Why This Pittsburgh Neighborhood is Mostly Forest
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2024
- I'm trying some new styles of filming, still trying to find the best ways to tell these stories. Let me know what you think. Be sure to visit Hays Woods!
Old Aerial Photos of PA: datacommons.maps.arcgis.com/a...
Old Maps of Allegheny County: historicpittsburgh.org/pittsb...
Maps of Hays Woods: friendsofhayswoods.com/maps/
Dr. Patrick's Book: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/near...
Works Cited
tile.loc.gov/storage-services...
orderisda.org/culture/la-nost...
www.pittsburghbeautiful.com/2...
historicpittsburgh.org/island...
www.davidrumsey.com/luna/serv...
www.davidrumsey.com/luna/serv....
historicpittsburgh.org/island...
historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US...
www.abrahamhaysfoundation.org/
mtbproject.com/assets/photos/...
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After watching this video I literally cheered out loud because THIS is what TH-cam is for. Passionate, intelligent creators with small channels creating interesting and entertaining art. Instant subscribe. Much love from the Reading area
Thank you! That means a lot. Reading is a city I’ve never been to, but I will one day
🥤
100% agreed. I live in Brookline, not too far from the subject of this video, and learning this history makes me love this city even more. Wonderful presentation, keep it up!
Hays is where the bald eagles live. Leave it undeveloped. Just look at the North Hills, much of which used to be forested not that long ago, but it is now a big parking lot from the North Side all the way up to Cranberry. We need to preserve our natural areas.
I 100% agree! Thankfully it’s protected as a city park now
Correction..HAYS WOODS is where the bald Eagles live. It is currently now, Pgh City property.. As a member of Friends of Hays woods, it is our mission to keep it wild
Much of the North Hills like the South Hills was farmland, the forest you speak of had been gone for well over a century. Don’t fabricate a past that already didn’t exist long before the suburban housing developers got here.
@@taylorphoenix8 To be fair they were referencing the monstrocity that is mcnight up to perry highway, which definitely did clear a lot of unused land. There weren't mountaintop removal services in the 1800s
While discussing the "back to the forest" , "keeping it a forest", I'm surprised you didn't bring up one of the most amazing things about Hays. The Bald Eagles that made it home. That is also a testament to the area. Anyway, I enjoyed your presentation nonetheless.
As a person from the other half of the rust belt and new to Pittsburgh these few years, I would love to join in and see a lot more about the city. Pittsburgh is such a wonderful place honestly.
You should have been around in the late 80's and 90's when Pittsburgh was voted either the #1 or in the top 3 of the "Most Liveable Cities in America" list, in 1980 things were grim from the steel and coal industry collapsing throughout southwestern Pa, but early on the powers that be in Pittsburgh decided to reinvent the city and by the end of the 80's they'd done a fantastic job of it, the city had a vibrant feel to it instead of doom and gloom like Detroit and Cleveland and the other has been towns, the night life was great with hardly any incidents, suburbs like Monroeville flourished, it really was a great area.
I'm from about 50 miles south, in 08 I moved up to northeastern Ohio where I lived for 11 years, during those 11 years I watched news reports come out of the immediate Pittsburgh region that just wouldn't have previous to that, the legendary Monroeville Mall where my mother would take us Christmas shopping when I was a kid in the 70's became a source of constant news stories of parking lot shootings and violence, I just couldn't believe what I was looking at when I'd see things like that on the news, the Oakland district of Pittsburgh home of Pitt University had constant stories of shootings in the streets on the news, by the time I moved back home in 2019 I couldn't believe how much things had gone downhill.
As far as cities go it's still one of the better one's, much better than the Mad Max post apocalyptic area of Detroit, but not like it was from the late 80's and through the 90's, that really was a special time in Pittsburgh's history.
I grew up in Hays, it was a great, great place to live. Families took care of one another and that little church (Holy Angels) and the school (no longer used) was a centerpiece of the town…that along with a number of businesses. My brother and I played in Hays Woods, although we didn’t know what it was called…we just went out and played on the monkey vines and huge rocks that served as our outside “home”. The memories we made together and with the other kids in those woods remain with me to this day. And oh how we looked forward to August when the Italian club hosted a carnival with fireworks on August 15, that little town grew to twice its size that week and especially that night. Thank you for showing what a little gem this town was and can still be.
