XV
Among the eminent men who visited Pittsburgh in bygone days we find record of the following:
1817, President Monroe
1825, General Lafayette
1833, Daniel Webster
1842, Charles Dickens
1848, Henry Clay
1849, President Taylor and Governor Johnston
1852, Louis Kossuth
1860, Prince of Wales (now King Edward VII)
1861, President Lincoln
1866, President Johnson, Admiral Farragut, General Grant, and Secretaries Seward and Welles
In 1845 (April 10th), a great fire destroyed about one third of the total area of the city, including most of the large business houses and factories, the bridge over the Monongahela River, the large hotel known as the Monongahela House, and several churches, in all about eleven hundred buildings. The Legislature appropriated $50,000 for the relief of the sufferers.
In 1889, the great flood at Johnstown, accompanied by a frightful loss of life and destruction of property, touched the common heart of humanity all over the world. The closeness of Johnstown geographically made the sorrow at Pittsburgh most poignant and profound. In a few hours almost the whole population had brought its offerings for the stricken community, and besides clothing, provisions, and every conceivable thing necessary for relief and comfort, the people of Pittsburgh contributed $250,000 to restore so far as possible the material portion of the loss.
In the autumn of 1908 a series of imposing celebrations was held to commemorate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Pittsburgh.