Welcome to the Lawrenceville Historical Society

Since its founding in 1982, the Lawrenceville Historical Society (LHS) has been true to its mission of preserving and promoting the rich history of Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. The LHS has been widely recognized in the historical community for its distinguished public lecture series, its walking tours, publication of an outstanding newsletter, and three books of collected local stories (now out of print). We also contributed to Arcadia Publishing’s Lawrenceville book by Joann Cantrell and James Wudarczyk.

In 2022, the LHS published the definitive history of the Allegheny Arsenal, the keystone around which grew the Lawrenceville neighborhood. The Allegheny Arsenal Handbook was co-authored by Tom Powers and James Wudarczyk. The book contains 340 pages. It is profusely illustrated with maps, photographs, and drawings. A mail order form for the book can be found in this website’s publications section (click here).

From 2006 until 2017, the LHS gained national and international attention for its role in sponsoring “Doo Dah Days: The Stephen Collins Foster Music and Heritage Festival.” Although other cities host Foster Festivals, the Pittsburgh event was unique in that it was held in the community where Stephen Foster was born and is laid to rest.

The LHS also played a pivotal role in 2012 by honoring the 78 American heroes killed in the 1862 Allegheny Arsenal Explosion. This commemorative event that paid homage to the victims of the worst civilian disaster in the history of the American Civil War caught the attention of local newspapers, radio and television stations, as well as CBS.com and fifteen national newspapers from New Jersey to San Francisco, California. This research continues to this day with the recent discovery of an explosion victim’s photo portrait (see “Face of a Tragedy” in our “Articles” section).

An all-volunteer organization with nominal dues, the Lawrenceville Historical Society is open to any person with an interest in history or the community.