Dedicated in 1916 to serve a Polish parish established in 1901, the Roman Catholic Church was named for St. Josaphat (Josephat Kuntsevych), a bishop and martyr born in Poland in 1580. The building is Romanesque with a Byzantium influence evident in the arches, pillars and bell tower. The main altar held relics of St. Josaphat. In the rear, beneath the choir balcony, hung a picture of the Black Madonna. The church closed permanently after a section of ceiling collapsed about the casket of the last caretaker during his funeral mass. The school was converted into four living units. The church itself is being transformed into a community wellness 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 seen on the memorial tucked into the hillside across Mission St. from the church.
StepTrek Route: Gold Route 2024
Gold/West Route 2024
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Sterling St. Steps
Cross Sterling and make right on steps. Descend 33 steps to Mission St. On one corner is Garvey’s, a popular neighborhood pub. Stop in for a cold one. Across is the former St. Josaphat’s Church.
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Caesar Way
Make left at the break in the railing. Please watch your footing. For over a decade, Caesar way was covered in concrete boulders and construction debris related to condos built on the plot above it. SSSNA members removed the debris, hoed out the path and tamped it down. Continue along narrow trail that traverses the Slopes and descend 44 steps to Sterling St.
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Eleanor St.
Turn right and descend 69 steps to Caesar Way. These steps begin below the retaining wall for the townhouses on Holt St.
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* SSSNA Founding
Just past 39 Holt St. is an open lot. A fire here destroyed three homes on Memorial Day weekend 1997. Alarmed by the inability of a standard fire truck to negotiate the narrow streets and sharp turns, a group of residents joined forces to create the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association and lobby the city for smaller fire trucks. The city adopted the new design, and now a number of smaller fire trucks serve hillside neighborhoods throughout Pittsburgh.
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Holt St.
Cross street to sidewalk and make left. Notice the houses sit below grade with individual stair sets to Holt St., a feature of building on a steeply sloped hillside. Ascend three sidewalk steps and continue to Eleanor St.
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Sumner St. Steps
At the end of Sumner, keep left and descend 28 steps built into the sidewalk. Finally, descend an additional 57 steps through a canopy of trees to Holt St.
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Sumner St.
Cross Sumner and make right. Steps lie ahead, so ignore the “No Outlet” sign.
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Oakley Way Steps (cont’d)
Keep left and climb an additional 22 steps to upper Stella St. Ascend an additional 98 steps to Mission St. and then 19 steps on the right to Stromberg St. Finally, take the last 25 steps to Sumner St. You’ve walked the complete 303 steps that comprise Oakley Way.
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Shelly St.
Beginning at 2700 Shelly are three of eight townhouses built in 2003 by the South Side Local Development Company in cooperation with the SSSNA. The new homes had to be shoe-horned into the hillside between existing homes. Continue walking Up Oakley Way.