Gambling ,Prostitution in Pittsburgh's South Side ? The Interesting place known as The Lotus Club

 Gambling ,Prostitution, Loan Sharking at one time you could find it all in Pittsburgh's South side up into the 80s  There was a notorious After Hours club known as the Lotus Club. along the 2300 block of Sydney Street 

Little did people know when it first opened just what would go on there once the clubs charter was taken over by the mob  

27rooms to do what ever floated your boat when it came to gambling and other vices 

Run by Chester Stupak  considered the king of Dice Games  the club operated with impunity from law enforcement .

 I spent a lot of time in South side as a teenager attending South Vocational High School in 76  

where i went for Electrical wiring Courses and never knew about it. 

If you would like to learn more about it a walking tour of mob activities in the south side is run occasionally

info is available at  

https://steelcityvice.com/south-side-by-the-numbers

 

also check out the whole Steel city vice.com website for some fantastic storys 

 

The time when Pittsburgh Mob had a Dog Track in Ohara twp.

 When you think of the Mob in Pittsburgh  and Gambling you think about the Bug or Numbers game 

Its made millions from the mob over the years but at one point the mob dabbled into the dog racing business at a track in Ohara Twp known as Guyasuta Kennel Club  after the famous Indian chief. 

that was near the river between Aspinwall and Ohara Twp.

Unfortunately things did not go well with the track and it was short lived and forced closed

 

/

Between construction delays and  The contractor being arrested  and Opening day on independence  day 

1930  . Things got out of control from the mechanical rabbit the dogs chase failing and causing injury's and deaths of several dogs to you name it  and open gambling and bets being placed it attracted law enforcement attention and was permanently closed in late august 

There is nothing left of it or the amusement park which the track was leasing property from

The below article  link gives the full fascinating story

https://blog.historian4hire.net/2020/04/22/guyasuta-gangstersich

Paranormal Investigators Visiting old Cemetery and Grave Yards need to exercise Due Caution. Due to unstable Grave Stones Falling over and Soil Slides

I enjoy visiting old Cemetery and Grave Yards you can learn so much history let alone the paranormal experience some claim to have .

I don't go ghost hunting I visit to learn history and make sure veterans flags are taken care of. 

But this past 2 years while visiting my uncle Buzz grave to make sure he got a flag I noticed over a dozen tombstones around his which had toppled  over since last year. Even fairly new stones

Very sad this happens but it does due to badly laid stone foundation for top heavy markers  to unstable soils under the cemetery and all the rain this past 2 springs has caused cemetery which never had problems to start sliding away  which recently happened in Wheeling WV. 

https://wvmetronews.com/2024/04/04/mudslide-damages-historic-wheeling-cemetery-where-many-veterans-are-buried/#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20A%20mudslide%20caused%20by%20recent%20heavy%20rains,and%20damaged%20about%2025%25%20of%20the%2019%20acres.

 

While this slide was extreme many cemetery have smaller ones so you must pay attention especially going at night .

Just recently a young man was injured when a local cemetery he was visiting had a tombstone topple and trap his leg  when he lost his balance and grabbed for it and an older gentle man was killed earlier this year 

https://www.wtae.com/article/400-pound-tombstone-falls-on-man-he-avoids-serious-injury/30020919

 When visiting a grave yard or cemetery consider every stone unstable till proven otherwise beware of noises around you especially pops and cracking noises  because plenty of trees have been toppling over as well .

If you come across a precarious situation where something is getting ready to topple over report it to the cemetery office. 

Visit in pairs  or if going alone let some one know where your at and check in regularly

Cemetery can be fun to explore but do so safely.

A forgotten and one time secret Cold War US Mineral Repsitory Near Elrama Pa.

 As you travel  and windup Finleyville -Elrama Road in  the Finleyville  area  from PA837 you will notice a very official looking gate entry up into the hill side known as American Way

While today its in private hands it was once the US Defense Dept Strategic  Mineral Depository  where large piles of Iron Ore , Magnesium, Molybdenum  etc where stored in case of a War breaking out and US would not be able to obtain it.

 Much like the  Strategic Oil Reserves the Government Keeps .

The site was abandoned in 80s after it was determined it was no longer needed and minerals sold off  after so many mills which would have used the reserve had closed down.Including Homestead where much Armored plate was once made .

