History behind bars: Old Allegheny County Jail Museum reopens to public
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
The Bridge of Sighs connects the Allegheny County Courthouse and the jail in a lovely arc over Ross Street. The bridge’s design was borrowed by Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson from the Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy, and the name alludes to the sighs of prisoners drinking in final views of the city as they marched to their cells.
Courtesy of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation
The warden’s home, which offers a marvelous view of the Bridge of Sighs, was designed by the same man responsible for the magnificent Old Allegheny County Jail and courthouse: Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson. This publication by the PHLM explains the grandeur of the warden’s home.
“Prison” isn’t usually high on the list of date or family day out ideas, but an afternoon at the Old Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh’s downtown is fun for all ages.
Self-guided tours of the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail begin at the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Ross Street, but the real treat is a trip through the Old Allegheny County Jail Museum, led by volunteer docents Al and Cindy Stanish on the first and third Monday of each month.
“It’s a lot of fun to share with people, answer their questions when possible,” said Al Stanish, of South Park. “Our kids are grown and married. It’s time to give back.”
Giving back through education makes sense to Stanish, a retired Chartiers Valley environmental science teacher with a passion for local history. When Stanish’s wife saw a volunteer opportunity with Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation about four years ago, she figured hanging out in the jail museum was right up her husband’s alley.
The Stanishes learned all they could about the jail from former deputy warden and museum curator Ed Urban. When COVID-19 hit, the jail museum closed, and the Stanishes did time on the outside, waiting for their opportunity to reopen the jail to visitors.
The bars opened again in May, and the Stanishes – Al, in particular – revel in welcoming folks inside to ogle relics like inmate handcuffs and artworks or marvel at the size of jail cells.
“These cells are the original brick,” Al Stanish said on a recent Monday, motioning to the thick, cold wall. “They brought them over here to build this reconstruction. It’s really pretty neat.”
Neat, too, is the space, and Stanish knows all about the jail’s fascinating design and construction. The docent’s eyes twinkle as he recounts the jail’s history and colorful inhabitants.
“We have two famous people in this jail,” Stanish told a museum visitor. “One was the man who attacked Frick (Alexander Berkman). And the other was Carl Sandburg.”
“Carl Sandburg was here in this jail?” the woman exclaimed.
Sandburg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who often read at the Women’s Club of Sewickley, Penn State University and the Pennsylvania College for Women, made his acquaintance with Pittsburgh in 1904, from inside the Allegheny County jail. He even referenced his 10-day stint behind bars in “Boes,” which was included in his 1916 book of poetry titled “Chicago Poems.”
“It’s interesting,” Stanish said.
Stanish makes it all interesting: The Venice-inspired Bridge of Sighs, which connects the courthouse to the jail in a lovely arc over Ross Street; the rec yard, where hangings took place; the woman who volunteered at, and helped prisoners escape from, Old Allegheny County Jail.
But you won’t read the most interesting details – like how the jail sat empty for four months after construction wrapped, so the mortar and brick could dry – or the juiciest jail gossip – like the movies filmed inside the jail’s walls, tales of affairs and escapes – in this article. You’ll need to visit Al and Cindy Stanish to learn those fascinating tidbits of history, from the inside.
“I can tell you all kinds of stuff,” Stanish said.
Learn all kinds of stuff during a docent-led tour, which is free and open to the public between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. the first and third Monday of every month.
The Old Allegheny County Jail may be accessed at the entrance to family court, at 400 Ross Street, Pittsburgh.
To reserve a tour, or ensure the museum is open on a certain Monday, contact Mary Lu Denny, director of membership services for Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, at marylu@phlf.org, or call 412-471-5808, ext. 527.
For more information on jail museum tours or the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, visit https://phlf.org/.