Flagstaff Hill is a large, gently sloping hill in

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 ...

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, ...

, located near

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. It is a popular space to frolic for students from nearby

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

and 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 ...

. The City of Pittsburgh offers free summertime outdoor movies there, part of its

Dollar Bank Dollar Bank is a full-service regional savings bank serving both individuals and business customers, operating more than 70 offices throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia. The bank's Pennsylvania headquarters is located in downtown Pittsbu ...

Cinema in the Parks program, as well as free summer concerts. Flagstaff Hill lies adjacent to

Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden set in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a City of Pittsburgh historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The gardens wer ...

. Pickup Ultimate Frisbee is traditionally played there on Sundays and Wednesdays, almost entirely regardless of weather. On warm days, many residents of Oakland often have picnics or take their lunch breaks on the Hill. Festivals are sometimes held there, and tents are set up for various events, such as the Pittsburgh Race for the Cure. In the winter when there is snow on the hillside, Flagstaff Hill is popular with sled-riders of all ages. In 1889,

Mary Schenley Mary Elizabeth Croghan Schenley (April 27, 1826 – November 5, 1903) was an American philanthropist to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Early life Mary Elizabeth Croghan was born April 27, 1826, near Louisville, Kentucky, to Col. William ...

donated of a site called "Mt. Airy Tract" to the city of Pittsburgh, part of which included modern Flagstaff Hill. Edward Bigelow, Pittsburgh's first Director of Public Works, created a series of boulevards and attractions in the new park, renamed Schenley Park. At one time there was a electric circular fountain on Flagstaff Hill that featured nighttime light shows.Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy official website
/ref> Now the hillside is mostly covered in grass, with a

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries (website), Oxford D ...

at the foot of the hill, benches surrounding, and trees and a walking pathway on all sides. In the afternoon, individuals lounging on the hill are often terrorized by members of local cross-country teams.

References

External links

Schenley Park website

Google Map of Flagstaff Hill

{{Coord, 40.44047, N, 79.94566, W, type:landmark_source:enwiki, display=title Schenley Park