.jpg) Liberty Avenue near 10th Avenue withUnion Station visible in the background | |
 Interactive map of Liberty Avenue | |
| Length | 4.3 mi (6.9 km) |
|---|---|
| Location | Pittsburgh |
| West end |    I-376 /US 22 /US 30 inDowntown |
| Major junctions | Stanwix Street in Downtown Penn Avenue in Downtown Fifth Avenue in Downtown Grant Street in Downtown  PA 380 (Baum Blvd) inBloomfield |
| East end | Aiken Avenue inShadyside |
Liberty Avenue is a major thoroughfare starting in downtownPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, United States, just outsidePoint State Park. Liberty Avenue runs through DowntownPittsburgh, theStrip District, andBloomfield and ends in the neighborhood ofShadyside at its intersection withCentre Avenue and Aiken Avenue. Liberty Avenue is about 4.3 miles (6.9 km) long.
A survey of Pittsburgh in 1784 already shows aLiberty Street in its present location.[1] It is also called Liberty Street in a map from 1860.[2]
Beginning in the 19th century, the thoroughfare became a place of middle- and upper-class commerce. A history of Pittsburgh notes that a Market House was established in 1832 along Liberty Street between Sixth Street and Cecil Alley.[3] Liberty also hosted food suppliers, brewers, and small manufacturers. In 1894, the Joseph Horne department store was built there. In the early 20th century, the Clark Building (named for theClark candy company) and the Second National Bank were built. At length, it became a home for theater and movies, with theStanley Theatre, the Lowe's Penn and theHarris Theatre. However, much of this activity was checked, first by theGreat Depression, and then by theSt. Patrick's Day Flood of 1936. Some businesses were closed, and others moved elsewhere.[4]
A section of Liberty Avenue inDowntown Pittsburgh became ared-light district in the 1970s and 1980s, hosting the city'ssex industry, includingburlesque houses,strip bars, andpeep shows, and attractingvice and crime.[5] ThePittsburgh Cultural Trust, formed in 1984, worked over the next 25 years to transform the area into theCultural District, a center for the arts, eventually bringing theAugust Wilson Center for African American Culture,Bricolage Production Company,[6]Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company,[7] the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Arts Education Center, and a museum of cartoon art,The ToonSeum, to Liberty Avenue.[8]
Liberty Avenue in the downtown area underwent a years-long extensive $3.6 million redesign and repavement that was completed by 1991.[9]
Liberty Avenue is a main road through theStrip District. It is the home to many businesses, mostly offices and business-to-business service and product providers. The factory to manufactureGeorge Westinghouse's air brakes was located at 2425 Liberty. This has now become the home of thePittsburgh Opera. There are few retail establishments on Liberty Avenue in the Strip District.
Liberty Avenue is the site of the main business district inBloomfield. Liberty Avenue is also home toWest Penn Hospital as well as many small store fronts.
A semi-fictionalized version of Liberty Avenue is featured prominently in the American version of the television programQueer as Folk.
The entire route is inPittsburgh,Allegheny County.
| mi | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  I-376 west /US 22 west /US 30 west (Penn Lincoln Parkway) –Carnegie,Pittsburgh International Airport    Commonwealth Place toI-376 east /US 22 east /US 30 east (Penn Lincoln Parkway) /I-279 north | Western terminus of Liberty Avenue | ||||
| Penn Avenue | Westbound entrance only | ||||
 Purple Belt (Stanwix Street) | |||||
| Fifth Avenue | |||||
| Purple Belt (Grant Street) –PPG Paints Arena East Busway | Western terminus of concurrency with Purple Belt | ||||
| Purple Belt (11th Street) | Eastern terminus of concurrency with Purple Belt | ||||
| 15th Street toI-279 | |||||
| 26th Street -East Busway | |||||
 Bloomfield Bridge / Main Street toPA 380 (Bigelow Boulevard) | |||||
| PA 380 (Baum Boulevard) / Aiken Avenue | Eastern terminus of Liberty Avenue | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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40°27′19″N79°58′34″W / 40.45537°N 79.97617°W /40.45537; -79.97617
