Click on these photos (as always) to enlarge them. You can barely discern the old city steps as they pass through the thickets. Notice the blue and white street sign in the middle of the photograph. This is China Street, a public thoroughfare.
You can run a MapQuest search for "China Street, Pittsburgh," and it will zoom you straight to this spot...just near the Old Stone Tavern (below). Funny how MapQuest treats this overgrown staircase as if it were an actual roadway, something travel-worthy and capable of supporting your contemptible SUV.
In Pittsburgh, "city steps" are still relatively common. A public street can become a public staircase in places where the grade is too steep for regular traffic. This place was given up on long ago, but the street sign doesn't actually look that old.
China Street is only a few car lengths away from the Old Stone Tavern and the Tavern's Ledger (at the Carnegie Library in Oakland) from 1793 - 1797 shows John China on pages 138 and 197 and William China on page 246 as visitors. Do you suppose the street could have been named after one of them?
ReplyDeleteExcellent observation, circusvue! It never occurred to us that China could be a surname. Thanks.
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