Pittsburgh in 50 Maps

by Stentor Danielson

Genres: Nonfiction, History

136 pages, Hardcover

Published March 18, 2025

Reviews

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful mix of informative and just downright interesting. There's a wide variety of maps here, with everything from a map of Pittsburgh's 90 neighborhoods to the locations of all the Pittsburgh steps and a map where the "old houses and lead paint" are. Pittsburgh royalty like Mr. Rogers, Rachel Carson, and August Wilson get featured with their own maps too.

I enjoyed every one.

[Laura Zurowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner in the 50 Maps series by Belt Publishing. Nice mix of serious and whimsical. The map dedicated to the "Parking Spot Outside the Evergreen Cafe on Penn Ave" is truly special! Perhaps it will bring more supporters to both sides of the cause. LOL.

As an FYI (because I can't help myself on things like this...), it's important to note that the maps on page 25, which illustrate the region's shrinking and sprawling, have some inaccuracies. Unless I'm missing something, Swisshelm Park does not have over 50,000 people per square mile, and the same is true for the two small neighborhoods in the South Hills, which claim a population of over 10,000.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each pages has a different map of Pittsburgh with different information or statistics. It gives all kind of information from where neighborhoods are, where schools and hospitals are, which indigenous tribe lived where before be forced out by settlers, ethnicities within the city, and where parks are plus more. It was fun and interesting and educational. This is easy to read but contains so much informtion I couldn't absorb all of it. I never knew Pittsburgh had so many sister cities around the world. I learned more history of Pittsburgh and more facts I never knew.

This would be on my keeper shelf if it were not a library book. It may still end up on my keeper shelf!

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light overview of Pittsburgh past and present, serious and silly. On the serious side, it covers the geography, politics, transportation, neighborhoods, and sites related to notable people. In the silly side, we have maps of where That One Controversial Parking Spot is, and where the dinosaur statues are. The descriptions of all the maps are fairly lighthearted, which makes what could be a dull series of maps and descriptions a fun read. This is probably going to be most interesting to a recent transplant to the city, or someone with a specific interest in Pittsburgh. 

[Mary Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neat!

[Jennifer Schnakenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but uneven