908 Beech Avenue

Historical records suggest that John and Jane Sterritt had 908 Beech Avenue built in or shortly before 1868.

The June 13,1872 sale of the lot on which 908 Beech Avenue stands for $2200, at 55 cents per square foot, is consistent with the lot being undeveloped. However, Pittsburgh city directories listed John Sterritt and his son William H. Sterritt at 53 Beech Street (now 908 Beech Avenue) beginning in 1870. In 1868 and 1869, before houses on Beech Avenue received numbers, directories listed John and William Sterritt as living on Beech Avenue near Grant Avenue (now Galveston Avenue).

An 1890 plat map shows that 908 Beech Avenue was known as 53 Beech Street. Most older North Side neighborhoods received their current street numbers in 1899.

John and Jane Sterritt had 908 Beech Avenue built in the Italianate style. The style is shown in the house’s projecting front door surround with brackets and decorative panels, in the facade’s projecting window hoods, and in the paired brackets that are below the box gutter and within the east gable.

Interior details of Italianate houses often included flared newel posts and spindles, marble or wood mantels with arched openings, four-panel doors with porcelain knobs and ornamented cast iron hinges, and non-symmetrical door and window trim. In the Pittsburgh area, many Italianate houses were built with stairways that incorporated landings located about three steps below the main level of the second floor. Most local Italianate houses also featured two-over-two double-hung windows, although some later or larger examples were constructed with one-over-one double-hung windows.

The two-story brick building at the rear of 908 Beech Avenue was constructed in 1895, with construction possibly extending into 1896. The building was apparently constructed for storage of electrical supplies.

Fire insurance maps published in 1884 and 1893 depict a two-story wood frame stable at the rear of the property at 908 Beech Avenue. Allegheny City government began to require building permits for new construction, additions, and alterations in 1894. Allegheny City building permit records show that on November 19,1895, Margaret McC. Price received a permit for the construction of what was described as a two-story brick storage building on Buttercup Alley. The building was to measure 15’ by 25’, and had an estimated construction cost of $600. George L.W. Price, a son of Margaret McC. Price, was to construct the building.

The Sterritts

Pittsburgh directories, U.S. census records, and other sources provide information on John and Jane Sterritt.

Records of the 1920 census show that 908 Beech Avenue was rented to families headed by Glen Dean, David Ford, Henry Lutz, and Gerald Latshaw. A total of 14 people lived in the house.

Glen Dean, 39, was an auto repairman who had been born in Ohio. His wife Mary, 37, had been born in Pennsylvania. The couple had four children: Forrest, 14, Rowan, 13, Bessie, eight, and James, six.

David Ford was a 22-year-old box maker who had been born in New Jersey. His wife Maria had been born in New York. The Fords’ only child was Maria, 18 months.

Records of the 1930 census list Margaret Byrnes as the head of the household at 908 Beech Avenue. Byrnes, 66, was a widow who had been born in Northern Ireland and arrived in the United States in 1888. Her occupation was listed as landlady of a rooming house. She had four children and six roomers who lived with her. Byrnes’ children who lived with her, all unmarried, were William, 30, a news dealer at a newsstand, Paul, 28, a detective with a detective agency, Anne, 26, with no occupation, and Regis, 23, with no occupation.

In 1940, according to census records, Thomas and Ann Byrnes owned and lived at 908 Beech Avenue. Thomas Byrnes, 40, had been born in Ireland, was a high school graduate, and was employed as a street foreman with the city Bureau of Highways. He had worked 48 hours in the week before the census. In 1939, he had worked seven weeks and earned $245. His wife, Ann, 38, was also a high school graduate, and did not work outside the home. She had been born in Pennsylvania. They had three children: Thomas Jr., six, Ann, four, and Charles, one.

Thomas and Ann Byrnes rented apartments at 908 Beech Avenue to Earl and Hilda Brant, Angelo Festi, Norman and Elizabeth Currie, and George W. Richardson.

The Brants rented their apartment for $27 per month. Earl Brant, 21, was a dispatcher with a motor freight company. He was a Pennsylvania native who had completed three years of high school. In the week before the census he had worked 48 hours, and in 1939 he had worked 52 weeks and earned $1500. Hilda Brant, 56, was listed, probably incorrectly, as Earl’s wife. She had been born in Pennsylvania, was a high school graduate, and had no occupation.

Angelo Festi, 46, rented for $18 per month. He had been born in South America, had an eighth grade education, and worked in building construction. In 1939, he had worked 22 weeks and earned $1040. He was married, but was living apart from his wife. He shared his apartment with his son, Vincent, who was 19 years old. Vincent Festi had been born in Italy and had an eighth grade education. He was employed as a candy maker in a candy factory. He had worked 40 hours in the week before the census, and in 1939 he had worked 38 weeks and earned $646.