Photo of the Month

Previous / Home / Next

August 2008:
Store No. 12 remnants

The construction crew renovating G.C. Murphy Co. store No. 12 on Market Square in Downtown Pittsburgh—which at one time was supposedly the largest variety store in the United States—has turned up a number of relics.

These lighted signs graced the entrance doors off of Fifth Avenue and were added by G.C. Murphy Co. architect Harold E. Crosby when the store was renovated in the mid-1940s.

One of the three signs has been graciously donated by Millcraft Industries, which is renovating store No. 12 for use as loft-style apartments, and will be displayed at the McKeesport Heritage Center.

Though Murphy's occupied the complex for 55 years—from 1930 until 1985—not much was left when Millcraft took over the building. The first floor had been gutted by the McCrory Corp., which turned Store No. 12 into a "Dollar Zone" in the late 1990s.

The upper floors were gutted as part of an asbestos and lead-paint abatement project by Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority before it sold the building to Millcraft.

The G.C. Murphy Company Foundation repeatedly pleaded with the URA to allow representatives to inspect the upper floors of the store and salvage old photos and personal belongings; these requests, sadly, were denied.

A handful of artifacts, including some signs, were salvaged by the Senator John Heinz History Museum, while some other items will be donated to the McKeesport Heritage Center.

A photo of one of the upper floors of the Bedell Building, one of several connected structures that made up Store No. 12.

Now the fun stuff! Workers for Millcraft, Tedco Construction, and others are turning up hidden G.C. Murphy Co. items as they tear down walls and shelves. Here's a few old layaway tags and a price marking gun used up in the stockroom.

Need socks? These size 10-14 men's dress socks were made for G.C. Murphy Co.'s house-label "Pelham" sometime in the 1960s. They've slumbered behind a hole in a wall for 40 years, and still bear their original 69-cent price ticket, attached with a straight pin.

A big "thank you" to Lucas Piatt and Chad Wheatley of Millcraft Industries, and to Don Jones and his crew from Tedco Construction, for saving these pieces of Murphy heritage.

And make sure to visit the website for Market Square Place, to see how Millcraft and its architects plan to restore Store No. 12 to new life.

	Past Photos of the Month: 2008 June May April February 2007 December October September August July June May April March February

(Previous photo: June 2008, Ridgway, Pa.)