Phipps Run & the Service Star Legion Memorials

Panther Hollow Lake is the collection point for Panther Hollow Run, of course, the stream that's fed from the backside of the Oval and Great Meadow areas. But contributing mightily to the cause is Phipps Run, which is formed from the slopes of the Phipps Conservatory - Flagstaff Hill area, then stretching around CMU and the Golf Course. The pair merge under the stone bridge that overlooks Lake Schenley and then splash into its waters.

Phipps Run cascading down a ravine.

One of Phipp's arms is fed by the Westinghouse Memorial Lily Pond, although its flow has been piped underground. If you follow Flagstaff to the Memorial, there are a pair of stone steps between Schenley and Circuit Drives just below GW that lead you to a Phipps headwater. It's a cool place to do a little exploring in the summer, although it's not part of a path and requires some trampling about with a jeans and boots combo to get around comfortably.

That little area is home to an array of memorials - Westinghouse, the Flag stone, plus the Service Star Legion and World War One Groves. Everyone knows about the popular Lily Pond and Westinghouse Memorial, and the eagle eyed are aware of the Flag Memorial at the same site. But the Service Star/WW1 groves are largely out of sight and out of mind.

After stopping to say hi to George and American Youth, visit the Flag Memorial and take a short stroll up Circuit Drive, across from the Westinghouse Picnic Shelter. There, you'll spot a grove with a solitary monument, dedicated in 1920 by the Legion, a patriotic women's group that was formed during the First World War.

Service Star Memorial Grove

The stone and bronze memorial was created by an unknown artist and dedicated to the WW1 servicemen in 1920. It has a pine tree beside it with a flowering bush at its front, and is a contemplative spot set in the middle of a gently sloped meadow. (Although for a period it burst with color - the ladies planted a pair of gold stars in the grove in 1921, consisting of 1,600 tulips.)

If you walk just past the grove to the small strand of oaks beside it, you’ll find a collection of ground plaques memorializing old vets known as the World War One Memorial; back in the thirties, it was a thing to plant a tree and erect a small marker. Dedicated in 1931 by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Ascalon Commandery #59 of the Knights Templar (the formal name for the group's Allegheny County chapter), it's one of the park's hidden marvels.
Some of the stones are dedicated to those who returned; others to those who didn't. At last visit, the markers were peeking up from under leaves and snow; the Service Star Legion has long since faded, assimilated into VFW and American Legion auxiliaries, and no one is left to care for the plot.
Still, time has been kind to the memorials even if man hasn't been. The stones and their brass plates are in pretty good shape considering they've been out in the Pittsburgh elements for the past 85 years.

Next time you're in that end of the park, spend a couple of restful minutes among the secluded and all but forgotten monuments; the Park is full of surprises, both natural and man-made.
(Note - the FOPHL are in the process of putting together a 2015 "to-do" list. Freshening up this grove may be one of the projects we tackle. If you have some ideas, visit us at https://www.facebook.com/pantherhollowlake and give us your thoughts.)

- Photo credits: Ron Ieraci -

Up, Up & Away...The Oval As An Airport

Schenley Oval and Flagstaff Hill are nearby neighbors of the Lake as the crow flies and integral parts of the Panther Hollow watershed. So today, we're heading uphill from Lake Schenley to revisit a little airborne park lore from the fringes of the Hollow.

Pittsburgh has a secure place in aeronautic history. Pitt prof Samuel Langley did some early heavier than air flight physics that helped lay the groundwork for aviation, Clifford Ball's "Miss Pittsburgh" was the first regional air mail carrier, winning national Post Office Contract #11, and the area was littered with airfields. Heck, Amelia Earhart even crash landed in one, O'Hara's Rodgers Field. Schenley Park was one of those fields, too, although it was more of an off-the-books plane pasture than official air strip.

We know that the Oval hosted a variety of activities - various meets and exhibitions, the horses and stable, auto races, softball games, tennis matches, joggers, dog walkers, soccer contests and all sorts of play, but it was also once the first flight site in the City.

Undated studio post card by Colonial Studios

According to the County of Allegheny sesqui-centennial (sic) program of 1938, in the early 1900’s “occasional flights were made from a field in Schenley Park...During the world war flying activities were moved to Schenley Oval which was the scene of Pittsburgh aeronautics until 1920…” Schenley Oval also served as an airfield during WW1 and in the post war years, pilots trained during the conflict flocked back to it, hooked on aerial thrills. 

Annie Kulina, in her Millhunks and Renegades book, wrote “Barnstormers...lit at the Oval to perform their ‘flying circuses.’ The gathering crowd, many of whom had never seen an airplane before, gasped at the planes loop-the-loops through the sky. Adventurous spectators could pay a few dollars for their own trip to heaven, climbing in behind the pilot in his two seater flying machine for a birds eye view of the park.”

