Object Type: Folder
In Folder: Non-City Records
Photograph of a drawing of the front elevation (Smithfield St) of the Municipal Hall designed by Joseph W. Kerr. The image (measuring approximately 9.25 by 13.25 inches) is on cardboard, the reverse side of which includes a custom business stamp of the photographer, reading: "P. A. Stout, Photographer, 10, 12, & 14 St. Clair St. Pittsburgh, Penna."
1869
A document dated May 12, 1869, identifying the date the City Hall cornerstone was laid (May 13), the names of the Board of Commissioners for the Erection of a City Hall, and the names of contractors involved in the building's design and construction. The document measures approximately 11 by 17 inches and includes a rectangular business plate on the reverse side that reads: "Sold by J. R. Weldin & Co., 101 Wood St., Pittsburgh." J. R. Weldin sold books, gifts and stationery.
1869-05-12
A letter from Jospeh W. Kerr addressed to future architects in the City of Pittsburgh, dated May 13, 1869, the day the cornerstone of Pittsburgh's City Hall was laid.
1869-05-13
A pamphlet produced by Joseph W. Kerr advertising his patented Ventilating Sunlight Gasalier which, he writes, "is a new and improved mode of ventilating buildings by means of the gas used in lighting them." He lists a number of buildings in which the method was then in operation.
1869
A pamphlet from the American Institute of Architects containing its constitution and by-laws, as amended June 2, 1868. The top of the cover page includes a notation in pencil, "J. W. Kerr, 80 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh."
1868
A form letter sent to members of the American Institute of Architects from its President, Richard Upjohn, requesting members to enter into correspondence with the Institute's Secretary, Russell Sturgis, Jr., on several matters pertaining to the organization and, more broadly, the architectural profession in the United States.
1869-01-25
A publication covering the proceedings of the Second Annual Convention of the American Institute of Architects, held in New York on December 8, 1868.
1869
A print measuring approximately 2.5 by 3.5 inches featuring the proposed Pittsburgh City Hall on Smithfield St, c. 1869. The image is affixed to a piece of cardboard.
1869
A meeting notice sent on January 30, 1869 to Joseph W. Kerr from Thomas Steel, Secretary of the Board of Commissioners for the Erection of a City Hall, notifying Kerr to attend the Board's meeting on February 1 at 7pm at their office at 66 Smithfield St. The notice measures approximately 5 by 3 inches.
1869-01-30
A document detailing brick work for Pittsburgh City Hall on Smithfield St., dated Feb. 3, 1869. Joseph W. Kerr, the architect, includes a handwritten note at the end of the document stating that the contract was awarded to Emanuel Ecker and Sons for $52,262. Items 11 and 12 of this collection were found inside this document.
1868-02-03
A circular addressed to the building mechanics of Pittsburgh created by Jospeh W. Kerr, dated August 17, 1868, in which he reprints an article “on Honest Building” from the May 23, 1868 edition of the London Builder, “hoping thus to incite an ambition in you to Build Better, and so raise yourselves to command Honest Wages, and proper respect from all honorable men.”
1868-08-17
A paper print measuring approximately 8.5 by 10.75 inches featuring a drawing of the proposed City Hall at the corner of Smithfield St and Virgin Alley (now Oliver Ave).
1868
A document detailing carpenter's work for Pittsburgh City Hall on Smithfield St., dated Feb. 3, 1869. Joseph W. Kerr, the architect, includes a handwritten note at the end of the document stating that the contract was given to Charles Ferguson for $12,000.
1869-02-03
A document detailing iron work for Pittsburgh City Hall on Smithfield St., dated Feb. 3, 1869. Joseph W. Kerr, the architect, includes a handwritten note at the end of the document stating that the contract was given to Charles J. Schultz for $27,000, with an additional $3,000 contracted to Burke and Barnes for safe doors.
1869-02-03
A document detailing stone work for Pittsburgh City Hall on Smithfield St., dated Feb. 3, 1869, with handwritten amendments made by the architect, Joseph W. Kerr. Kerr also includes a handwritten copy of specifications for the building's foundation and cellar walls, dated May 3, 1869. In a separate document included in the collection (Item 3), Kerr writes that the stone in the foundation and cellar walls was extracted from the walls of the locks of the old Pennsylvania Canal.
1869-02-03
An excised article from the March 1869 edition of The Architectural Review and American Builders’ Journal on “The Ventilation and Warming of the Municipal Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa.,” by Lewis W. Leeds.
1869-03
A diagram illustrating the ventilation and heating of Municipal Hall, Pittsburgh, from an article in the March 1869 edition of The Architectural Review and American Builders’ Journal entitled, “The Ventilation and Warming of the Municipal Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa.,” by Lewis W. Leeds. The Municipal Hall's architect, Joseph W. Kerr, included the excised article and illustration in a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of the building on May 13, 1869.
1869-03
The first copy off the press of A Digest of the Acts of Assembly and a Code of the Ordinances of the City of Pittsburgh (printed by Errett, Anderson & Co., 1869), which was compiled by City Attorney J. F. Slagle at the direction of City Council. The volume includes the Act of March 5, 1804, incorporating the Borough of Pittsburgh; the Act of March 18, 1816, incorporating the City of Pittsburgh, with additional supplements added through 1867; a digest of City ordinances; and an appendix with additional ordinances and an additional act of the General Assembly, approved April 6, 1867, called "A Further Supplement to the Acts Incorporating the City of Pittsburgh, Extending its Boundaries, Enlarging its Corporate Powers, and Perfecting its Municipal Organization, and Submitting the Proposed Consolidation to a Vote of the People." Both the acts of Assembly and the ordinances are arranged alphabetically. A handwritten note on the first page reads: "First copy from the press and no time for binding. You who find these sheets can have them bound to suit your own taste!!! May 12, 1869." The sheets were subsequently bound in green boards with a dark green leather spine and blue- and silver-marbled endpapers.
1869
A pamphlet concerning the actions of Pittsburgh Select and Common City Councils concerning their opposition of the repeal of the Consolidation Act, approved April 6, 1867, which allowed Pittsburgh to annex the townships of Collins, Liberty, Peebles, Oakland and Pitt.
1868
A report from a Commission appointed by Allegheny County to ascertain the separate indebtedness of each city, borough and township included in the expanded boundaries of the City of Pittsburgh following the Consolidation Act of April 6, 1867.
1868
A directory included in a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of City Hall on Smithfield St, which was laid on May 13, 1869.
1869
A bound volume containing issues of Quarterly Trade Circular from Feb. 1863 to Nov. 1865, published by George H. Thurston. The volume was included in a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of City Hall on Smithfield St, which was laid on May 13, 1869.
1863-1865
A bound volume containing issues of Quarterly Trade Circular from Feb. 1866 to Dec. 1868, published by George H. Thurston. The volume was included in a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of City Hall on Smithfield St, which was laid on May 13, 1869.
1866-1868
A loose issue of Quarterly Trade Circular from March 1869, published by George H. Thurston. This item was included in a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of City Hall on Smithfield St, which was laid on May 13, 1869. Items 21 and 22 of this collection are two bound volumes containing all previous issues of Quarterly Trade Circular.
1869-03
A lithograph on parchment paper (measuring approximately 72.5 x 53.5 cm) that was included in a time capsule placed in the cornerstone of City Hall on Smithfield St on May 13, 1869. The map was likely made between 1864 and 1867. The red "x" placed near Grant and Webster Streets marks the location that Joseph W. Kerr, architect of the building, had preferred and suggested for the new City Hall (see Item 3 of this collection, a letter Kerr addressed to the "Architects of the future City of Pittsburgh").
1864-1867