I grew up in the South Hills but had never entered the Hays forest until the pandemic. It's like its own world up there. I even got a little lost for awhile and got that feeling of adventure that people seek!😊
It’s a great feeling, isn’t it!? Glad you enjoyed the woods
As a Philly-area resident, Pittsburgh and western PA in general is a mystery to me. I love videos like this, have my sub.
Thank you! I feel the same about Philly and eastern PA haha
Interesting comment and true. Philly, Jersey and the New York boroughs are basically one region and sort of culturally the same. Out in Western PA it’s a different region and sort of the “Midwest” in some ways. PA is a big state and actually bigger than South Korea so that’s primarily why PA residents are not fully connected
Go outside of New York City or Philly & there's like acres & acres of sprawl & suburbs. Go outside of Pittsburgh & it's like a forrest.
Try Eerie. No really. Middle of July. Hit the beaches. Try the food. O'Henry will approve.
@@csongorszendrey2180 Erie: guys we are just as much fun as Virginia beach and the outer banks we swear!
But really Erie is nice in the summer.
I moved to Pittsburgh from Ohio less than a month ago. I worked here before, but finally made the move. Good content, I hope I will learn more.
I've always been fascinated with the point created by the confluence of the rivers in downtown
Point State Park. The Allegheny River flows down from the north, while the Monongahela River flows from the south, meeting to form the Ohio River. George Washington camped there. It was the starting point for the Corps of Discovery Corps exploration by Lewis & Clark.
Good place to build a fort.
I’ve been to Pittsburgh a couple of times, but don’t know the city well enough to be familiar with a lot of the specifics you refer to.
One thing that is so interesting about the city is that one minute you’re in a section that has the urbanity of Boston, then the next you’re driving down an Appalachian mountain road. I would love to get there more often to explore.
Very true! That’s one of the things I love about Pittsburgh
@@Noles.Explores I grew up in Pittsburgh and the most confusing thing when I was a kid and we went somewhere else to visit was always that people didn't normally have pleasant hikes in the woods like 20min away from their home or less while still living in a city. :D
@@TrappedinSLC It always makes me hesitant to move away someday. Whenever people visit from other cities they remark to me about how green it is here. It has bad implications for the green-ness of other cities....
@@cleve741 It can definitely be an issue. Some places there's not as much green in the city but you still have decent options close by - or the local options are attractive even if you wouldn't describe them as green, like around Salt Lake City it's not really green the same way but it's still really pretty, you know? Places like LA where it feels like the only plant life is growing out of holes in the concrete because it was planted there for decoration really weird me out though.
It's a city of distinct "neighborhoods"; it's one of the things that makes it great.
Spotted the largest Box Turtle in my life in these woods, and I'm an avid mushroom hunter.
I saw a my first Box Turtle there! I got some awesome photos of it in the sunset! Maybe we saw the same turtle! I hope it's still wandering around up there!
I grew up in Hays, spent a lot of time camping and hiking in those woods. Walking through the woods there makes it seem like you are so far away from civilization. Some of the best times of my childhood were spent in those woods,..
Those must be great memories to have. It’s a very unique place
My grandfather built a house on that hill in Hays and that is where I spent my early years 😊
Very cool! Is the house still standing?
I lived in Hays until I was 4 years old and we moved to Baldwin after the city purchased our property to build the highway. The Italians he mentioned were mostly made up of our family. Many of my uncles lived on Ashby street along with my parents.
If you have any memories of the Highway going in or pictures from before hand I’d love to see/hear them! Shoot me an email noles.exploring@gmail.com
As a fan of city planning TH-cam channels, the city of Pittsburgh, small content providers, and as an avid hiker, backpacker, and cyclist, I LOVED your video and can't wait to exlore the rest of your channel. Espcially the editorial part and I plan to look into the book you cited, having grown up along the Monongahela with a patch of "near woods" just beyond my backyards.
