Resurrecting Allegheny City
Published Nov. 2007;
Paperback Original; 300 pgs. 44 illustrations.
$16; Available through the Author
A Regional Best-Seller
NOW IN FIFTH PRINTING
~ The Original modern research work on Pittsburgh’s North Side, c 2007 ... based on the Allegheny City Archives & funded by the PA Historical & Museum Commission ~
“One of the most successful local books we’ve seen” –John Mekonis, Manager, Borders Pgh. Mills
ISBN 978-0-9798236-0-2
$16; Self-Published by the Author
Library of Congress Catalog # 2007932820
History/Pittsburgh/Urban Studies–Pennsylvania
Still Available now through the Author
Resurrecting Allegheny City is also available in eBook formats (2014)
Purchase for your Kindle or Nook on Amazon or barnesandnoble.com
OR purchase via author ~ eBook purchased on this site is a PDF file uniquely electronically signed and with special dedication by the author
This book was supported by a grant from the PA Historical and Museum Commission & the Buhl Foundation
One hundred years have passed since Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania annexed a large land tract that already had an illustrious history as a city of its own. What became known from December 9, 1907 on as the North Side of Pittsburgh was originally a place called Allegheny City.
In population, land size and economic power at that time, the first-ranking city in the state was Philadelphia. The second and third, respectively, were Pittsburgh and Allegheny City. Flourishing in all ways imaginable, Allegheny City was “consolidated” against its will. Despite eventual acclimation and further prosperity as part of Pittsburgh, the identity of Allegheny City, indelible, hangs as a mist over the land– for descendants of original families, for historians, and for visitors that today see all the modern spectacles set on the age-old stage that is the lowland at the juncture of three majestic rivers.
“The largest amount of material in the state on the cultural and social history of a region” describes the recently-unearthed archives of Allegheny City. They inform this book, along with much else, to give perhaps the most proper look, finally, to this lost city, this society that was Allegheny. Meticulous municipal detailings, housing surveys and discourse of the day tell so much of the 1800s. This work is also the first to look in-depth both at the natives who first put down footpath and peopled it, and, filled with significant maps, at the long transformation of the land. The latter went from early-on forest and remarkable witness to the French & Indian War, to common pastures to estate holdings to residential developments. Though now part of Pittsburgh for one hundred years and counting, the hills and valleys, woods and runs, early “Burying Ground,” and overlooks and sunken islands are all imprints of the numerous catalysts that happened here.
This portrait of a place tells a tale up to present day– tracing land-plot histories, showing a forward-moving society of the 1800s still centered around a town square of the 1790s, presenting life within pre-twentieth century homes, and even addressing the recent era where modern homesteaders have successfully battled challenges before and into the new millennium. Resurrecting Allegheny City explains why, in 2007, many Pittsburgh Northsiders are sacredly tied to their neighborhood, their historic homes, and the very land upon which they find themselves rooted. They are defined, still, by Allegheny City.
An unmistakable opportunity exists, at the time of the Centennial of the Consolidation, to celebrate the legacy of Allegheny City, but to also understand how that legacy can transform the North Side of Pittsburgh as it moves toward its future. The publication of Resurrecting Allegheny City for the Centennial date vividly brings to life what indeed still survives to this day in the spirit of the land, structures and people– connecting history to the current work of every resident, employer and visitor to the northern bank of the Allegheny River. In so doing, it will also educate and entertain all individuals even slightly curious about the goings-on centuries ago in early southwestern Pennsylvania.
Purchase the book from Lisa and get a signed copy with special designation to yourself or a friend
Previous Regional & East Coast Appearances /Interviews /Features for both of Lisa’s Books, her Music and Creative Work...
Sat. July 28 2012– Barnes & Noble Boardman-Poland Rd (Rt 224), OH.
Wed. Sept. 26, 2012–Carnegie Library of Pgh, Allegheny Branch (Federal St)
Thur. April 5, 2012–12:30 p.m. — Literary Arts–Youngstown State University
Tues. Nov 16, 2010–7 PM–Discussion–Mex. War Streets Society
Sat. Dec. 4, 2010–Noon–Lecture–Daughters/Am. Revolution, Oakmont Country Club
MyMac Interview posted Nov. 8, 2010
Television Interview
Dec 28, 2009 -- 9 a.m.
KDKA-TV, "Pittsburgh Today Live"
Interview w/ Lisa Miles on her creative work
December 7, 2008 –9 P.M.
PA Cable Network, “PA Books”
Discussion with Lisa Miles on both her books:
“Resurrecting Allegheny City” & “This Fantastic Struggle”
National & East Coast Radio Interviews
Sept. 24, 2010 WJON-AM St. Cloud, Minnesota, 10:15 a.m. (CENT.) w/ J. Caldwell
April 11, 2010 & May 24, 2009 WIP-AM Philadelphia, PA., 60 min.
