Howe Springs (How PokemonGo is making me learn)

Howe Springs - at the time this was taken, it was owned by Team Mystic!

Since I probably wasn't going very far out of my house yesterday (driving to Sharpsburg doesn't really count since I couldn't play during that), I did a loop around the block to catch my Pokemon and hit up a Pokestop for my 7 day streak.

As I walked over the Howe Springs gym, I realized two things: I had never actually stood in there before and I had no idea the background of it. As someone who majored in history, that is a bit odd (side note: I had someone ask me in an interview on Tuesday what I had planned to do with my degree. Ma'am, I graduated college in 2008 - must we do this?!).

Their column game is on point!

I took a few pictures and decided to do some research!


Howe Springs was originally built in 1896 (and renovated 14 years later) and was one of many springs that the city had. Based on the preservation paperwork, the Howe family connected the springs because of the Johnstown Flood (or, as most of us know it, one of many stupid reasons PLCB taxes our booze too much!). When the Howe heirs decided to sell the estate after the deaths of their parents, they made a clause that the springs had to remain free and accessible for public use. This didn't go exactly as planned.


 

Not exactly free flowing water to the masses.

So what happened? Water borne illnesses (Oregon Trail type stuff - cholera and typhoid) were common in the late 1800s and early 1900s, so everyone who lived in the city was constantly concerned about contracting illness from water. A lot of people thought that the water from these springs was cleaner than what the city provided. Since nothing in history is easy to trace or understand, there are several claims that water from these springs was what caused those diseases. The landmark status application linked below has a neat article from 1906 in which Howe was one of the only two springs in the city that did not have typhoid!

Around 1900, the City started to see these as public health hazards (and it probably had something to do with revenue). One major reason the springs were no longer providing the same clean water they had in the past? Our industrial boom! There was so much going on with industry that the water was being contaminated before it reached the springs. Most of the springs were just closed, but some were totally destroyed. Howe Springs was not entirely destroyed, and Preservation Pittsburgh submitted it to be a historic site within Pittsburgh.

I'm super dedicated to Pokemon Go!

At the end of my research and Pokewalk, I realized that I had just spent a lot of time reading about a public water fountain. Things like the public springs are a cool way to look into the history of Pittsburgh and cities like us in ways that we normally wouldn't be taught. I had walked by the Howe Springs for years (even catching the bus over there) and really hadn't given it a second thought. It took me standing there while trying to take over the gym that I realized I had no idea what I was even standing by.



Want to learn about about the Howe Springs? The City has the application for landmark status available online?

**I took all these pictures myself yesterday**