Most of the steps on Yard Way date back to 1944 and number 317 in total. They are the longest set of stairs on this side of the slopes. Descend 38 steps to Gregory St. and the final 13 steps to Pius St. The last set of stairs were rebuilt in time for the first StepTrek in April 2000. In addition to providing a fascinating tour of this hillside neighborhood, the StepTrek encourages the city to make repairs to existing stairways for public safety.
StepTrek Route: StepTrek Route 2020
StepTrek Route 2020
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Magdalena St.
Make right and notice the views over the rooftops to downtown and the Hill District. Continue to Yard Way Steps.
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Baldauf St.
Ascend the final 10 wooden steps to Baldauf and make a right. Notice the houses on the right sit below grade, a feature seen in this steeply sloped neighborhood. The lower sidewalk is their only point of access. Continue to the end of the street, which becomes Short St.
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Oporto St. Steps
Cross Roscoe St. and climb the 125 steps to Baldauf St. To the left was the site of the Sankey brick yard that was active in the Slopes until the 1950s. Many a yard in the Slopes has a stash of Sankey bricks buried in the soil.
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Oporto St.
Make left and ascend left side of street to Gregory St. Climb the 26 Oporto St. Steps on the left to Roscoe St.
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Pius St.
Cross S. 18th St. to Pius St. Keep left. Continue along Pius one block to Oporto St.
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Access 2020 StepTrek from S. 21st St.
If you parked along S. 21st Street and South Side Park, you can join 2020 StepTrek by climbing 102 steps under Mission St. Bridge to S. 18th St. Likewise, if you began 2020 StepTrek from S. 21st St., you can return to the start by descending the Mission St. Bridge Steps located beside the bus shelter on the left.
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* St. Josaphat Church
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. 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 is being converted into multiple living units by a Slopes resident. 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.
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Mission St. cont’d.
Stay on Mission. After the first bridge is the Mission St. pumping station circa 1900, which delivers water into the neighborhood and surrounding area. A South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association (SSSNA) initiative in 2009 brightened this area at night by replacing existing street lighting with higher wattage lamps. To continue to West Side of 2020 StepTrek, cross the second bridge built in 1939 as a project of the Public Works Administration under FDR. That’s South Side Park below and rising up the hill to your left. Continue to S. 18th St.