Live Interviews. The top-rated Conversations with Peter Solomon
June 7, 2009 at 9:30 AM EST
97.1 WASH-FM Washington DC., Women of Vision
Lisa Miles is Interviewed by Lori Brooks
Women of Vision/Local Artists – Lori Brooks talks with Lisa Miles, a Creative Artist and Original Music Composer. They discuss surviving as a struggling artist. Supporting local artists of all kinds ie., painters, performers, musicians, etc. Mental health issues of unemployed artists. Depression. Unemployment. Where to buy local artists’ work to support what they do.
May 26, 2009, Nationally-Syndicated
Frankie Boyer Lifestyle Show from Boston, MA.
Interview w/ Lisa Miles
12:00-1:00 P.M.
I will talk to author Lisa Miles about her book This Fantastic Struggle: The Life & Art of Esther Phillips. A heartwarming story of friendship sustained by the power of a now-extinct literary tradition– keeping alive not just friends over distance & illness, but art work otherwise lost to the world . Her website details her credentials of twenty years in the above fields, including grants national, statewide and locally.
Sat., October 4, 2008 The Saturday Light Brigade,
Award-Winning Public Radio for Kids and Adults
Live, On-Air Discussion with Lisa Miles about Educational Project
January 21, 2003, 91.3 WYEP-FM Pittsburgh, PA. Prosody.
Lisa Miles is interviewed by Jan Beatty
AUTHOR APPEARANCES/ SIGNINGS/ READINGS
May 21, 2009
Author Discussion: Lauri Ann West Memorial Library
February 28, 2009
Author Discussion: Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls
January 24, 2008
Author Discussion: Riverview Park Alliance
February 9, 2008
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
March 8, 2008
“Author Signing 2nd Invitation”
Borders Pgh. Mills
May 21, 2008
Beaver County Genealogy Society
May 22, 2008
Woods Run Branch, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
May 23, 2008
Borders EastSide (Music Performance & Signing)
June 19, 2008
Westmoreland Museum of American Art
June 21, 2008
Bridgewater Book Festival, Beaver, PA
June 27, 2008 (Reception)
June 28, 2008
Mexican War Streets Art Show & Sale
Firehouse Gallery, 1416 Arch Street, North Side
August 12, 2008
Book Discussion funded by PHC
Downtown Branch of Carnegie Library of Pgh.
August 19, 2008
Butler County Library, North Trails Library
Discussion Series
Sept. 15, 2008
Butler County Library, Prospect Community Library
Discussion Series
September 17, 2008
Sewickley Historical Society
Sweetwater Art Center, Sewickley, PA
Oct. 8, 2008
Butler County Library, Mars Area Public Library
Discussion Series
Oct. 29, 2008
Butler County Library, Cranberry Public Library
Discussion Series
Nov. 17, 2008
Butler County Library, Saxonburg Area Library
Discussion Series
Book Premiere & Author Reception
The Weekend of North Side Centennial
Saturday, December 8, 2007 from 2:00 PM-10:00 PM
Open House at the Author’s Historic ‘Old Allegheny’ Home
November 23, 2007
Borders Pittsburgh Mills
November 24, 2007
Borders North
November 29, 2007
Borders Monroeville
December 1, 2007
Holiday Book Fair, Heinz History Center
December 13, 2007
Borders South
December 14, 2007
Bistro To Go, 415 East Ohio Street
December 19, 2007
Beleza Coffeehouse, 1501 Buena Vista Street
December 22, 2007
Priory Fine Pastries, 528 East Ohio Street
December 23, 2007
Borders EastSide
EARLIER DISCUSSIONS
• Seton Hill College–Women in Art
• Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Arts in Society–
Biography, Memoir & Life History
• Youngstown (OH) State University’s Women’s Studies Dept
• Art Institute of Pittsburgh–Arts Advocacy
(Professional Development for High School Teachers)
• Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Seeing Artists as Workers: A Fantastic Struggle
• The Heinz History Center (Archival Research)
• Carnegie Library (Literary Tradition)
Earlier Readings:
• Pgh., PA & Boardman, Ohio’s Barnes & Nobles
• B Dalton Books, Boardman, OH
• Waldenbooks, Pittsburgh, PA
• Pittsburgh’s Garfield Artworks
• Spinning Plates Artist Lofts
• Peoples Oakland Mental Health Center
• Downtown Partnership Young Professionals Night
• Women’s Resource Center, and Dark Night Performance Series
• PAPSYRS mental health conference, Harrisburg, PA
• NAMI mental health conference, Pgh, PA
• McDonough Museum of Art
• Youngstown State University’s Summer Festival of the Arts
• NorthSide (Pgh) Leadership Conference’s Community Gala
Also...
• PA NAMI (National Association for the Mentally Ill) Mental Health
Conference, Harrisburg, Pa — Lead workshop on Creativity and Mental Illness)
• Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Wood Street Galleries–The Artist’s Role in Society