We used to take my jeeps all thru those woods and trails. Its amazing.
Watching this video makes me appreciate all the public land we have here in the western US.
I once took an Amtrak train from New Jersey to California. Seeing all that land out west with almost nothing was nerve-wracking to me!
Good point my friend.
Grew up in Pittsburgh but have been “out West” since getting out of the Army at Ft. Lewis.
Much more access to waterfronts, natural features, and just the vastness of the BLM lands. Heading to The Dakotas in ten days. ☕️
East of the Mississippi much of the country is in private ownership. 🇺🇸
I'm from Indianapolis. My parents grew up on Cathell Rd and my grandparents lived there until their deaths around 2003.As I a child when we would visit my grandparents you could see the glow of lights down in the valley and was told it was Mesta Machine. I recall lots of motorcycles being ridden in the woods just at the top of the hill of Cathell Rd and into the valley. This mst have been early '70s. When I got to be a little older I was allowed to explore the woods and I remember crossing Glass Run Rd and exploring the woods on the north side of that street.I thought it was pretty but a lot of people were dumping trash back there too.I hope thats gone. I havent been there in almost 20 years Pittsburgh that is but this video reminded me of a slice of my childhood.Thanks mate.Cheers
Sounds like great memories to have! Thanks for watching
Thoughtful and well organized. I live now in Florida where my rural suburb of North Port is fast becoming the strip mall suburban sprawl which has destroyed other nearby communities, such as Cape Coral, devoid of character or a sense of community. I know Hays from Holy Angels, a small company that made awnings, but mostly as a transit point or shortcut from my home in Castle Shannon to my office the other side of the Parkway East. Many a cold Winter's day from Hays across the Rankin Bridge to Braddock I would have a large Bald Eagle fly by. I used to golf and had my wedding reception at at Holly Hill before Herb Connor (my wife's former attorney) developed it into housing. Glass Run and Street's Run were always the shortcut to my sister-in-law's place in White Hall. I love to see it but do not miss the Winter!
Thank you for sharing! Always interested to hear other people’s experiences with various parts of the city and what it means to them. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Coming from New Jersey and seeing Pittsburgh it’s so crazy because driving around the city you just feel like it’s so grand but the moment you cross the river it just gets so rural from the get-go and that’s so attractive in theory. Haywood is a good example of this because thinking in city skylines Haywood should be filled with developments or luxury homes, considering it’s proximity to the city, but it’s not, and I think that the history behind every single lot in the history behind every single house is so so fascinating in Pittsburgh, because it was able to remain. Unlike a lot of the rest of the United States.
A good video on an important topic. So little wild land on the east coast is accessible because it is in private hands. Always being respectful of the land and the owners if you happen to meet them is so important to maintaining access to the land. Thank you
So true! Kindness goes a long way
As a recent move in and a history nerd, I enjoyed the video. Keep them coming. Thumbs up!
Thanks! I’ve got one in the works as we speak
I don't currently live in Pittsburgh, but lived there for a number of years. I really enjoyed this!
I live on Becks Run. I formerly lived on the Southside. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s a portion of Hays woods above Beck Run served as a gathering place for picnic and such. It was referred to at the time as forty acres. During this time, I believe it was owned by J&L Steel. Strangely the land is currently owned by the City of Pittsburgh, even though the majority of the land is located in Baldwin Boro.
Sounds like a lovely picnic spot
I grew up in Carrick and explored this area in the 70’s and 80’s. I also knew it as forty acres. Lots of good memories.
Holy shit a whole video about the area around my favorite park!!! I wish it was better maintained but they're still figuring that out. I love how I'll go out on a beautiful day and see maybe like 10 people. The meadow is maybe the most beautiful place in the city and it's an incredible spot for birding. Thank you for this!!
Glad you liked the video! I agree, the area is so beautiful!
Yeah you just earned a subscriber from me. I love how Pittsburgh seems to have so many hidden quirks in areas like this. Definitely love exploring some of the unique areas we have around here. That’s why I love it here you just don’t get this kind of stuff in most other places.
