Fidelity Title & Trust

For most of history, tall structures like this one, which opened in 1889, needed thick, sturdy walls to hold up all the stories above. That suited a look of rough-hewn stone and Romanesque archways popularized by Henry Richardson, architect of the Allegheny County Courthouse, which this building’s architect sought to imitate. Construction methods and design were about to change dramatically with the introduction of interior steel frameworks, which could support immense weight on their own and made skyscrapers possible.

Fidelity Title & Trust examined and insured deeds and property titles, and prospered thanks to the booming real estate market. A newspaper article published the year this building opened claimed the number of real estate professionals had doubled in three decades, and they now demanded attractive offices rivaling those in the banks.

As construction began, plans were revised to add an extra floor. The building also boasted the most expensive vault in the city when it opened, as well as solid mahogany trim on the main floors and 600 electric lightbulbs to illuminate the interior. The firm evolved to focus more on banking, and was part of a 1959 merger that created Pittsburgh National Bank, now PNC.

John Jackson

After college, Jackson learned financial affairs while managing the estate of his father, whose interests included meatpacking operations and a cotton mill. Jackson became president of Fidelity just in time to welcome the first visitors to its new headquarters in this building.

A lifelong bachelor and art collector, Jackson was a key civic figure who headed the chamber of commerce, the state bankers association, and the board of trustees of Allegheny Cemetery. He was still president of Fidelity in 1908 when he lost control of his horse and was thrown from the saddle, fracturing his skull.