The small plot of land on which 1817 Fifth Avenue and 1818 Colwell Street sits, was part of a huge section of land owned by James Tustin. The person for whom Tustin Street, in Uptown/Soho, is named after.

Here is a bit of information, not only about how significant this area was, but how James Tustin left many attributes and naming conventions still in use today. Some, that once you see them mentioned, and you know the area, you’ll say - that’s where the name came from…

Originally, the area was known to American Frontiersmen and Colonists as Ayer’s Hill. Named in honor of English Commander Ayer’s who built a fortification here in the mid-1700’s. Sometime near the Revolutionary War and throughout the 19th Century, this area was referred to as Boyd’s Hill. Representing an expanding Frontier and than becoming an Industrial City.

The name Boyd’s Hill is said to have been given to the neighborhood after a newly arrived businessman, Mr. Boyd, swayed by Hugh Brackenridge, left his office downtown and hang himself on the hill.

The true Uptown area was first developed by James Tustin. Tustin was an eccentric English émigré - a term used during that period to describe someone who left their homeland for another. Most likely leaving for political reasons.

He built his beautiful estate in the later part of the 18th Century going into the early 19th Century. His home featured an English taste in architecture and acres of magnificent fruit orchards. All given to be once known as the MOST BEAUTIFUL place in Pittsburgh.

Tustin named his home and the massive amount of land he owned - Soho - after his former home in England. The term and use of soho became synonymous with the area and is still referred to as such by many many Pittsburghers. Myself included. It was the only name used for the area by my family.

Here are some images of the people and the places that would one day turn into Uptown/Soho/Bluffs.