78: Big Dog, Big Jim’s, Big Rain

Unique Streets: 32

Miles Walked: 8.77

Street Names (italicized were walked on another day): Sarah Street, Carey Way, S. 28th Street, E. Carson Street, Hot Metal Street, Tunnel Boulevard, Cinema Drive, S. 27th Street, S. Water Street, Hot Metal Bridge, 2nd Avenue, Swinburne Street, Greenfield Avenue, Sylvan Avenue, Waldeck Street, Bigelow Street, Kaercher Street, Forrester Street, Augustine Street, No Name, Bristol Street, Christmas Street, Tasso Street, Tasso Way, Ilion Street, Noah Street, Chambers Way, Gladstone Street, Winders Street, Parade Street, Lydia Street, Connor Street, Haldane Street, Alma Street, Moose Way, Ibex Way, Stanley Street, Moon Way, Quirin Lane, Grit Way, Rosalia Place, Musgrave Street, Yoder Street, Alvin Street, Tunstall Street, Frazier Street, Saline Street, Alexis Street, Blair Street, Jane Street

There is still so much of Greenfield to explore! I got to walk some of it today and even ventured into the new Hazelwood Green. I started out my walk in the South Side Flats on Sarah Street between S. 28th and S. 27th. The first thing I noticed was an old bakery that appears to be closed permanently. Looking in the windows it was easy to imagine what it would have been like when the display cases were filled and coffee poured out of the double pot Bunn-o-matic.

I stopped by the Big Dog Cafe and grabbed a Black & White People cookie to nibble on while I walked. I was very tired today (George thinks it’s funny to blow/spit in faces right now and I think he gave me a cold) and needed some sugar to wake me up. It worked.

I made my way towards the Hot Metal Bridge and surprisingly found a few streets I hadn’t walked on yet: Tunnel Boulevard, Cinema Drive, S. Water Street.

The South Shore Riverfront Trail brought me to the ramp up to the bridge which afforded views of the Monongahela and Downtown from an angle I’m not accustomed to. The bridge is actually two spans that use the same concrete piers. The span on the downtown side, now a pedestrian and bike trail, once carried the Monongahela Railroad Company cars and the other side (converted for car use in 2000) was used to transfer molten iron ore from the blast furnaces on the Hazelwood side to the Jones & Laughlin Company steel mill on the South Side shore. During WWII up to 180 tons of molten ore per hour were carried over the bridge. (Source)

After the bridge, I walked on the trail that runs between 376 and 2nd Avenue. Pieces of vigilante artwork were next to commissioned murals. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference.

Finally, I found myself in Greenfield.

I went up Sylvan Avenue to find interesting rock formations facing a far off view of Downtown.

Up on Forrester, which is actually in Hazelwood, I could see the Steelers Training Facility in the South Side and even better views of Downtown.

On Ilion I found an access point for the Hazelwood Greenway which a neighbor tried to claim as Private Property. Is it though?

On Christmas Way, the sky threatened to open up its bag of tricks. I started walking faster.

I took the Alvin/Tunstall Stairs off of Yoder trying to get down into the Run.

The Swinburne Bridge spans the run and I was sure I could find a way down into it from there. Turns out, you can’t, but I did see a sleeping bat (drawing) and a Pittsburgh Protractor!

Now, it was sprinkling and I had to go the “normal” way: down Greenfield and onto Saline Street. I saw an old banana trailer and another protractor!

Finally, I got to my destination: Big Jim’s in the Run.

I had a beer and an excellent Club sandwich. It was the size of my head. This is the half I didn’t eat.

The clouds let go while I was cozy and dry inside. After my lunch, I walked back down towards the river. I decided to walk a bit on the newly opened Hazelwood Green.

Currently, it exists as a two lane road flanked by a large wildflower-filled field and railroad tracks along the river.

From the Hazelwood Green Website:

Forging New Ideas.


The Hazelwood Green development site is envisioned as a place where people thrive, new ideas are forged, and the ecological condition is regenerated. It is a living laboratory – a platform for experimentation that advances Pittsburgh’s evolving innovation economy for a full spectrum of workers. It serves as a transformative model for sustainable community development that is adaptable and resilient to fast-changing markets and natural conditions that are reshaping our society.
–Almono Limited Partnership

https://www.hazelwoodgreen.com/about

I walked pretty far down it to see Mill 19.

The Mill 19 building is owned and under development by the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC). It is comprised of three phases – Phase A, B, and C – associated with the three new buildings under the steel framework that will make up a total of 260,000 square feet of new space at Hazelwood Green.
The first building (Phase A) is anticipating a Spring/Summer 2019 opening. The 90,000 sf building will be occupied by Carnegie Mellon University’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative and the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute, and Catalyst Connections. The second building (Phase B) is also under construction. A yet to be announced tenant is anticipated to occupy the building in Fall 2019.
Mill 19 was built circa 1943 by Jones & Laughlin to house munitions production during World War II. Following the war, it became a rolling mill, producing 10” bar steel. In the 1970’s when LTV Steel took control of the building it was then used to store coke oven brick. Mill 19 is approximately 100 feet wide and 1,200 feet long.

https://www.hazelwoodgreen.com/mill-19

At this point, I started walking back towards the Hot Metal Bridge to reenter the South Side.

As is always the case, when I walk back the way I came, I always see something different. That will come in handy when I have to go back to Greenfield to walk on a street I orphaned: Hessin Way.

Relive ‘6/5/19’

Check out all of the photos I took on Facebook or Google Photos.