Noles! As a fellow western pa history nerd, your channel rocks! The coal mines at what is now Hays Woods fed the coke ovens at J&L Steel’s coke works in Hazelwood. The coal that ultimately fed the blast furnaces came from literally right across the river! The limestone and iron ore came from a little farther east.
That’s really interesting! I had read that J&L was who Betters bought it from but I didn’t know they had mined it
@Noles.Explores it's a nice video, but my immediate reaction was surprise that it didn't cover the undermining of the area. There is subsidence in those woods. I can't say whether that had any influence on the fact that it wasn't developed, but I've seen 15 ft depressions in the Earth opening up holes under trees. I should have a picture somewhere from about 8 or 9 years ago.
It makes sense; Mt Washington was mined by mill owners downtown with small barges back when you could still wade the Mon. Pre Carnegie.
That was a cool lil video about a part of the city I knew little about, Thanks!
Been to Pittsburg a couple of times. Most recently went to Frick Park, which is really cool. I've been all over the northeast and Frick Park is special. It's up there with Central Park as the best urban park I have visited.
And yet Hayes Woods is double the size of Frick Park! Wow
It's Truly a Beautiful Place !!
The neighborhood of hays always fascinated me. My school bus used to run through there I always found it odd that there was a freeway interchange thing in there and it seemed like there were remnants of a town that once was. And the huge factory there always drew my attention.
So cool to see this as a Baldwin resident. Super cool to see my house on the aerial maps and see you drive on the same streets I drive on. Fantastic video!
Been going to Holy Angels for family events and weddings for about two decades. Love Hays, and hope it stays wild forever.
Awesome video. Growing up in baldwin I’ve been around hays my whole life we’ve always referred to it as “40’s” but had a blast exploring it as a kid. Funny enough what caught my attention was being able to see my house from your thumbnail 😂
I appreciate this. I'm hoping to protect forest near where I live. This is very inspiring.
Very cool information! I've lived in and around Pittsburgh my whole life of 62 years. I did plenty of exploring in my younger days, and yet here is a place I passed by a hundred times but never knew a thing about . . . wow! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked the video!
Hays Mansion is in munhall . My grandfather used to mow the grass with his tractor up there and we used to go watch him when we were kids. He also uses the mow the grass area of Kennywood. . The Mansion is up on the hill overlooking the Monongahela River.
I drove to it for this video but it’s all boarded up sadly. It’s a beautiful house
@@Noles.Explores they were trying to restore it and open it back up. But sadly everything stopped back in 2020..
I admire the fact that you did your video on Hay's Woods without mentioning the Hays Bald Eagles. Now, if I may, I suggest a video on the remarkable recovery of woods, forest, wild life in the Pittsburgh region. When we moved here in the 1980s it was still under the effects of Industrial Age Pollution. Today, and only a part of my lifetime, it has recovered to the point that the pre-Industrial past of the area is greatly restored, though much is left to do, Thanks for you video. Keep up the good work,
Thank you for the kind words! I would definitely like to do more research into that. Someone told me that Japanese knotweed was a big factor in reducing pollution in the soil, but now it’s become a problem in its own right
I grew up in Swisshelm Park which is on the Edge of Frick Park n the Monongahela River..there was a huge slag dump that was mostly wooded that lead to the River n the other side was Frick Park !! As kids we lived n played in those woods n you literally could walk for miles in Nature !! It made me appreciate Land n Nature n the Outdoors ...to where I know own 200 plus acres in Armstrong county!! I am blessed n thankful for those early years n memories in Pittsburghs Woods Rivers n Streams ! God Bless n Stay Safe !! 😎 Great Content !!
I remember bicycle riding in those slag dump trails. So fun. No idea if some of those trails that flank the river valley are still there the ones that go from nine mile hollow to swissvale
The city has been for years trying to develop the slag dumps. 😢
I don’t live in Pittsburgh, but I did take the seven hour check out there just to experience the city and I honestly love it so much
I don’t know how this ended up in my recommended for you, but I’m so glad it did! I live in Pittsburgh myself (near Highland) and I vaguely knew about Hays Woods but never thought to question why there was so much forest there. It makes me happy you made this video to put it’s history together so cleanly! I haven’t gotten to give it a proper visit yet, but I think now is a better time than never. :)
This video is very informative. Thank you for your hard work in making it.
