Photos Of Pittsburgh's Air Pollution: 1940s Vs. Today

Coal fumes in the 1940s blotted out the sun. Gas lamps sometimes had to be lit during the day.

digital.library.pitt.edu / Via Kevin Tang

600 Liberty Avenue

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Monongahela Wharf

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riverlifepgh.org

Corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street

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Pittsburgh Train Station

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Corner of Liberty and Fifth Avenues 8:38 AM

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Corner of Liberty and Fifth Avenues

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Allegheny Courthouse

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Workers washing the smog-blackened exterior of Allegheny Courthouse

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Downtown

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This photo was taken at 12:10 PM

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Unidentified street in Pittsburgh

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Corner of Liberty and Fifth Avenues

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Wabash Bridge (now demolished) and unidentified Downtown church during midday

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Around the same time, St. Louis was also fighting to reduce air pollution

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Federal Building in St. Louis

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For more about pollution in that era, read about the Donora Smog, which killed 22 people and sickened more than 5,000 in 1948.