Author: Bob Benz

furnace_ppgHDR.jpg

Originally uploaded by Suffering the Benz

During our trip to the ‘Burg, Lara and I took one of the tours sponsored by Rivers of Steel, a non-profit group that’s doing great things to preserve Pittsburgh’s industrial past. They offer several tours, and this one, Babushkas and Hard Hats, focused on the immigrant experience in Pittsburgh. (Babushkas are the head scarves Eastern European women wear, but when I was a kid, we used the word to describe any older Hunky woman.)
In short, the tour was fantastic, especially since it focused on several sites that are pivotal in a novel I’ve been plotting out for several years (but never have gotten around to writing …)
We started on the Southside at Station Square, where I snapped this HDR picture of the Clinton Furnace with the PPG building in the background. The Clinton furnace was one of the first Bessemer blast furnaces in the area and revolutionized steel making in Pittsburgh and across the world. We also saw key sites in from the Homestead Steel Strike, which is a pivotal part of the novel I’m plotting. And perhaps most importantly, we stopped at H and B Bakery for some Eastern European sweets.