Born in Pittsburgh raised in Pittsburgh. Worked in Pittsburgh. Retired in Pittsburgh. There are more trees in Pittsburgh city limits. Stand in any other city in the world this size. Why is that, because of the hills, because of the slopes that are too steep to build on everywhere.
The states name Pennsylvania translates out into Penns Woods after William Penn, for whom the state is named after..
because there is so much land with trees on it, we also have deer coming out our ears. I have worked in the city of Pittsburgh. My whole life, I have seen deer on the most densely, populated streets of the Southside slopes, on the streets of Mt., Lebanon, in fact, the odds of you striking a deer while driving a vehicle in Pennsylvania are one in 59 every year. I’ve hit 4 , my wife has collided with three, my two sons of each collided with one. In fact, it’s such a problem, that I don’t like to drive after sunset anymore. Pennsylvania, in 2022 hit the highest number of deer collisions with vehicles in the country…
One other remarkable thing about Pittsburgh, which is in Allegheny County, there are more than 2000 bridges in Allegheny County
Just found your channel but would absolutely love a video about the failed highway projects of Pittsburgh.
Great video! As a lifetime Pittsburgher, it is truly appreciated.
Weii done....great job. I have traveled greater Pittsburgh roadways for may years, usually mesmerized by the sense of ghostliness and urban blight along the way. Too interested in getting home again to ever explore those inviting wooded hills. Maybe now I will. Of course a dedicated bicycle path right to them is a no-brainer for any forward-thinking city. Hope it happens.
fascinating video. thanks so much for making this and sharing your research :) i'll definitely be riding over and going for a hike there soon!
Great video -- that's a fascinating (and weird) part of this town. I'm glad that it's stayed wild, and I'm looking forward to exploring it and that wonderful Mon Valley scenery. A small geographical quibble: Nine Mile Run empties *upstream* from Hays just above the Homestead bridge, so, regardless of the accuracy of the distances from the Point, the "mile runs" are in the right order. Nine Mile Run seems closer in because of that huge bend in the river around Hazelwood.
OK, pedantry complete.
Oh wow, I can’t believe I missed that. Thank you for calling it out!
Kudos to you for leaving the video intact...I think it lends to its watchability. Great job.
I moved here a couple of years ago from TN and i've never heard of Hays. Cool stuff. I love exploring the burgh
I need to go there soon!
Wow I grew up in this area (Brownsville Rd) and have lived my adult life in the Northside and I never knew this. I always assumed it was Baldwin's or Brentwoods or Hazelwood... But not Pittsburgh. Thanks.
Thanks for making this!
As a kid in Newtown PA in the 1970s my friends and I would wander along the neshaminy River and some farmland owned by boxer Mohamad Ali. No one would bother us and we had our own Huck Finn like adventures. I Sill think about us trying to build a raft (never finished) from dead logs to sail down to the Delaware River. Fun times.. I live in Kutztown now. GREAT STORY.. I will need to visit the Park next time we are in pittsburgh
Those sound like great memories!
Great perspective, thank you.
5:16 “noted property-tax lover” is the exact kind of description that makes me want to look that guy up, tho I already know what I’ll find.
Cool video. Thanks algorithm. I grew up in Johnstown and visited my grandparents in North Hills many times as a kid up until they passed away in the early 90's. South (and south of) Pittsburgh was always a kind of mysterious place to me as a kid so it's intriguing to hear some of it's history.
I travel through here every day. So cool. Great video
Amazing work
Love this content.
I work in Hazelwood Green so daily look over at this very plot of land. nicely done
Good info. Frick Park is my whole childhood. Upper and lower. Didn't know a kid like me a long time ago is why I was playing there. That's fucking cool
Great job sir! Great history, great narrative, great cursing 😮 🎉 Worked with a lot of guys from IUP, clearly a great school.
