Turn right and climb these 52 steps to Huron St. and Winter’s playground. Though currently closed, it is scheduled for reconstruction in summer 2024. When ready, ascend an additional 63 steps to Shamokin. Welcome to Billy Buck Hill! Stop, rest and turn around to enjoy the view. Since leaving Pius St., you walked the equivalent of 20 stories.
StepTrek Route: Gold Route 2023
Gold/West Route 2023
-
Baldauf St.
Turn left and keep right. Walk along the street to rejoin the Yard Way steps just before 1900 Baldauf.
-
Magdalene St.
Make right and walk along Magdalene. Notice the views over the rooftops of downtown and Hill District. Continue to Short St. Steps, which are just before the last white house on the left, 6 Magdalene.
-
Yard Way Steps
Take right and climb 38 steps to Magdalene St., the first intersection. Most of the steps on Yard Way date back to 1944 and number 314 in total. They are the longest set of stairs on this side of the Slopes.
-
Pius St. continued
Continue east along Pius St. Just before 86 Pius are Pius St. Steps.
-
* St. Michael Parish
Beginning after S. 15th St., the complex on the right includes the Burning Bush (40 Pius), which had offered an overnight retreat center for meditation. It is now under consideration for redevelopment as living units. At 44 Pius is the former St. Michael’s Madchen Schule and previous home of the Veronica’s Veil playhouse. The theater hosted a series of plays throughout the year but was most famous for its Passion play, Veronica’s Veil. Performed during Lent, it was said to be the longest running play in American community theater. These buildings were part of St. Michael’s Parish. The former convent for the parish lies at 66 Pius Street and is now a condominium complex.
-
* Cholera Plague of 1849
In 1849, a deadly cholera plague struck Pittsburgh. The parish could not find enough burial places for its deceased members. Parishioners prayed to St. Roch and vowed to keep a day holy if the plague would cease. It did. Another plague hit the city in 1853 but no members of St. Michael died. Cholera Day is observed each August in Prince of Peace Parish on the South Side, the successor to St. Michael Parish.
