The Turney House is a historic house in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and a designated Pittsburgh historic landmark. It was built circa 1851 by Lucian B. Turney, a carpenter who also served on the Lawrenceville Borough Council during the 1850s. It was also the residence of Turney's daughter Margaret, who at age 17 was one of 78 workers killed in the 1862 Allegheny Arsenal Explosion, the deadliest civilian disaster during the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded fr ...

. After the demolition of 184 38th Street in 2011, the Turney House is the only surviving house known to be associated with a victim of the explosion. Another one of Turney's children, Olive,Artwork by Olive Turney
/ref> became a successful artist. In 1996, the house was purchased by architectural historian Carol Peterson, who restored it to a period-appropriate appearance.

History

Built by Lucian B. Turney, a 19th-century carpenter and a member of the Lawrenceville Borough Council and Lawrenceville School Board (1856), the Turney House was erected in Pennsylvania sometime around 1851. Eleven years later, Turney and his home became linked historically with the deadliest civilian disaster of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

when his 17-year-old daughter, Margaret A. Turney, was listed in multiple newspapers as one of 78 workers who had been killed when a series of explosions destroyed the laboratory at the

Allegheny Arsenal The Allegheny Arsenal, established in 1814, was an important supply and manufacturing center for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and the site of the single largest civilian disaster during the war. It was located in the community ...

on September 26. ''The Catholic'' noted that she had been found among the 24 women and girls killed in "Room No. 4," which was destroyed during the second explosion and was one of the rooms where employees processed rifle cartridges for shipment.Powers, Tom and James Wudarczyk.
Behind the Scenes of the Allegheny Arsenal Explosion
" in ''Pennsylvania Heritage'', Summer 2013, pp. 40-55 (aerial photo of city, map of arsenal layout, and explosion timeline on pp. 46-47, Turney mentioned on p. 52). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania:

Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation The Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation (PHF) is a non-profit partner of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. History Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation was founded ...

. The Turney House subsequently became the only surviving house known to be associated with a victim of the arsenal explosion when the McBride Log House in Lawrenceville was demolished in 2011.

Architecture

The house is a small, two-story frame building with a

front-gabled A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

slate roof, clapboard siding, and modest

Greek Revival style Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

wooden trim. It stands on a corner lot at the relatively busy intersection of 43rd Street and Foster Street. The front elevation has a single bay with a centered door and window, while the rear elevation has three bays with one large window on the second floor and one large window, one small window, and a door on the first floor. The Foster Street elevation has one window on each floor near the front, and the opposite (southeast) elevation has two large windows on each floor as well as one small window on the second floor and a side door on the first floor. Most of the window openings are fitted with 6-over-6

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s. The property also contains the only known

outhouse An outhouse — known variously across the English-speaking world otherwise as bog, dunny, long-drop, or privy — is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket ...

remaining in Lawrenceville.

References

{{Reflist Greek Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh) Houses in Pittsburgh City of Pittsburgh historic designations 1851 establishments in Pennsylvania Houses completed in 1851