The 1927 Armored Car Bombing “Dante’s Inferno”
The Day Someone Blew Up a Payroll Convoy Near Pittsburgh On a quiet South Hills road on the morning of March 11, 1927, the ground exploded. Not metaphorically. Not as a figure of speech. Someone had buried hundreds of pounds of black powder beneath the roadbed, waited for a Brink’s payroll convoy to roll over…
Kate Soffel: Pittsburgh’s Most Scandalous Prison Break
If you lived in Pittsburgh in January 1902, you couldn’t escape the story. Kate Soffel—wife of the Allegheny County Jail’s warden—helped the condemned Biddle Brothers escape and fled with them into the winter night. The scandal shocked Pittsburgh and became one of the most notorious crimes in the city’s history. Who Was Kate Soffel? Kate…
Blue Mist Road: The Irwin Murders and Pennsylvania’s Most Haunted Highway
The Real Blue Mist Road – A Secluded North Park Byway Blue Mist Road is not a name you’ll find on an official map, but locals in Allegheny County know it well. The road’s real name is Irwin Road, a narrow lane tucked deep into North Park, just north of Pittsburgh. By day, it’s a…
Cookies, Community, and Tradition: The Story of Pittsburgh’s Wedding Cookie Table
Imagine you’re attending a wedding in Pittsburgh. The bride and groom are swaying through their first dance, the band is playing a familiar tune, and guests are clinking glasses. In the corner of the reception hall, however, another star of the show awaits: a cookie table overflowing with homemade treats. Tiered platters display hundreds of…
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: When the Nation’s Rails Stopped in Their Tracks
Hard Times on the Iron Rails In the mid-1870s, life for American railroad workers was harsh. The country was mired in a severe economic depression following the Panic of 1873, often called the Long Depression. Businesses were failing by the thousands, unemployment was high, and those who still had jobs saw their wages dropping. The…
Bloomfield’s Little Italy Days: A Celebration of Italian Heritage
Italian Roots in Bloomfield (Early 1900s) Bloomfield, a neighborhood just three miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, earned the nickname “Pittsburgh’s Little Italy” thanks to a wave of Italian immigration in the early 20th century. While the area was initially settled by German Catholic immigrants (who built St. Joseph’s Church in 1886), Italians from villages in…