Did a saint Protect the Parishners of St Michaels Church in Southside from the Cholrea Epidemic in 1853?

St Michael's Parrish long time the home of the Passion Play sits along the slopes of Pittsburgh's  South Side it was a sprawling complex of buildings which was closed by the consolidation  of churches in the 1980 due to the closing of steel mills which saw many parishioners move out of town.
But besides its historical role in conducting the Passion play  known as Veronica's Veil Which I was fortunate to see one time .

http://diopitt.org/parishes/saint-michael-south-side

Which appears to have  closed in 2006 over financial issues 

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2006/03/28/Financial-problems-postpone-Veronica-s-Veil-until-June/stories/200603280177

But this is not what the church is only known for it is also known world wide for the special day

 a saint is Honored St Roch  

an excerpt below  from South Side Slopes . Org website explains the special miracle   which happened for the church 

 

http://www.southsideslopes.org/church-route-print/

St. Michael Church and the Cholera Plague of 1849 – The influence of the church is strong in the Slopes. St. Michael Church was started in a house in 1848 where the church front now stands.  The main church was designed by Charles Bartberger and built between 1855 and 1860 on land donated by German immigrants.  The surrounding land reminded them of the Rhine River valley.  The building’s style is Rhineland Romanesque Rival similar to rural Bavarian churches.  It has a gothic spire. In 1849, a deadly cholera plague hit Pittsburgh. The parish could not find enough burial places for deceased members. Parishioners prayed to St. Roch and vowed to keep a day holy if the plague would cease. It did. Another plague hit the South Side in 1853 but no members of St. Michael died. Cholera Day is still observed each August in Prince of Peace Parish on the South Side. The church was closed through a consolidation within the parish, and St. Michael is being redeveloped as the Angels’ Arms condominiums.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Roch

To this day a special celebratory mass is held with in the Prince of Peace Parrish which is the merger of south side churches  to St. Roch
I believe in Miracles I am a walking example having survived Stage IV colorectal cancer .I really do believe there is a higher power a creator .

St Matthews one of the consolidated churches into Price of Peace has also been turned into fancy upscale condominiums .

The Curry Hotel where some guests checked in but never checked out

Knocked to the ground and hauled away as part of a intersection realignment  the Old Curry Hotel in the South Hills  along Curry Hollow Road & Brownsville Road served travelers well into the late 70's with overnight rooms  But then stayed just a Bar Changing its format a couple of times. It was closed a few years then re opened as Sally Double Eagle Saloon  I was hired to install the Burglar Alarm in the bar in late 80's
 
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19980624&id=IoNIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aG8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6799,3520117

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19930721&id=g65RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=X24DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6477,2571657

A neighborhood  dive bar where you could stop and have a couple beers on the way home. 

it was not a very fancy place and basically looked like an old farm home  from outside.

 and had a large porch on one side  but the people where always nice and the beer cold  and Sally was a hell of a cook .

The upstairs bedrooms went unused  when they reopened and when installing the cameras and alarms I had to work upstairs and it reminded you of an old west movie hotel. There was a ledger book showed all the guests who stayed over the years but every time I was up there it always felt like some one was watching you and the place was creaky upstairs  made noises every time you walked on the floors.
Employees often said when in bar by them selves it sounded like some one walking around upstairs.
But when they looked no one was there. Supposedly a couple guests passed away while staying there but that appears to be speculation.  I can not find anything to substantiate it let alone a picture of the bar from the outside.  It was a nice piece of  the town of Curry History now gone.

Yes at one time Pittsburgh did have a Fire Boat like other big citys

I was in Cub scouts Pack 224 in early 60's when I got the ride of a life time  on the City of Pittsburgh Fire Boat.  The C.D Scully named for a former mayor    which a few short years later would be decommissioned and sent to some where in Florida believe it has been scrapped.

No longer seen as viable and a waste of taxpayer dollars the boat which sat at a birth around 6th street in the south side of Pittsburgh   and visible from the Liberty bridge was barely being used as Pittsburgh no longer had so many docks and warehouses close to the river bank  which would burn as many where torn down .

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19730630&id=dJ9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3305,4133187

However in the 80's the city fire bureau  and rescue officials was caught with its pants down when a pleasure craft caught fire and no resource was available to respond so a small fire pump is now fitted on the craft that are part of the river rescue center on the north side.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19830818&id=FzkgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3WEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3298,848909

The berth where the boat sat and command center is now a public park but it was temporarily given a reprieve and used in the movie  "Striking Distance " with Bruce Willis where he had his home on the river in the movie .

Its a part of Pittsburgh history few know about and you would have to be in your 50's to have experienced.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19450602&id=k2wxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x2kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2925,3007521

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19561102&id=mSkNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3GsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7246,306318

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19430619&id=wLI0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=_2kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3820,5894708

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19460625&id=HScjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=32kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4202,2246600

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19730630&id=dJ9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3305,4133187

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19430616&id=zM8aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oUwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4944,5149567