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NSlocal t1_jcyvxh6 wrote

I think this pic depicts the bluff. Grant's Hill wasn't this big.

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anonymiz123 OP t1_jd0fob8 wrote

Thank you! Having issues finding any images or paintings of it.

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threwthelookinggrass t1_jczbc3k wrote

Article about the removal process that was consequentially published today: https://www.wesa.fm/arts-sports-culture/2023-03-20/what-happened-to-grants-hill-in-downtown-pittsburgh

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jetsetninjacat t1_jczkmr2 wrote

One of my great great grandfathers and great grandfathers owned a part time excavating company that worked on this project. I heard all of the cool family stories about it growing up

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Wouldwoodchuck t1_jczz9m1 wrote

And…..

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jetsetninjacat t1_jd08o9f wrote

I'm sure you can read about most of it online now. So they tried to do it a few times before(like 100 years before) by slowly removing the land down until this last time where the removed it completely. The final project was a "we have to do this now and fast" kinda thing. The laborers and my family got paid pretty damn well, almost double the usual rate . There was tons of localized damage as well after from them hurrying it up. The steam shovel and laborers just worked with little caution and destroyed a bunch of stuff to get it done. The city didnt care and just paid out to fix it all so the laborers really didn't reign in their destruction as they worked. The steam shovel dumped a whole load on and killed a team of horses. Apparently my great grandparenrs had enough horse to eat for a week. The fill from the hill filled in an old ravine where schenley plaza is. At the time the museum was a library and there were a bridge crossing the ravine about where the schenley fountain is today. They leveled it all off with the rock and dirt from the excavation and the story passed down is that the bridge is still down there underground. They didn't dismantle it and just filled in around and under it. There's more that I can't think of right now besides the fact that some of the buildings on grant street had their basements turn into ground levels(court house) and others you can see where they modified their entrances.

Side note their side hustle also had a hand in moving the whole county morgue building. You can read about that interesting story online as well. I do know the morgue was a more delicate move done with caution.

Most of the stories about it are all over the internet now when over 2 decades ago it was knowledge to share at cocktail parties.

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Redditmedaddy69 t1_jczggdx wrote

Did the native Americans in this area even do mounds?

I've never heard of one locally

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jetsetninjacat t1_jczk8gw wrote

Mckees rocks had one. It's a former shell of itself after it was cut down for a train rail and storage depot.

https://pahistoricpreservation.com/spotlight-series-mckees-rocks-mound/

Huge controversy over it which is deserved.

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[deleted] t1_jd10vbi wrote

[deleted]

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jetsetninjacat t1_jd11bd8 wrote

Some would say the loss of manufacturing, the steel industry, and other jobs following the steel collapse as well as many years of mafia and other organized crime run control.... but sure, we'll go with that.

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JoeNoble1973 t1_jczjnpj wrote

The one down in Moundsville, WV is pretty huge. No idea if the peoples that built that one did any that are closer, though.

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LockelyFox t1_jczl55y wrote

The Mounds in Monongahela was supposedly the second largest Native American burial site in the Eastern US.

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Eubadom t1_jczukl8 wrote

There's one in Brighton Heights

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AlleghenyCityHolding t1_jd0fmad wrote

Which local entity has the history on it?

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Eubadom t1_jd0s0e9 wrote

Not sure. I think It's private property I'm pretty sure it's never been fully excavated and confirmed. I think it's kept on the down low purposely but when I was growing up in BH everyone knew about it. I always found it interesting that it lines up pretty well with the mound in McKees Rocks and probably had a clear line of sight if it was clear of trees.

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NSlocal t1_jd2ul2c wrote

It hasn't been confirmed and should remain on the DL. There's another suspected mound nearby but this one is clearly marked no trespassing.

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anonymiz123 OP t1_jd0fkbm wrote

They’re all over the place, even in NJ where I grew up. They were all dismantled by farmers.

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NSlocal t1_jd2wxmn wrote

There were many suspected mounds, some confirmed. There are numerous newspaper clippings about them being found in Wester PA and along the OH river valley. Typically if there was one there would be more nearby.

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jralll234 t1_jd34yj0 wrote

There’s even a town near Wheeling built around a burial mound. Moundsville WV.

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Redditmedaddy69 t1_jd4xd3u wrote

Yeah I knew there were some within an hour or so, I've visited the one in moundsville. Just never heard of one as close as McKees Rocks which was cool to learn !

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badBoyBobbby t1_jd3hksa wrote

I watched a documentary once that claimed native american mound building started in the northeast and over time migrated south. The further south you go the more impressive the mounds get (Mesoamerican aztec pyramids).

Not sure if it was true but it sounded like it made sense.

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