Music Building (University of Pittsburgh)
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| Music Building | |
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| (U.S. Registered Historic District Contributing Property) |
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| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Area: | Schenley Farms Historic District |
| Built/Founded: | 1884 |
| Architect: | Frederick J. Osterling |
| Architectural style(s): | Richardsonian Romanesque |
| Added to NRHP: | July 22, 1983[1] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 83002213 |
| Governing body: | University of Pittsburgh |
The Music Building is an academic building of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District.[1][2] It was originally built by architect Frederick J. Osterling as a gray stone Richardsonian Romanesque mansion in 1884 by Carrie T. Holland, youngest daughter of pioneer Pittsburgh iron manufacturer James K. Moorehead, as a gift for her husband William Jacob Holland, pastor of Bellefield Presbyterian Church at Fifth and Bellefield avenues in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.[3] William Jacob Holland was also a nationally recognized zoologist, paleontologist, and entomologist and went on to become a trustee (1886) and then chancellor (1891-1901) of the University of Pittsburgh, then called the Western University of Pennsylvania. [4]
The Holland's house sat across the street from Holland's church, Bellefield Presbyterian, a wooden structure that was replaced by a stone Richardsonian Romanesque structure in 1890 that matched his house. The Hollands sold their house some time before 1912. It became a Knights of Columbus club, was given to the University of Pittsburgh in 1953 by Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, and served the first home of public television station WQED and the original production site of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood before becoming the home of Pitt's music department.
In 1967, the Bellefield Presbyterian Church merged with and moved to the First United Presbyterian Church at Fifth and Thackeray, which adopted its name. The old church was dismantled in 1985 except for its tower, which still stands.[5]
The Music Building was recently renovated and enlarged and is home to the Music Department Library, a piano lab, the electronic music studio, the ethnomusicology lab, a student/faculty lounge, practice rooms, teaching studios, offices, seminar rooms, and classrooms.[6][7]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-09). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- Alberts, Robert C. (1987). Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787-1987. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-1150-7.
| Preceded by Log Cabin |
University of Pittsburgh Buildings Music Building Constructed: 1884 |
Succeeded by William Pitt Union |
