 1850 16 ironworks of various kinds, employing 2161 hands, consuming annually 4,152,300 bushels of coal, 900 cords of wood, and 65,896 tons of iron; and producing 52,932 tons of iron and steel in various forms. In the same year there were 30 large and several smaller foundries, producing goods to the value of L400,000 annually; 33 glass-works; 5 white-lead factories; 5 large and several smaller cotton-factories, with a capital of L300,000, and producing annually L320,000 worth of goods; a copper rolling-mill; a copper smelting-house; and manufactories of gun-barrels, saws, axes, agricultural implements, &c. The whole number of manufactories in Pittsburgh, according to the census of 1850, was 819, and in Alleghany city 120; employing 10,253 hands, and producing annually goods to the value of L2,475,710. This calculation, however, is thought to be much understated; and it is probable that in 1853 the value of manufactured goods was as much as L5,000,000. The total amount of coal consumed in the same year for manufactures and other purposes was 22,305,000 bushels. Besides this, large quantities of coal are exported from Pittsburgh, amounting in 1853 to 14,403,921 bushels. In commerce as well as in manufactures, Pittsburgh occupies an important place among American towns; and for this it is indebted in a great degree to the advantages of its situation, at the foot of the western slope of the Alleghanies, and at the meeting of three navigable rivers, which afford easy communication, over many thousand miles of water, to the W.; while at the same time it is within a convenient distance of the great lakes to the N., and of the large cities on the Atlantic, with both of which it communicates by railway and canal. Thus not only the entire trade of Pennsylvania, but large quantities of goods from New York, pass through Pittsburgh to the cities and regions of the West. The principal harbour is on the Monongahela, which is deeper than the Alleghany. The building of steamers is extensively carried on at Pittsburgh, where they can be constructed better and more cheaply than at the western ports. The number of steam-vessels launched in 1854 was upwards of 80, many of them of great size and power. The aggregate tonnage of Pittsburgh, June 30, 1852, was 64,157, of which 57,783 were steamers. Pittsburgh is thus, in the amount of its steam navigation, the third city in the States, being surpassed only by New Orleans and New York in this respect. There were exported by canal from Pittsburgh in 1852, 17,577,187 lb. of iron, 7,364,436 lb. of steel, 39,586,694 lb. of bacon, 20,490,918 lb. of unmanufactured tobacco, 1,670,922 lb. of cotton, &c.; and among the articles imported by canal in the same year were,—50,564,566 lb. of iron, 17,457,733 lb. of hardware, 17,884,702 lb. of groceries, 17,102,061 lb. of coffee, and 237,616 lb. of leather. Of the entire trade of the town there are no statistics; it is, however, great and rapidly increasing, the trade with the lakes having doubled itself every year since 1844. The site of Pittsburgh was first visited by Europeans in 1753, when, as the French were proceeding to take possession of the country along the Alleghany and Ohio, Washington was sent by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to reconnoitre their movements. He reached the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela, and recommended it as a good site for a fort. In the next year, accordingly, a party was sent out to erect one; but before it was completed they were obliged to surrender it to a superior body of French, who took possession, and completed the fort—an act of aggression which led to the war with the French that raged simultaneously in all the quarters of the globe. In 1755 General Braddock made an unsuccessful attempt to regain the fort; but in 1758 it was taken by General Forbes, and named Fort Pitt in honour of the first great minister of that name. The fort was besieged by the Indians in 1765; and in the same year the town of Pittsburgh was founded. In 1806 it was incorporated as a borough; and in 1816 chartered as a city. The bridges over the Alleghany and Monongahela were constructed in 1819, and the Pennsylvania Canal was opened in 1829. Since then the town has been rapidly and steadily increasing in size and prosperity; and though in 1845 a fire destroyed more than 1100 buildings and £1,400,000 worth of property, yet within a year the vacant space was nearly all rebuilt, and the town soon recovered from the calamity. Pop. (1850), Pittsburgh proper, 46,601; Alleghany city, 21,261; Birmingham, 3742; city and district (1850), 86,771; (1853) 110,241.