Manchester (Pittsburgh)

Manchester
Neighborhood
Liverpool Street in Manchester
Location of Manchester in Pittsburgh
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
City	Pittsburgh
Area
• Total	0.72 km2 (0.279 sq mi)
Population  (2000)
• Total	2,506

Manchester Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
City of Pittsburgh Historic District
Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark
Area	51.6 acres (20.9 ha). Irregular pattern contained with Faulsey, Chateau, Franklin, and Bidwell Streets.
Architectural style	Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.	75001611
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 18, 1975
Designated CPHD	July 30, 1979
Designated PHLF	1976

This article is about the Pittsburgh neighborhood. For For the York County borough, see Manchester, Pennsylvania.

Manchester is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has a ZIP code of 15233, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 6 (Northshore/Downtown Neighborhoods). The following communities are entirely or partially included in District 6; Central Northside, Mexican War Streets, Manchester, California-Kirkbride, Perry Hilltop, Allegheny West, North Shore, and Fineview. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 37 Engine and their foam unit in Manchester. The neighborhood includes the Manchester Historic District, which protects, to some degree, 609 buildings over a 51.6-acre (20.9 ha) area. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Geography

The Manchester Historic District is Pittsburgh's largest historic district under the National Register of Historic Places, preserved for its early 19th century-built Late Victorian-style houses.

Manchester was rated as one of the top 10 neighborhoods for "being close to everything" because it's walkable and has easy access to public transportation and major roadways. Manchester is located just minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, all major attractions, and is easily accessible via an extensive highway system. Located along the east bank of the Ohio River, the community is roughly bounded to the north by the Conrail Railroad, to the west by Chateau Street, to the east by Allegheny Avenue, and to the south by Western Avenue. The West End Bridge also connects the neighborhood to the southern side of the Ohio River.

The Columbus Square Project - Manchester Citizens Corporation (MCC) has partnered with a private developer to transform this vacant industrial brownfield into a new community of twenty-six homes. MCC was recently awarded a $275,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The Three Rivers Heritage Trail System runs along Manchester.

History

Manchester was part of the preserve of the Shawnee and Delaware Indians until the late eighteenth century, when all Indian lands in Pennsylvania were ceded to the State. In 1787, the land was surveyed and laid out as a section of the Reserve Tract, which was conferred as partial compensation to Pennsylvania's Revolutionary War veterans. Development in Manchester was encouraged by its division into large parcels of land, which were sold in conjunction with smaller town lots located in the city of Allegheny. Situated on one of Pittsburgh's few riverside plains, the level nature of the land allowed the community to be laid out in a standard grid pattern in 1832. Manchester became a borough in 1843, and in 1867 it merged with the city of Allegheny. In 1908, Allegheny was annexed to the city of Pittsburgh. Manchester was largely built up between 1860 and 1900, and attracted residents from Pittsburgh and Allegheny who desired to escape the density of the city. The installation of a streetcar network in the late nineteenth century linked Manchester to both cities, and stimulated its development as a suburban neighborhood. The community grew into a middle-class suburb, populated largely by local businessmen and their families.

The name Manchester originates from the English immigrants who first settled in the area and named the community after its industrial English counterpart. Manchester was an important industrial center for the city of Allegheny. The neighborhood was originally supported by industrial and wharf activity situated on the shore of the Ohio River, and factories loosely woven into the community. The Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works was a notable Manchester industry which produced the first Allegheny-built locomotive. Manchester's historical boundaries extended beyond Chateau Street to the shores of the Ohio River, with a neighborhood commercial district along Beaver Avenue. However, the western section of Manchester was severed in the 1950s when the elevated Route 65 Expressway was constructed. The expressway bisected the original neighborhood and created a separate commercial district called Chateau. Thus, today's Manchester is a remnant of a neighborhood that was once closely linked to the commercial and industrial sections closer to the river.

Manchester, along with other city neighborhoods, began a slow decline after 1915, when residents began to move to outlying suburbs to escape the encroaching and unpleasant effects of heavy industry. During the ensuing years, many of the finest houses in Manchester deteriorated and were demolished, and the neighborhood as a whole was neglected. In the 1970s, the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF), the Manchester Citizens Corporation, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and private developers formed a partnership that was successful in renovating many Manchester houses.

Manchester remains primarily a Victorian neighborhood. The term "Victorian," however, does not refer to a specific architectural style, but instead to the era of Queen Victoria's reign from 1837–1901. During that time, many different architectural styles were popular. "Victorian" styles prevalent in Manchester are the Italianate (ca. 1860–1885) and its contemporary, the French Second Empire (ca. 1855–1885); Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne (ca. 1880–1900), which were superseded by the Classical and Colonial Revivals at the turn of the century. Examples of all these styles can be found in Manchester.

