Iconic Pittsburgh: The City's 30 Most Memorable People, Places and Things

Book excerpt: The Steel City has boasted some of the most famous figures, landmarks and innovations in the country's history. Pittsburgh's past is littered with dozens of fascinating stories behind the icons that define it. Mary Schenley was the city's biggest benefactress of the nineteenth century, gifting the site of the 425-acre park in her name, but her fortune was almost lost when she eloped at the age of fifteen. The first ever call-in radio talk show began at famed KDKA in 1951, inspiring the birth of an entire industry. Mount Washington offers tourists sweeping views of the city today, but it once supplied coal to Pittsburghers and was the site of a sixteen-year underground mine fire. Author Paul King lists the best people, places and things of Pittsburgh's grand history.