Submitted by anonymiz123 t3_11wmg6x in pittsburgh
jetsetninjacat t1_jczkmr2 wrote
Reply to comment by threwthelookinggrass in Was Grant’s Hill an Indian burial mound, or a natural feature? by anonymiz123
One of my great great grandfathers and great grandfathers owned a part time excavating company that worked on this project. I heard all of the cool family stories about it growing up
Wouldwoodchuck t1_jczz9m1 wrote
And…..
jetsetninjacat t1_jd08o9f wrote
I'm sure you can read about most of it online now. So they tried to do it a few times before(like 100 years before) by slowly removing the land down until this last time where the removed it completely. The final project was a "we have to do this now and fast" kinda thing. The laborers and my family got paid pretty damn well, almost double the usual rate . There was tons of localized damage as well after from them hurrying it up. The steam shovel and laborers just worked with little caution and destroyed a bunch of stuff to get it done. The city didnt care and just paid out to fix it all so the laborers really didn't reign in their destruction as they worked. The steam shovel dumped a whole load on and killed a team of horses. Apparently my great grandparenrs had enough horse to eat for a week. The fill from the hill filled in an old ravine where schenley plaza is. At the time the museum was a library and there were a bridge crossing the ravine about where the schenley fountain is today. They leveled it all off with the rock and dirt from the excavation and the story passed down is that the bridge is still down there underground. They didn't dismantle it and just filled in around and under it. There's more that I can't think of right now besides the fact that some of the buildings on grant street had their basements turn into ground levels(court house) and others you can see where they modified their entrances.
Side note their side hustle also had a hand in moving the whole county morgue building. You can read about that interesting story online as well. I do know the morgue was a more delicate move done with caution.
Most of the stories about it are all over the internet now when over 2 decades ago it was knowledge to share at cocktail parties.
Wouldwoodchuck t1_jd0g3as wrote
Truly, thanks for sharing
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