The Oval and Flagstaff were also magnets for hot air balloonists, who often performed during popular park air shows and holiday festivities. In fact, Pittsburgh journalist Gertrude Gordon became the first local female to ride a hot air balloon, taking off from Flagstaff Hill in 1908. The park may have even been the birthplace of flight.

Per Wikipedia “...according to an affidavit given in 1934 by Louis Darvarich, a friend of aeronautic pioneer Gustave Whitehead, the two men made a motorized flight together of about half a mile in Schenley Park in the spring of 1899, four years before the Wright Brothers flew into fame. Darvarich said they reached a height of 20-25’ in a steam-powered monoplane and crashed into a three story brick building. Darvarich said he was stoking the boiler aboard the craft and was badly scalded in the accident, requiring several weeks in a hospital. Reportedly because of this incident, Whitehead was forbidden by the police to perform any more experiments in Pittsburgh.” 

Gustav Whitehead; the plane is a 1901 model.

While this tale has been taken with a grain of salt (there is no photographic evidence or even a newspaper article for support), it does confirm that Pittsburgh and Schenley Park were part of the early American aerial scene. There was even serious consideration given to making the Oval an auxiliary air strip (with Neville Island to serve as a full-fledged airport) in 1928. 

The idea was championed by the Post Gazette and several county and US politicians, including future PA Supreme Court Justice Michael Musmanno, who told the PG that the Oval was ideal, being in the heart of the City's business community. Even Oakland development mastermind Franklin Nicola was in favor of the project. The proposal got as far as City Council, but it ultimately failed to gather support after a series of protests tarred the notion.

1928 Post Gazette

Soon afterward (1931), the County Airport opened in West Mifflin, and the Oval settled back into the recreational hub that we so enjoy today.

The only flying objects spinning through the Oval and Flagstaff Hill now are frisbees or soccer balls. And while the lure of stunt pilots walking on wings and doing figure eights through the Oakland skies or taking a hot air balloon trip is tough to resist, we kinda like the serenity of the park as it is. Now about those drones...

Panther Hollow Bridge

Perhaps the most iconic view of Schenley Park is Panther Hollow Lake framed by the Panther Hollow Bridge. The span has been featured in everything from Victorian era postcards to today's Flickr pages. The landmark bridge has carried on through the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, but was built as an afterthought; it was first planned as a second-hand trestle!

Panther Hollow Bridge outdates the Lake (Postcard via Annie's Attic)

In 1890, a temporary wooden bridge stretched across Junction Hollow (replaced by the Schenley Bridge). Plan A was to remove the timbers and rebuild it over Panther Hollow. According to lore, the 1896 fire which destroyed the Casino squelched that notion; a wooden span didn't seem like such a bright idea after the Casino was reduced to ashes.

So City Engineer Henry Rust was tasked with erecting a pair of new bridges, the Panther Hollow and Schenley Bridges. Not too surprisingly, given the timeline, the arches are near clones that were built concurrently, opening in 1897.

Some casual visitors even have trouble telling the difference between the two hand-in-hand spans, but it's easy enough - the Panther Hollow Bridge is guarded by Giuseppe Moretti's prowling bronze panthers (Pitt would choose them as mascots, but not until a dozen years later) while the Schenley Bridge has a chain link fence that's slowly being engulfed by love locks.

Guiseppe Moretti's panthers are the bridge's guardians (via Pgh Murals & Art)

The Panther Hollow Bridge has a main span of 360 feet, a total length 620 feet (it has three arches), and the crossway rises 120 feet above the Lake. It has a couple of observation decks, making it a natural stop for photographers and sight-seeing folk roaming the Phipps/Flagstaff neighborhood. The view from the platforms takes the eye over the lake and into Oakland; the bridge is an underrated overlook. The arches underneath are equally awesome in their own right.

One stone arch forms a cool (in both senses of the word) little tunnel over the Upper Panther Hollow Trail, not far past the Anderson Grove steps to the Lake. The other end shelters the cobblestone lane that runs behind the Visitors Center on the road to Loch Schenley. Generations of kids have hooked up Tarzan rope swings to the span, too, a tradition that is carried on to this day (can't say if the view or the rush is better!).

Under the arches on the trail (Steve Dines via Flickr)

The bridge began showing its age in the 1990's, after a century of constant traffic. The City came to the rescue when it restored the crossing in 1999. The Panther Hollow Bridge even has its own bike lane now. It was designated historical by the PH&LF in 2000 and won City historical status in 2002.

That's only fitting for a bellwether that's gone from the horse-and-buggy era to become one of today's beloved City landmarks.

Panther Hollow Bridge (Bruce Cridlebaugh via Pgh. Bridges)