Edward Manning Bigelow (1850–1916), known as the " father of Pittsburgh's parks",Field Notes: "Bigelow Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA"
Retrieved on May 8, 2007 was an American City Engineer and later Director of Public Works in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He was responsible for major improvements in city's

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

, such as new

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

, and

parks A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

, many of them in today's Oakland neighborhood., Pittsburgh Magazine, Retrieved on May 8, 2007William Loeffler, ,

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Although it transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, it rem ...

, January 16, 2000, Retrieved on May 8, 2007

Biography

Edward Manning Bigelow was born in Pittsburgh on November 6, 1850.Edward Manning BIGELOW
biography from Bigelow Society, Retrieved on May 8, 2007 A

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, he attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

(then known as the

Western University of Pennsylvania The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

) as a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

student. In 1880, he married Mary Peabody; they had no children. In the late 19th century, Pittsburgh became a

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

, known as a '' Steel City'' for its high concentration of

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...

s. Bigelow, a close friend of

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

, joined the city administration and was appointed City Engineer in 1880. The position was transformed in 1888 into Director of Public Works, a position he held for three terms of office, first from 1888 to 1900, again between July 1901 and November 1901, and then from 1903 to 1906. In 1911, the

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

named him as a commissioner of the newly formed State Highway Department from 1911 to 1915. During his tenure of over thirty years, Bigelow saw the need for urban parks in a highly industrialized city and acquired land for public park use. As park commissioner in the 1880s, Bigelow convinced Mary Schenley to donate land to the city in what became the

Schenley Park Schenley Park () is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. In 2011, th ...

, opened in 1889. He also acquired the land that would be used for the Highland Park (opened in 1893); spending more than $900,000 in city funds to buy the land, parcel by parcel, from farmers. As head of city planning in 1900, he started work on a system of grand

s (including Beechwood, Bigelow (then named Grant), and Washington boulevards) to connect the parks. One of these, initially known as the Grant Boulevard, now Bigelow Boulevard (renamed in Bigelow's honor soon after his death), was Pittsburgh's first rapid transit route. Others include the Boulevard of the Allies, Beechwood, and Washington Boulevard. His visions for park development made him unpopular with those who wanted to use the land for more building development, although he eventually triumphed. He also developed the water and sewer systems in Pittsburgh. Barry Hannegan, director of historic landscape preservation for the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said in 2000 that "He (Bigelow) brought to Pittsburgh what we would now call state-of- the-art landscape architecture and horticulture" and "We owe him a lot. He was the first truly great planner in Pittsburgh." Bigelow died on December 6, 1916, before taking the position of Public Works director for a fourth time. He was interred in

Homewood Cemetery Homewood Cemetery is a historic urban cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in Point Breeze and is bordered by Frick Park, the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, and the smaller Smithfield Cemetery. It was established i ...

. On December 20, 1916, Grant Boulevard was posthumously named Bigelow Boulevard in memory of him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Edward Manning Politicians from Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh alumni 1850 births 1916 deaths Pennsylvania local politicians American civil engineers Burials at Homewood Cemetery 19th-century American politicians Engineers from Pennsylvania