PITTSBURGH — The Photo Antiquities Museum on the North Side is filled with images of the past - both Pittsburgh’s and the world’s. It’s a fascinating look at photographic history
“No running water. No electricity. Nowhere to throw their garbage, and of course, no bathrooms, said Bruce Klein, the founder of Photo Antiquities.
Stunning shots of Pittsburgh’s Strip District during the Great Depression were captured by Sun Telegraph chief photographer Ed Salomony. They show a shantytown of displaced workers living in homes cobbled together from discarded boards and boxes. They are the only known photos of the shantytown.
“We are capturing a moment in time that creates memories for the future,” said Klein.
The pictures are on permanent display at the museum, which is the only 19th-century photographic museum in the United States. There’s also a collection of photographs of Civil War generals. All of them are vintage originals.
“We have a photograph of Lincoln and his General Grant, and then Jefferson Davis and a Robert E. Lee,” Klein said.
At the museum, you’ll also find vintage lenses and photographic equipment, along with displays that show a Pittsburgh long ago.
One photograph is of the Bessemer Furnace in 1885, illuminated only by the light of the Bessemer process.
Another shows the great invention of George Ferris - his Ferris wheel in a Pittsburgh park before it debuted to the world at the exposition in Chicago.
There are countless others, including Forbes Field, where the first World Series was played, and the downtown courthouse while it was still white – before the smoky, industrial skies would darken it.
The museum’s next exhibit is on Abraham Lincoln and is billed as the largest showing of Lincoln photos under one roof in the United States. It opens in August and will run for a year.
For more information on the Photo Antiquities Museum