To join Gold Route, make right under Mission St. Bridge and climb Mission St. Steps. Please see Gold Route map and directions.
StepTrek Route: Black Route 2025
StepTrek Black/East Route 2025
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S. 21st St.
Make left to return to registration area.
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* The Brew House
The Brew House Association is a non-profit organization established in 1991 to provide a supportive environment for artists to live and work. It took over the former Duquesne Brewing Company building, which opened in 1899 and operated at this location until its dissolution in 1972. Since the late 1970’s, the Brew House has rented living and studio space to artists. In 1995, it developed an exhibition hall, Space 101, and a performance theater. Over the years it has collaborated with Quantum Theatre, Black Sheep Puppet Festival, and Pittsburgh Opera to stage productions. There are currently 72 units, a community workshop/maker space, a community kitchen and gallery.
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Josephine St.
Turn left. The miniature maples trees on the railroad side of the street are some of the 54 planted by the Pittsburgh Shade Tree Commission in spring 2003 after the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Assoc. (SSSNA) advocated for their planting and recruited tree stewards. Continue to S. 21st St. The large brick building to the right, rising above the tracks, is The Brew House.
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Greeley St.
Make right and walk down Greeley to Josephine St.
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Eola Way Steps
Descend this flight of stairs built in 1947. It contains 96 steps that are 4-ft wide and descend to Greeley St. Notice the stone and brick foundation ruins perched over the hillside on the left.
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Sterling St. Cont’d.
Cross Mission St. and descend past St. Josaphat Church to Leticoe St. and Eola Way Steps.
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* St. Josaphat Church
Step inside. Dedicated in 1916, the Roman Catholic Church was built to serve a Polish parish that was established in 1901. The building is Romanesque with a Byzantium influence evident in the arches, pillars and bell tower. The main altar held relics of St. Josaphat, a bishop and martyr born in Poland in 1580. In the rear, beneath the choir balcony, hung a picture of the Black Madonna. The consolidation of Catholic churches a few years ago had limited its usage to weddings and funerals. The church closed permanently after a section of ceiling collapsed about the casket of the last caretaker during his funeral mass. The church school was converted into multiple living units by a Slopes resident. The new church owners plan to turn the space into an event center. Many Polish descendants continue to inhabit this section of the Slopes. The names of relations and former residents who served in World Wars I & II are visible on the memorial tucked into the hillside across Mission St. from the church. Twice each year, former students, residents and parishioners clean and place flags at the memorial.
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Sterling St.
Cross and make right. Descend 62 steps. which were built in 1951, to Mission Street and the former St. Josaphat Church.
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Holt St. Steps
Descend the 43 wooden steps that were rebuilt this past summer to Sterling St.