849 N Lincoln Avenue

On June 26, 1858 (Deed Book Volume 135, Page 382), John Irwin and his wife, Abigail, sold Lots 66 and 67 in the Plan of the Rope Walk Property to Daniel Euwer for $2,950. Both lots measured 48′ wide along Central Avenue (now North Lincoln Avenue) and Ridge Street (now Ridge Avenue), and 285’6″ deep. Daniel Euwer, of Ridge Avenue, was listed in city directories as a “gent,” or property owner who did not work. Euwer was the first of three short-term owners whose interest in the property was speculative, during a time of rising land values.

John W. Simpson, a Downtown Pittsburgh flour dealer who lived in an earlier house on the present site of 841 North Lincoln Avenue, purchased Lot 67 on March 16, 1866 (DBV 201 P 84). Simpson paid $5,000, or 36 cents per square foot, indicating the property remained undeveloped. Simpson had the two party wall houses that now comprise 849 North Lincoln Avenue built during the next 17 months.

On August 15, 1867 (DBV 222 P 71), John W. Simpson sold the eastern half of Lot 67, containing a house then known as 62 Lincoln Avenue, to Samuel P. Shriver for $15,000. Shriver, a wholesale grocer, lived in an un-numbered house on Ridge Avenue before moving to 62 Lincoln Avenue. The lot that was conveyed measured 24′ wide and 285’6″ deep between Lincoln and Ridge Avenues.

62 Lincoln Avenue

After purchasing 62 Lincoln Avenue from John W. Simpson in 1867, Samuel P. Shriver owned and lived at 62 Lincoln Avenue for 27 years. On June 30, 1894, Shriver and his wife, Rachel, sold 62 Lincoln Avenue to John M. Montgomery of Glenfield, near Sewickley, for $12,750. Montgomery owned 62 Lincoln Avenue for nine months, selling the house to James W. Scully for $14,000 on March 23, 1895 (DBV 887 P 530).

Two months later, on May 22, 1895 (DBV 890 P 368), James W Scully and his wife, Ida, sold 62 Lincoln Avenue to William H. Singer for $14,000. William H. Singer owned 62 Lincoln Avenue (known as 847 Lincoln Avenue after late 1899) for nine years before his purchase of the western half of the double house.

John M. Montgomery, who may not have lived at 62 Lincoln Avenue during the brief time that he owned the house, was president of the Consolidated Stock and Produce Exchange of Pittsburgh. Montgomery, whose office was located at 410 Smithfield Street, Downtown, lived on Union Avenue, near the present site of Allegheny Center Mall, in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s.

James W. Scully, owner of 62 Lincoln Avenue for two months during 1895, lived in a house now known as 845 North Lincoln Avenue in the 1800’s andearly 1900’s. Scully was president of the First National Bank of Birmingham, 1201 East Carson Street.

With William H. Singer’s purchase of the western half of 849 North Lincoln Avenue in 1906, Singer owned both halves of what remained a party wall house. Under Singer’s ownership, the two houses were combined as a mansion in a 1907 remodeling.

William H. Singer appears to have purchased both halves of 849 North Lincoln Avenue as residences for his children. A son, William H. Singer Jr., occupied 62 (847) Lincoln Avenue between 1896 and 1901. Another son, George Harton Singer, occupied 849 North Lincoln Avenue after its remodeling as a mansion. George Harton Singer is recorded as the owner of the property in building permit records, although his father owned 849 North Lincoln Avenue until his death in 1909. The elder Singer left the house to George Harton Singer.

Allegheny City building permit dockets show that George Harton Singer received a permit for an $8,000 alteration of a brick dwelling on Lincoln Avenue on March 6, 1907. Existing records provide no information on dimensions of any additions made to the structure. On July 31, 1907, Singer received a permit for construction of a one-story brick garage in the rear of the property. The garage was to measure 44′ wide by 25′ wide, and had an estimated construction cost of $3,700.

The $8,000 that George Harton Singer spent for remodeling of 849 North Lincoln Avenue was greater than the typical construction cost of about $7,000 for a new middle-class house of about 10 rooms – including servants’ rooms – in Pittsburgh in 1907.

George Harton Singer hired the contracting firm of John H. Trimble & Brother for alteration of 849 North Lincoln Avenue and construction of the garage. City directories show that John H. Trimble & Brother was located at 2022 Chartiers (now Chateau) Street in Manchester in the early 1900’s. The firm was a partnership of John H. Trimble of Ben Avon and James Trimble of Bellevue.

George Harton Singer, born in Pittsburgh in 1859, was 48 when he and his father commissioned the remodeling of 849 North Lincoln Avenue. Singer’s father, William H. Singer, lived at 934 Western Avenue for many years. William H. Singer, a partner in iron manufacturing firms since the 1850’s, was a founder of the firm of Singer, Nimick &Company. The elder Singer also sold the Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Company (later U.S. Steel’s Homestead Works) to the Carnegie Steel Company, and served on the boards of the latter firm and the Crucible Steel Company.

George Harton Singer worked for Singer, Nimick & Company and the Crucible Steel Company during the 1880’s and 1890’s. Singer was apparently able to retire in about 1900, at 41, and city directories published during the 20th century never listed Singer as having an occupation or maintaining a Downtown office for any purpose.

After living in Sewickley for a number of years, George Harton and Charlotte Singer sold 849 North Lincoln Avenue to John R. and Jennie A. McGinley for $20,000 on April 21, 1920 (DBV 2049, P 123). The McGinleys, previously living in New York City, lived at 849 North Lincoln Avenue through 1932. John R. McGinley served as president of the Gary Screw and Bolt Company in the early 1920’s, and later maintained an investment brokerage office in the Westinghouse Building, Ninth Street, room 1200.

After her husband’s death, Jennie A. McGinley transferred ownership of 849 North Lincoln Avenue to the Eaglis Corporation, of which she served as secretary, for $1 on June 3, 1932 (DBV 2470 P 189). The Eaglis Corporation then converted 849 North Lincoln Avenue into a rooming house.