“ We have heard it doubted (says the Virginia Patriot) whether the steam-boat soon to leave New York for Russia, will have sails; or those who go in it will venture to trust themselves to the efficacy of steam alone. If without sails (though Columbus deserves more credit,) those who first cross the Atlantic in a steam-boat will be entitled to a great portion of applause. In a few years we expect such trips will be common....
Bold was the man, the first who dared to brave,
In fragile bark, the wild, perfidious wave:
and bold will they be who first make a passage to Europe in a steam boat. ”

“ A citizen of Pittsburgh, and a lover of the useful and rational amusement of the Theatre, begs leave to observe to his fellow citizens, that on Monday evening next Mr. Alexander will stand forward for public recompense, for his exertions in his profession.... It must be readily acknowledged that no young gentleman of more transcendent talent ever graced the dramatic floor of Pittsburgh; it is, therefore, but just that he who has so often made us smile, should from us receive a something to make him smile in turn. ”

“ And yet with all these seductions for the eye and the imagination, no life is so slavish, none so precarious and dangerous. In no employment do the hands so wear out. After the lapse of so very short a period since these waters have been navigated in this way, at every bend, and every high point of the river, you are almost sure to see, as you stop for a moment, indications of the 'narrow house;' the rude monument, the coarse memorial, carved on an adjoining tree by a brother boatman, which marks that an exhausted boatman there yielded his breath, and was buried. ”

“ As every blessing has its attendant evil, the stone coal is productive of considerable inconvenience from the smoke which overhangs the town, and descends in fine dust which blackens every object; even snow can scarcely be called white in Pittsburgh. The persons and dress of the inhabitants, in the interior of the houses as well as the exterior, experience its effect. ”

“ The year one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, with all its cares, with all its bustle, its pleasures and its pains, has gone, and now mingles with the departed dreams of our midnight slumbers. How many of us imagined while engaged in the din and bustle and uproar of the world, that this era would form an important epoch in the history of man? ”

“ Pittsburg is a cheap market for horses ... travellers from the east, often quit their horses here, and take the river for New Orleans, &c.; and on the contrary, those from the west proceed eastward from this place, in stages. Thus, there are constantly a number of useful hackneys on sale. The mode of selling is by auction. The auctioneer rides the animal through the streets, proclaiming with a loud voice, the biddings that are made as he passes along, and when they reach the desired point, or when nobody bids more, he closes the bargain. ”

“ The three newspapers of the day—the Gazette, the Mercury, and the Commonwealth—have furnished, though somewhat sparingly, the items of local news. They have also furnished advertisements—these in greater abundance and variety.
The men who were the tourists of the day in America, traveling by stage, wagon, boat, or on horseback, often made Pittsburgh a stopping place in their journey. ”

“ The intrinsic beauty of these Lots, their contiguity to Pittsburgh, the elegant and commanding view which they afford of the town, the surrounding country, and the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers, sufficiently recommend them. ”

“ In the English manufacturing towns, a fine is imposed upon those who do not consume their smoke. Incalculable would be the advantage to this place, could such a regulation be adopted." Cramer's Navigator, 1817.
"Upon the whole, I consider Pittsburgh, in every point of view, to be a very important town; and have no doubt, although its prosperity is now at a stand, and property if not declining, is not increasing in value, that it will gradually advance; and that the time must come when it will be an extensive and very populous city. ”

“ Whoever will apprehend said Negro and confine him in any jail in the state of Pennsylvania or Ohio, so that I may get him, shall have the above reward—and this is to forewarn all persons from hiring or harbouring said Negro, under the penalty of their lives, for after this notice, I am determined to kill any man that I find him in the possession of, without he first ascertains that he is legally free, and I hope all persons will be cautious how they hire slaves. ”

“ The glass establishment of Bakewell, Page & Bakewell was founded in 1808 and the building erected in 1811, on Water Street, above Grant, and, from the start, was devoted exclusively to the manufacture of white or flint glass. So excellent was the article produced that the manufacturers attained a fame, not only in all parts of the United States, but in Mexico and in many parts of Europe. No finer product could be found anywhere. If a stranger of prominence visited Pittsburgh he was taken with certainty to Bakewell's glasshouse. ”

“ Before the time of railroads between the east and west of the Allegheny mountains, the freight business to the Monongahela was carried on by means of the Conestoga road wagons drawn by six horses. By this way the freight to Pittsburgh was carried exclusively, but after the completion of the Pennsylvania canal, transportation was divided between the canal-boat and the wagon. As early as 1817 12,000 wagons, in twelve months, passed over the Allegheny mountains from Philadelphia and Baltimore, each with from four to six horses, carrying from thirty-five to forty hundred weight. ”

“ It is no uncommon spectacle to see a large family, old and young, servants, cattle, hogs, horses, sheep, fowls, and animals of all kinds, bringing to recollection the cargo of the ancient ark, all embarked, and floating down on the same bottom. Then there are what the people call 'covered sleds,' or ferry-flats, and Allegany-skiffs, carrying from eight to twelve tons. In another place are pirogues of from two to four tons burthen, hollowed sometimes from one prodigious tree, or from the trunks of two trees united, and a plank rim fitted to the upper part. ”

“ In 1815 the buildings of a public character were 'a handsome octagon Episcopal church, a handsome and spacious Presbyterian church, also a Covenanters, German Lutheran and Roman Catholic church, and an Academy, all of brick;' a court house, jail, three incorporated banks, a dramatic theatre, a Masonic hall, three market houses, one in the Diamond and two in Second street. Both the court house and market house in the public square, called the Diamond, were built of brick, and some of the mercantile and financial buildings were of a substantial character. ”

“ In Market, Wood and Water streets, the principal places of business, it is difficult to procure a common room in an upper story, under one hundred dollars per annum; the rent of stores, vary from three to five hundred dollars; there is one warehouse which rents for twelve hundred; the rent of tavern stands, is from five to twelve hundred dollars. The rent of dwelling houses varies much, according to the locality and kind of the tenement; a genteel private family can scarcely obtain a good dwelling under three or four hundred dollars. ”

“ Strangers are not much pleased with the place in point of hospitality merely, but those who have business to transact, will meet with as many facilities as elsewhere. They are of all denominations of the Christian religion; many of them attentive on the duties of their worship, and but few addicted to gross vices and dissipation. Luxury, pomp and parade are scarcely seen; there are perhaps, not more than one or two carriages in the place. There is a public academy, but not in a flourishing state, where the Latin and Greek classics are taught. ”

“ As early as the year 1815, there were only three banks in Pittsburgh; viz., the Bank of Pennsylvania, located on the north side of Second Avenue, between Chancery Lane and Ferry Street; Bank of Pittsburg, south-west corner of Market and Third Streets; Farmers and Mechanics' Bank, north side of Third, between Wood and Market Streets,—the aggregate capital amounting to less than two million dollars, which was considered abundantly adequate to the business of that period. ”