Hello all,

I need your help locating a street in the Spring Hill/Allegheny area of Pittsburgh.
In an obituary I have from 1903, it says the deceased lived "at the upper end of Voretto Street, Spring Hill, Allegheny" (at least, I think it reads Voretto Street). So far, however, I have not been able to find a street by that name (or anything similar) in that area.
It should be in the (direct) proximity of St. Boniface Church on Royal Street, because there's only a 30-minute span between leaving the house of the deceased and the start of the requiem mass. (This being 1903, so I'm assuming everything's still done by horse and carriage!)

Is it possible the area where the deceaed (and her family) lived was demolished for redevelopments (like the I-279, for instance)?

I hope anyone from the Pittsburgh area can help!

Kind regards,
Henk

Hello all,

I need your help locating a street in the Spring Hill/Allegheny area of Pittsburgh.
In an obituary I have from 1903, it says the deceased lived "at the upper end of Voretto Street, Spring Hill, Allegheny" (at least, I think it reads Voretto Street). So far, however, I have not been able to find a street by that name (or anything similar) in that area.
It should be in the (direct) proximity of St. Boniface Church on Royal Street, because there's only a 30-minute span between leaving the house of the deceased and the start of the requiem mass. (This being 1903, so I'm assuming everything's still done by horse and carriage!)

Is it possible the area where the deceaed (and her family) lived was demolished for redevelopments (like the I-279, for instance)?

I hope anyone from the Pittsburgh area can help!

Kind regards,
Henk


I just reread the original newspaper clipping, and I realize the street name must be Loretto Street instead of Voretto Street.
Maybe that'll help... :-\\

Henk

I just reread the original newspaper clipping, and I realize the street name must be Loretto Street instead of Voretto Street.
Maybe that'll help... :-\\

Henk



There is a Loretto Road. I hope this link works.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Loretto+Rd,+Pittsburgh,+PA+15217/St.+Boniface+Church,+2208+East+St,+Pittsburgh,+PA+15212/@40.4477468,-80.0057747,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834f1ea547a43cd:0x61878261d96050b5!2m2!1d-79.9385574!2d40.4209612!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834f3ecfffd57ab:0x3150e46a6d2bcbb8!2m2!1d-79.9998618!2d40.467072!3e0


Cat

There is a Loretto Road. I hope this link works.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Loretto+Rd,+Pittsburgh,+PA+15217/St.+Boniface+Church,+2208+East+St,+Pittsburgh,+PA+15212/@40.4477468,-80.0057747,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834f1ea547a43cd:0x61878261d96050b5!2m2!1d-79.9385574!2d40.4209612!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834f3ecfffd57ab:0x3150e46a6d2bcbb8!2m2!1d-79.9998618!2d40.467072!3e0


Cat


Thanks for your help, Cat. The link works perfectly.

Unfortunately, this can't be the right Loretto Road, for three good reasons:
One, it isn't named Loretto Street, as it says in the obituary.
Two, it isn't located in Spring Hill/Allegheny. As I found out, Pittsburgh and Allegheny were different cities altogether until 1907, when Pittsburgh annexed Allegheny City (much to the dislike of the Alleghenyans).
And three, it is too far away from St. Boniface Church. In the obituary it says that the mourners will leave the house of the deceased at 8:30 AM, and a requiem mass will be starting at 9:00 AM the same day. Even by car, that's pretty tight scheduling! (And this being 1903, so I'm assuming everything is still done by horse and carriage.)

Henk

There is a Lorreta street in Pittsburgh ... but it's a modern day 20-25 min drive across town (but with traffic lights etc). The journey also needs to cross the river.

Isn't Lyricboy from Pittsburgh? Maybe PM him and ask. I think he knows a bit about the history of the area

Edited to add

According to wikipedia the church is located in an area that used to be known as East Street Valley and there is a FAcebook group. Henk you would need to ask to join the group, but there might be people with the information you are looking for.

I tried looking at oldmapsonline.org and found this

https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/ids:9780537

Royal Street is not on the map but comparing with the modern map looks to be located in the pale area labelled Reserve between Sunset and Buente

I couldn't spot Loretto Street though

Thanks everyone for your help. :)

I did some more research myself, especially on the site of Historic Pittsburgh.
After some digging I came across a 1902 "Pittsburgh and Allegheny Directory". In the directory, it says that the deceased (Genofeva Merz) lived on Long Lane near Buente.
While looking at historic maps from that area and time, I've already noticed that many streets are known by more than one name.
So I'm assuming Long Lane and Loretto Street are (or were) one and the same.
Mystery solved...? :-\\