Tarentum, Natrona walking tour to focus on revitalization efforts
Walk, talk, and explore historical landmarks in two Allegheny River communities — Tarentum and Natrona — on April 25 with an educational walking tour.
Sponsored by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, the tour will feature three local Tarentum and Natrona residents guiding up to 40 participants, showcasing historic buildings, sights and churches.
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, located in Downtown Pittsburgh, works with volunteers throughout the region to identify and save historically significant towns, neighborhoods, urban areas, landscapes and farms.
The goal of the tour is to show the great work that is being accomplished by Tarentum and Natrona residents.
“They are using historic preservation to renew their communities,” says Louise Sturgess, History & Landmarks executive director.
“We are grateful to Cindy Homburg and David Rankin of Tarentum and to Bill Godfrey of Natrona, all three are leading preservation efforts in both communities,” Sturgess says.
Participants will kick off the tour at Central Presbyterian Church in Tarentum. Guests will take a short walk to JG's Tarentum Station Restaurant, where lunch will be served for an extra charge. The lunch will feature wedding soup, salad, penne pasta with marinara sauce, dessert and coffee.
“Tarentum Station was built in 1892,” says guide and self-described Tarentum historian Cindy Homburg. “This is our first tour of this kind, and it will be awesome. I will talk about the history of the town while showing private homes, businesses and unique architecture.”
Some highlights of the flat-terrain Tarentum walk will include: The Opera House, Masonic Temple, Eureka Hose Company (where a fire truck that fought in Pittsburgh's Great Fire of 1845 is displayed), a public school that has been converted into a commercial space and Central Presbyterian Church, with stunningly restored windows.
“I am very excited to showcase Tarentum to PHLF; they helped fund two grants for Central Presbyterian Church (built in 1914) for stained glass-window restoration,” says volunteer David Rankin, a lifelong member of Central Presbyterian. “This tour is one of five events focusing on Tarentum's history we are hosting.”
In 2014 and 2015, History & Landmarks awarded matching grants to Central Presbyterian Church through its Historic Religious Properties Program. The church boasts 43 stained-glass windows.
Participants will then drive their cars to Natrona, gathering at Bill Godfrey's art studio and home, which is a refurbished industrial building turned into his private residence. His studio-home is made of recycled materials.
“A few years ago, my studio won the ‘Best Do It Yourself Re-Do' award from Pittsburgh Magazine,” says Godfrey, president of the Natrona Comes Together Association, dedicated the past 10 years to improving and revitalizing the Natrona area.
Other Natrona sights during the one hour tour led by Godfrey will include: St. Ladislaus Catholic Church (founded in 1893 as a Polish parish), Penn Salt's worker's row housing (which is under restoration with the goal of being a community museum), Natrona Bottling Co., the former Allegheny Ludlum mill site that is now a playground and Natrona's community park with its decorative mosaics and columns.
“St. Ladislaus was built in 1894 and has a beautiful dome and is a great space, with magnificent stained-glass windows,” Godfrey says.
He is especially grateful for the support from Pittsburgh History & Landmarks.
“We would like to utilize a row house in the future as an educational space for Natrona,” says Godfrey, who stresses that, although heating and electricity have been installed, the house is still a “raw space” and in need of further remodeling.
Natrona has recently implemented other community improvements: a kayak launch, children's programs, a community garden and a crime-watch program.
“This area is rich in history,” Godfrey says. “We are very happy to welcome visitors to Natrona, where we hug the Allegheny River.”
Joyce Hanz is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.
