Twisted Tour Guide to Pittsburgh by Author Marques Vickers

Avoid The Tourist Herds...

What could be more uninspiring than seeing the identical attractions that everyone else has for decades?

This Twisted Tour Guide escorts you to the places locals don’t want to talk about anymore…the same places people once couldn’t stop talking about. Long after the screaming headlines and sensationalism has subsided, these bizarre, infamous and obscure historical sites remain hidden awaiting rediscovery.

Each visitation site in this guide is accompanied by a story. Many of the narratives defy believability, yet they are true. The profiled cast of characters feature saints and sinners (with emphasis towards the latter).

Notorious crimes, murders, accidental deaths, suicides, kidnappings, vice and scandal are captivating human interest tales. Paranormal activity in the aftermath is common.

The photography from each profile showcases the precise location where each event occurred. The scenes can seem ordinary, weird and/or sometimes very revealing towards clarifying the background behind events.

If you’re seeking an alternative to conventional tourism, this Twisted Tourist Guide is ideal. Each directory accommodates the restless traveler and even resident looking for something unique and different. You will never imagine or scrutinize the Pittsburgh area through rose tinted glasses again. The contents include:

Historic and Frequently Flawed Personalities:
Andy Warhol, George Washington, Mayors Joseph Barker and Charles Kline, Composer Stephen Foster, Biddle Brothers and Mrs. Soffel, Harry Thaw, Evelyn Nesbit, Mary Schenley, Henry Clay Frick, H. J. and Howard Heinz, Actress Eleonora Duse, Prohibition Reformer William King, Joe The Ghost Pangallo, President Calvin Coolidge, Aviator Rose Collins, Father James Cox, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, Dr. Jonas Salk, Mister Fred Rogers, Robert Duggan and the Mysterious Hat Bandit

Architecture With A Distinctive Past:
Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh Bridges, Union Railroad Station, Kaufman’s Department Store and Famed Clock, Lyndhurst Mansion, Pitt University’s Log Cabin, Union Trust Building, Heinz Lofts, Schenley Park Hotel, Hendel Building, Syria Mosque, Saint John’s Hospital, William Penn Hotel, Heinz Field, Crawford Grill, Stock Exchange, Langley Hall Explosion, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Bellefield Tower and Iron City Brewery

Hospitality and Hauntings
Monongahela House Hotel, Pittsburgh Playhouse, Carnegie Library, Chatham College’s Woodland Hall and the Frick Mansion

Legacies and Notorious Events
Tarleton Bates’ Fatal Duel, Great Fire of 1845, Market Square Riot, Founding of the AFL Labor Organization, Fifth Avenue Fire, Cyclone of 1889, Armstrong-McKelvy Building Collapse, Lion Mauling at Luna Park, Spontaneous Human Combustion, Aetna Dynamite Explosion, Document Establishing Czechoslovakia, Donnelly Building Elevator Fall, Carnegie Ku Klux Klan Invasion, Sunday Blue Laws, Equitable Gas Company Explosion, Pittsburgh Jazz Heritage, Little Sisters of the Poor Fire, Winter Flooding of Point Park, Communist Scare, Commuter Bandit, Kennywood Pavilion Fire, Lottery Scandal, Purolator Heist, Todd Becker’s Dormitory Fall, Braun Baking Company and Town Talk Bread, Homeless Memorial and Operation Pork Chop

Historical Scandals
Whiskey Rebellion, Labor Strikes and Accompanying Violence, Thaw-Seymour Marriage and Financiers Michael Carlow and Earl Belle

Infamous Killings and Murder
Architect Stanford White, Frontier Public Hangings, Dead Man’s Hollow, Suffocation By Folding Bed, Prohibition Gangster Leader Deaths of Luigi Lamendola, Stefano and Sam Monastero, Morris Curran, Giuseppe Siragusa and Jack Palmere, Rum Runner William Gregory, Lobianco Brothers Grocery Massacre, Volpe Brothers Contract Killing, Michael Chervenak, George Lee, Jimmy Goodnight, Spree Shooters Richard Baumhammers and George Sodini, Ricardo Tobia, Serial Killer Sidney Brinkley, Tree of Life Synagogue, Jim Rogers and Uber Driver Christina Spicuzza

Transportation Calamities
Mt. Washington Christmas Eve trolley crash, Graham Ferry Sinking, Bettis Airfield Balloon Disaster, Railroad Derailments, Island Queen Ship Detonation, Ghost Bomber and Air Disasters