Digital Collections
Digital Collections on Historic Pittsburgh
View digitized archival material from more than 50 collections on Historic Pittsburgh.
Digital Collection Highlights
Interested to learn more about the various collections we have at the History Center? Check out highlights from our digital collection.
Manumission Records
Manumission records are legal documents used to verify the status of freeborn Blacks and those released from servitude. These records, transferred to the Heinz History Center by Allegheny County, can be view online as part of the University of Pittsburgh’s Free at Last website.
John Covode Papers
Born in Westmoreland County, John Covode (1808-1871) was a businessman and member of the United States House of Representatives. Covode’s papers document his political activities during the Civil War era and his role in developing the coal and railroad industries in Western Pennsylvania. Digitized by the Penn State University Libraries, as part of The People’s Contest: A Civil War Era Digital Archiving Project.
Rev. Samuel W. Davis Papers
Samuel W. Davis was a Methodist Episcopal Minister who was active as a missionary and temperance reformer in Southwestern Pennsylvania and surrounding states in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. In his diaries, Davis wrote of attending Methodist conferences in Pittsburgh, his attempts provide assistance following the Johnstown Flood, and his work with immigrant communities in Fayette County mining towns. Digitized by the Penn State University Libraries, as part of The People’s Contest: A Civil War Era Digital Archiving Project.
Additional Resources
Newspaper Inventory
Cookbook Database
Allegheny County Photography Department Photographs Index
This is a partial index to the Allegheny County Photography Department Photographs, a collection that comprises tens of thousands of photographic negatives documenting buildings, construction projects, and events in Allegheny County. The index will be periodically updated as work progresses with the collection.
Bibliographies
Historic Pittsburgh
City Directories
Search over 120 city directories published between 1815 and 1945 from Pittsburgh, Allegheny City, Homestead, and surrounding areas.
General Text Collection
Search over 1,000 publications that document Western Pennsylvania history.
Maps
Historic Pittsburgh offers online access to G.M Hopkins Company maps, the Warrantee Atlas of Allegheny County, and the Darlington Digital Library map collection.
Images
Along with images from the Heinz History Center, Historic Pittsburgh features images from the archives of other local organizations, including the University of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, Rodef Shalom, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.