A customer of mine on Nevile Island bought the old Liberty Pittsburgh Tag company building on Grand Ave. after a long strike by workers saw the company end up in bankruptcy , which has been many things over the years it started out as a Printing Company then became Triangle News Company warehouse then a furniture clearance warehouse and finally Pittsburgh Tag. All this time a small brick building at the top of the property sat empty and unused rotting away.
Thousands of people have passed this little brick building unaware its significance during WWII
as it served as the Headquarters for the US Navy Shore patrol an armed force which patrolled the island 24/7 during WWII as it was high up on the list of industrial facility's which Nazi Germany had on its list of places to hit as the LST Landing Ship Tanks and other boats where built on the island. In fact if you where caught on the island without a special pass you could well end up shot on site for being a spy.
 |
| Lockers for personnel |
 |
| door to small armory where riffles where kept |
 |
| A LST paid for by Citizens of Allegheny County being commissioned at N I Boat Yard |
 |
| Bench in the jail cell which held drunks and those who came on island with out a pass |
Unfortunately nothing was left on the inside of the building but the old jail cell minus its barred door and an empty armory vault My customer in an effort to save it had a new roof and windows installed and hopes to one day feature it as a small museum on the islands history during WWII and open as a museum some day but for now it sits empty and secured and on private property and inaccessible till it can be restored some day .
No comments:
Post a Comment