Demographics

Manchester is almost exclusively residential. The median sales price for homes in Manchester for Nov 12 to Jan 13 was $172,350. This represents an increase of 36.8%, or $46,350, compared to the prior quarter and an increase of 48.6% compared to the prior year. Sales prices have appreciated 94.7% over the last 5 years in Manchester, Pittsburgh. The median sales price of $172,350 for Manchester is 29.68% higher than the median sales price for Pittsburgh PA. Average price per square foot for homes in Manchester was $54 in the most recent quarter, which is 43.75% lower than the average price per square foot for homes in Pittsburgh.

Education

Manchester has a variety of schools. They include:

• The Manchester Academic Charter School (MACS) is a nationally recognized, Blue Ribbon school serving grades kindergarten to eight at a community - centered facility on Pittsburgh’s Northside. School founders Dr. Betty and Rev. James Robinson established the Manchester Youth Development Center (MYDC) in 1968 to serve the needs of Manchester’s large population of children and youth. They expanded their focus to early childhood in 1979 with the opening of the Training Wheels community preschool, and again in the early 1990s, when they founded a small, community-centered, private elementary school located within MYDC. In 1998, the Pittsburgh Board of Education granted a charter to the Manchester Academic School, one of the first in the region. Today, MACS, MYDC and Training Wheels operate in a shared facility, providing high-quality education and enrichment to children from early childhood through middle school. MYDC is a nonprofit organization and a local economic resource for the Manchester community, with over 60% of its employees residing in the North Side neighborhoods of Pittsburgh and 50% of its employees residing within a 3 block radius of the Center itself. Twenty two percent of staff members are former MYDC students and nearly 50% are parents of present and former students.

• Pittsburgh Manchester K-8
• Pittsburgh Allegheny Traditional Academy K-8 Magnet
• Pittsburgh King K-8
• Pittsburgh Schiller Classical Academy 6-8 Magnet
• Pittsburgh Oliver 9-12
• Pittsburgh Perry Traditional Academy 9-12 Magnet

The Pittsburgh Promise- "The Pittsburgh Promise is a big idea and a concrete commitment to all children who graduate from Pittsburgh Public Schools and who live in the City of Pittsburgh. If they maintain an average GPA of 2.5 and an attendance record of 90% they will earn up to a $40,000 scholarship to attend any accredited post-secondary institution in Pennsylvania (this does not apply to online or cyber schools). (These scholarships are paid over four years of higher education.) The Promise is not need-based—the family's income does not factor into the decision. It is not a competitive process—if they are eligible, they receive the scholarship. Neither is it a limited process—they and all their siblings can receive it. And once they are declared eligible, they will receive it for up to four years of college. They only need to maintain a college GPA of 2.0 and a fulltime class load. And, the scholarship is a scholarship, it is not a loan—it does not need to be paid back."

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is one of the oldest and most respected public library systems in the country. Established by Andrew Carnegie as a public trust in 1895, CLP has 19 locations throughout the City of Pittsburgh. The Carnegie Library branches in Manchester include Allegheny Library and Woods Run Library.

Manchester is located near Duquesne University, Point Park University, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Technical Institute and Community College of Allegheny County.

Culture

• Sports

• Art

The Bidwell Training and Cultural Center offers innovative programs for training in the arts and crafts. On October 1, 1999, Manchester Bidwell Corporation was incorporated as the parent organization of Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center. One of the impacts of the implementation of a parent organization was the formalization of the continued partnership and concurrent planning between the two non-profit subsidiaries. In addition, the long-standing organizational philosophy of educational empowerment through creating positive physical and emotional environments was reaffirmed.

Architecture - The neighborhoods of Allegheny West, Manchester, Mexican War Streets, Central Northside, and Historic Deutschtown are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Manchester Historic Society and The City Planning Department's Historic Review Commission offer tours of renovated homes and buildings as well as pointing out historically significant parts of the area.

The Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh was established in 1979 to administer the historic district and structures designated by Pittsburgh City Council. It is made up of seven citizens. appointed by the Mayor, who meet once a month to review all proposals for exterior alterations, new construction, and demolition of building in the historic districts. The Commission uses the federal Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation as the basis of its review. The goal of the guidelines is to retain the distinctive and historic character for the neighborhood without placing undue financial burdens or time delays on building owner and residents.

• Cultural District

Surrounding Pittsburgh neighborhoods

• Allegheny West
• California-Kirkbride
• Central Northside
• Chateau
• Marshall-Shadeland

Gallery

• 
  Anderson Manor, built circa 1830, at 1423 Liverpool Street.
• 
  Victory Baptist Church (formerly the First German United Evangelical Protestant Church), built in 1865, located at 1437 Juniata Street.
• 
  New Zion Baptist Church (formerly Union Methodist Church), built in 1867, located at 1304 Manhattan Street.
• 
  Hoene-Werle House, built in 1887, at 1313–1315 Allegheny Avenue.
• 
  Conroy Junior High School (also known as Conroy Education Center), built in 1936, at the corner of Page and Fulton Streets.
• 
  Manchester, as seen from the West End Overlook.

See also

• List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods

External links

• Interactive Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Map
• Manchester Historic Society