Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 21, 2014 11:45 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Paul Costa |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Recognizing Fort Pitt Block House on its 250th Anniversary |
In the near future, I will be introducing a resolution to commemorate the Fort Pitt Block House on its 250th anniversary. Built in 1764, the Fort Pitt Block House is all that remains of Fort Pitt, one of the largest and most elaborate British forts in North America and a key defense during the French and Indian War. In the early 1900’s, Pittsburgh almost lost the local treasure when the Pennsylvania Railroad sought to build a major track junction where the Block House is located using eminent domain. The Fort Pitt Block House would have been relocated or worse, if not for the efforts of State Rep. Michael H. Kennedy of Lawrenceville, who introduced legislation to protect colonial or revolutionary war buildings from removal using eminent domain. State Rep. Kennedy’s legislation passed in 1907 as the Historic Sites Act, which saved the Fort Pitt Block House from being moved. Today, 250 years later, the Block House still stands at its original location in Point State Park - a witness to Pittsburgh's history as a frontier fort, large industrial center and leading modern city. Gifted to the Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1894, it has remained free and open to visitors for over a century. I ask that you please join me in co-sponsoring this resolution. Thank you. |
Introduced as HR862