The gate has since been fixed up and area repurposed and most people traveling the road have no idea the significance this once Cold war storage facility played in protecting the country  I also believe part of it may have also served as Nike Missile or defense site  site  further up the hill were old military type structures that once existed all that's left is the fence

Obviously due to sensitive nature of this subject little is available for public knowledge as it is still a security concern . But their was massive planning when US was threatened by the USSR  we will never know about .

Thank God there was this planning  and was never needed.

Forgotten Horrific Accident that saw the deaths of 2 Pittsburgh Police Officers who where responding to an emergency in Pittsburghs South Side

 As you drive by the corner of 26th street and Sarah street you pass a now vacant corner where a walk up ice cream stand once was stood

They had good ice cream but then closed one day never to reopen and eventually it was torn down.

However few now recall the tragic story this stand played on March  6 1991 when Pittsburgh Police Officers  Joseph Grill and Thomas Herron would loose their lives in a horrifying accident running into the stand after colliding with another pair of officers who where also in chase of a stolen car in Pittsburgh's South Side 

Both pairs did not realize they where both approaching the same intersection and tragedy happened 

https://state-killings-in-the-steel-city.org/2018/12/03/joseph-john-grill-and-thomas-lawrence-herron/#:~:text=Officer%20Joseph%20Grill%20and%20Officer%20Thomas%20Herron%2C%20partners,officers%20in%20the%20other%20vehicle%2C%20were%20seriously%20injured.

 

 Its been 33 years since the accident and they are both missed. I knew both of these Station 7# officers having worked with them as a security guard during a massive power line project by DLC which where where both protecting .

The old station 7# is no longer used except for weekends as a temporary command post  but outside you will find a granite memorial and marker which remembers these 2 brave souls.

Many pass this Old White Barn in North Hills of Pittsburgh . But do you know its history?

 If you have ever traveled up Camp Horne Road in North Hills of Pittsburgh you more than likely passed an old white barn where Camp Horne turns into Mt Nebo Road and Lowries Run Road

But as you look around when leaves are off the tress you see some old remnants in the woods surrounding it . 

 Whats now been long time abandoned was once a beautiful Golf Course  known as Green Valley with a interesting history 

In 1893 after learning to play golf in Massachusetts a local Pittsburgher  John Moorehead jr.  was excited to bring the game here to his native Pittsburgh 

 After setting the game up at several different country clubs   In 1947 on his Family homestead he opened Green Valley  Golf Club which operated till 2003 when it was sold to Allegheny Health networks who originally where interested in building a Hospital on the property but in 2004 a terrible Hurricanes Remnants came thru Pittsburgh Hurricane Ivan and destroyed much of the property .

The hospital was never built and it sits abandoned today you can barely see the barn now that trees have grown up all around it. 

This Beehive had nothing to do with bees and is now closed Forever

 If you ever traveled out US 22 William Penn highway in Delmont you more than likely passed a rundown wooden building and the infamous  Beehive Sign which advertised an adult book store and entertainment venue

The places was always kind of dingy till they did a  small remodel and painting a few years ago and for most part was  out of the public eye except for a couple incidents involving  illegal drugs .

This was one of many adult bookstores and clubs that one time where located in Westmoreland County  

along US 22   the most Infamous and now closed was Climax I and II  further up the road which where forced closed  couple decades back .

 

The adult Book stores and clubs where numerous all thru Allegheny and Westmoreland but Technology caught up with them  and in some cases the law. Liberty ave in Pittsburgh was polluted with them and was a famous Red light District till the massage parlor wars broke out and all the clubs , book stores and adult theaters are gone leaving only the old Edison hotel  gentleman's club left .

Recently the infamous adult bookstore on Route 51 in Elisabeth closed  as well as 2 adult stores in Butler county after pressure from community groups forced them out in 80s.

Between the Internet and Porn Hub and Amazon and Wish  you no longer need to go to an adult book store to buy overpriced movies and adult toys .

So young men and lady's will never know the thrill of sneaking into one of these places in the middle of the night.  

Of course several  so called Gentleman's  Clubs have opened so not all is lost.  lets face it their nothing more than Titty Bars . But if that's the kind of entertainment you like so be it.

But the golden age of red light districts is over in the tristate .