Fantastic video, I'd love to see a video on the abandoned highway projects you mentioned. Pittsburgh would be very different today if those were finished.
Solid presentation, thanks.
Thank you!
Great way to explore the history of Pittsburgh. Keep it up.
Thank you!
Super cool, thanks dude
Nailed it, indeed!
Awesome video! Fellow Pittsburgher here just subscribed.
Thanks for the subscription!
Thanks - really enjoyed this. Never knew much about Hays Woods because, as a Pittsburgher, I tend to not cross rivers! Appreciate the education.
Great video
Love it. Pittsburgh has so many little oddities, like all the death stairs
Grew up in Hays and played in those woods all the time. Lived right by the Army Ammunition Plant. It really was a beautiful place to live back in the day 💕
The real reason Hays Woods was never developed was there are cliffs on the side facing the river.
Hays had a street car line up until the 50's.
But only one road went up there from Glass Run Road.
You used to be able to drive your car up to 40 acres.
A man was murdered in the 70's. His body was missing for years. The case made the national news. The body was found up in 40 acres. There was an investigation, but I don't remember much about it.
After that a pile of bricks were dumped in the road going up to 40 acres at Glass Run Road.
great video noles!!
Thank you :)
Amazing video! I would love to see another video on the abandon highway plans!
Stay tuned!
Many times when I talk to people from, say, the UK, they always admire that the US has so much green space.
Loved the video
Thank you!
awesome video! looking forward to more in the future :) I'll have to go exploring hays woods sometime soon!
Thank you! It’s a great place to spend some time :)
Great video!
Thank you!
love this
I just explored these awesome woods this past summer while Geocaching. Great video, I'm an IUP alum too!
Thank you! Go Crimson Hawks!
40 acres is what them woods are known as by the people who live here.had a lot of fun up in them woods.now the eagle 🦅 watchers are always up there because they have nests and the eagle cam.
You’re no Dean Bog…. Yet 😁
Liked and subscribed. Keep up the good work! 💜💜
Dean Bog has set a high bar for Pittsburgh TH-camrs! Thank you for the comment :)
Greetings from Butler Pennsylvania. I moved here 3 years ago from Tampa Bay Florida. After 40 years down there I'm back. I'm 62 and on disability and it got very expensive there. Thanks for the video. I'm always interested in the history up here in the rust belt. It's a shame what happened to this area. No jobs like in the past. Butler home of the Jeep. Peace ✌️.
Thanks for watching!
Lovely vid
Excellent video. Subbed
1:50 theres my old house! I dont miss living there. It was my first apartment after high school.
Really enjoyed the video. Subscription added
Thanks!
First video I've seen from you. Very nice! Curious where this channel is going.
I agree with you! Leave Hays Woods just be as it is!
You might be interested in talking to Marc Barnes of New Polity. He’s over here in Steubenville. I think you two would have a fantastic conversation over this kind of topic.
It looks like towns in WV to me.
Interesting video. From watching the road I would never guess it was in major US city
Right? Pittsburgh has a lot of hidden little places. Glad you liked the video!
Forest Park in Portland Or. Is a 5200 acre park in the city limits of Portland.
hell yeah
The Mon! I was born on the Mon, several miles upstream.
I used to bike through there. 😊
Lol. I've lived in new kensington Braddock and Duquesne for the past 4 years and I lived in the area my entire life. I never heard of this place.
Good shit
i grew up in these woods
I was just complaining about the highway running through here the other day and wondering why we spent so much tax money building it (especially since they widened it recently). It makes no sense. It's bottlenecked on all sides making all of the roadway through there kind of pointless in terms of lowering traffic. Would be a much nicer area with surface boulevards instead of grade separated highway. The fact it was meant to be part of the larger canceled highway system makes way more sense. This is the reason the Birmingham Bridge is way bigger than it needs to be. You can still see the unfinished stumps where the highway ramps would have been built on either side of it on the South Side portion of the bridge.
Agree, that interchange is a mess! Guess that’s Pittsburgh for ya. Thanks for watching!