Andrew Carnegie: The Man Who Built Pittsburgh and Gave It Away

Introduction: From Dirt Poor Immigrant to the Richest Man in America

Few figures loom larger in Pittsburgh’s history — or in American capitalism — than Andrew Carnegie. Born poor, Carnegie became the world’s richest man, building a steel empire that literally constructed modern America. But just as remarkable was what he did next: giving nearly all of it away.

Carnegie’s name is forever linked to Pittsburgh — its libraries, its landmarks, and its legendary rise as the Steel City. Yet the real story of Andrew Carnegie is one of grit, ruthlessness, philanthropy, and contradiction. This is the journey of how one man built Pittsburgh, changed the world, and tried to redeem himself in the process.

Early Life: A Poor Boy from Scotland Arrives in Pittsburgh

Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland. His father was a weaver who struggled as industrialization made his craft obsolete. In 1848, the Carnegie family immigrated to the United States in search of a better life, settling in Allegheny City, now Pittsburgh’s North Side.

They lived at 336 Rebecca Street (modern-day Reedsdale Street), in a tiny two-room home. Carnegie later wrote:

“There was scarcely a family in our circle that had not to endure bitter privations.”

Young Andrew began work at age 12, earning $1.20 a week as a bobbin boy in a textile mill. Later, as a telegraph messenger and then operator, Carnegie demonstrated a remarkable memory and ambition. One address he would later frequent was the Western Union Office on Wood Street, the heart of Pittsburgh’s early business district.

The Railroad Years: Carnegie Learns the Art of Capitalism

Carnegie’s big break came when he caught the eye of Thomas A. Scott, a powerful executive with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Scott made Carnegie his personal secretary and protégé.

During these years, Carnegie mastered:

Corporate structure
Cost-cutting strategies
Investments in oil, iron, and bridges

He also learned a harsh truth of business: control the bottlenecks — the rails, the bridges, the steel.

One of Carnegie’s earliest offices was at Carnegie Brothers’ offices in the Monongahela House, once located at Smithfield Street and the Monongahela Wharf.

Carnegie later wrote:

“The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”

Building the Steel Empire: Carnegie’s Pittsburgh Rise

Carnegie founded Carnegie Steel Company in the 1870s, riding the wave of America’s rapid expansion westward. His genius was vertical integration — owning the mines, railroads, mills, and shipping. This made him unbeatable.

Key Pittsburgh Sites of Carnegie’s Empire:

The Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, PA, opened in 1875, is still partially operational today.
Carnegie Steel Mill in Homestead, later the site of the infamous labor strike.
The Duquesne Works in Duquesne, PA, once the largest steel plant in the world.

Carnegie’s success came at a price. Workers labored 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, for low pay. When challenged, Carnegie — through his lieutenant Henry Clay Frick — crushed unions, most infamously during the 1892 Homestead Strike.

Yet Carnegie was often abroad, spending his fortune on art and rubbing shoulders with royalty. He wrote:

“While the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race.”

Selling to J.P. Morgan: The Birth of U.S. Steel

In 1901, Carnegie shocked the world by selling Carnegie Steel to financier J.P. Morgan for $480 million (about $16 billion today). Morgan merged it into U.S. Steel, America’s first billion-dollar corporation.

Carnegie, now the richest man on Earth, turned his focus to a new mission: giving his fortune away.

“The duty of the man of wealth is to set an example of modest, unostentatious living… and to consider all surplus revenues as trust funds for the benefit of the community.”

The Gospel of Wealth: Carnegie the Philanthropist

Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth” essay, published in 1889, laid out his philosophy: The rich had a moral obligation to distribute their wealth wisely.

Over the next two decades, Carnegie gave away over $350 million — almost 90% of his fortune. His gifts reshaped Pittsburgh and the world.

Pittsburgh Landmarks Still Standing:

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (Main Branch)

4400 Forbes Avenue, Oakland
Opened 1895, it became one of the finest public libraries in America.
Carnegie built 2,509 libraries worldwide — but Pittsburgh was first.

Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History

Located adjacent to the library at 4400 Forbes Avenue
Home to priceless dinosaur fossils and Old Master paintings.

Carnegie Institute of Technology (Now Carnegie Mellon University)

5000 Forbes Avenue
Founded 1900 to train engineers and practical minds.

Homestead Carnegie Library and Music Hall

510 E 10th Ave, Munhall, PA
Built in 1898 as a peace offering after the strike — still a community hub.

He also funded:

Carnegie Hero Fund — rewarding acts of civilian heroism.
Tuskegee Institute — supporting Black education.
Church organs for 7,000 churches.

Controversies and Contradictions

Carnegie’s legacy is complicated. He preached peace yet profited from war steel. He funded libraries but crushed union men at Homestead.

“I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.”

Many called him a “benevolent tyrant” — kind-hearted from afar, ruthless in business.

His own workers rarely saw his charity. As Frick once said:

“He has his ways of being a great man — mine is to be a man.”

Final Years and Death

Carnegie retired to Shadow Brook, his massive estate in Massachusetts, and spent winters in New York.

He died on August 11, 1919, at age 83. By then, he had given away more money than anyone in history — equivalent to billions today.

His grave is in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, New York — not Pittsburgh. Yet his spirit lingers in every Pittsburgh library, museum, and school that bears his name.