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The first European settlements in the Pittsburgh area were French forts and trading posts. During the French and Indian War ( 1754- 1763), the British colonies captured Fort Duquesne, which sat at the confluence of the MonongahelaThe Monongahela River is a river of the eastern United States of America. It is one of the largest rivers in the US to flow in a generally northerly direction. It rises in the Allegheny Mountains from the confluence of two lesser streams near Fairmont in and AlleghenyThe Allegheny River (historically, especially in New York state, also spelled Allegany River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 325 mi (523 km) long, in the U. states of New York and Pennsylvania. It drains a rural dissected plateau of 11,580 rivers, at the part of downtown Pittsburgh now known as " the Point ". The British built a larger fort on the same site and named it Fort PittFort Pitt was a fort in what is now Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was named Fort Pitt for William Pitt the Elder after the British under General John Forbes captured the French-held Fort Duquesne in 1758. They destroyed the old fort and rebuilt it wi in honor of the British statesman William Pitt the Elder.
After the Revolutionary War, Pittsburgh was the center of the Whiskey RebellionThe Whiskey Rebellion was an insurrection in 1794 by settlers in the Monongahela Valley in western Pennsylvania who fought against a federal tax on liquor and distilled drinks. The ineffective government of the United States under the Articles of Confeder, which was put down by an army under the direct command of President George WashingtonGeorge Washington ( February 22, 1732— December 14, 1799), also called Father of his Country 1 was an American general and Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War ( 1775 1783) and later the first President of the Unite.
Beginning in the early 19th centuryAlternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical ( 18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801- 1900. Events The Little Ice Age ended, Pittsburgh's proximity to large coal deposits and excellent positioning along major trade routes made it one of the world's leading industrial powerhouses. Steel production was a major industry for many years, earning the city its nickname, "The Steel City". Pittsburgh lies at the confluence of the Monongahela River and Allegheny River, which merge to form the Ohio River, ultimately draining into the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. As an industrial city, Pittsburgh was also a major hub of early railroad activity. Millions of European immigrants settled in and around Pittsburgh in the 19th and early 20th centuries to seek employment in the steel mills, coal mines, railroads, or numerous associated industries.
On July 21, 1877, a day after bloody rioting in Baltimore from Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of nine rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh staged a sympathy strike that was met with an assault by the state militia — Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. Another major confrontation occurred during the Homestead Strike in 1892.
Thanks to the presence of the nearby Bettis Laboratory and the Shippingport power plant, Pittsburgh became the world's first nuclear powered city in 1960.
With the recessions of the 1970s and the advent of cheap foreign labor, Pittsburgh's steel mills found themselves unable to compete with foreign steel mills, and most closed down. This created a ripple effect that decimated the local economy, as railroads, mines, and factories across the region shut down, one by one.
The collapse of the US steel industry in the 1970s marked a major turning point for the city of Pittsburgh, and brought with it an unexpected renaissance as the mills closed and Pittsburgh began to shed its image of a dirty, smoky place. Pittsburgh was spared the fate of other postindustrial Rust Belt cities as the basis of the economy dramatically shifted from heavy industry to services and high technology. Pittsburgh is also home to various new skyscrapers, the tallest being the U.S. Steel Tower, famous for having only three sides. Also notable on the city skyline is the futuristic PPG Plaza .
Pittsburgh's population decline during the last half century is remarkable:
| Year | City Population | City Rank [1] | Population of the Urbanized Area [2] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 676,806 | 12 | 1,533,000 |
| 1960 | 604,332 | 16 | 1,804,000 |
| 1970 | 540,025 | 24 | 1,846,000 |
| 1980 | 423,938 | 30 | 1,810,000 |
| 1990 | 369,879 | 40 | 1,678,000 |
| 2000 | 334,563 | ||
| 2002 | 327,898 (estimate) |