A moody, noir-style illustration depicting John Bazzano, Pittsburgh’s infamous Mafia don, standing in a dimly lit alley. He wears a fedora and long overcoat, with shadowy figures and 1930s-era cars in the background, evoking the dark underworld of organized crime during the Prohibition era.

John Bazzano: Pittsburgh’s Ruthless Mafia Don

Events & Turning Points, Neighborhoods & Communities, People & Personalities

John Bazzano was, for less than a year, the leading figure in Pittsburgh’s Prohibition-era rackets, and he is remembered for the most notorious gangland killing in the city’s history and for his own murder two weeks later. His story is often told with a strongman’s swagger, but the best documented account, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s long-form…

A historical depiction of Meadowcroft Rockshelter, an ancient sandstone overhang in Pennsylvania, surrounded by dense forest.

Prehistoric Pittsburgh: From Meadowcroft to Monongahela

Events & Turning Points

Before Pittsburgh’s towering steel mills and bustling riverfronts, the land where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River was home to humans for thousands of years. The first known evidence of human habitation in the region comes from Meadowcroft Rockshelter, located about 30 miles southwest of modern Pittsburgh. This remarkable archaeological site has provided some of the oldest evidence of human activity in North America, dating back to around 16,000 BCE.