The name of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has a complicated history. Pittsburgh is one of the few U.S. cities or towns to be spelled with an h at the end of a burg suffix, although the spelling Pittsburg was acceptable for many years and was even held as standard by the federal government from 1891 to 1911.
Pittsburgh was captured by British forces during the French and Indian War. The earliest known reference to the new name of the settlement is in a letter sent from General John Forbes to William Pitt the Elder, dated 27 November 1758, notifying Pitt that his name had been given to the place. In that letter, the spelling is given as "Pittsbourgh." As a Scotsman, General Forbes probably pronounced the name , similar to the pronunciation of "Edinburgh" as a Scotsman would say it: . The current spelling is recorded at least as early as 14 December 1758, when the PennsylvaniaGazette printed a letter sent by Forbes from "Pittsburgh ". For a long time, there was little concern about the spelling of Pittsburgh's name. Early municipal documents and city directories generally spelled the name with a final h, but the letter is notably omitted in the city charter enacted by the state legislature in 1816. The h-less spelling variant persisted through the 19th century. In 1890, some local newspapers were using the final h and some were not.
Federal board decisions
In 1890, the United States Board on Geographic Names was created to establish uniform place name usage throughout the various departments and agencies of the U.S. government. To guide its standardization efforts, the Board adopted thirteen general principles, one of which was that the final be dropped from place names ending in -burgh. The Board compiled a report of place name "decisions" in 1891 in which Pittsburgh's name for federal government purposes was rendered Pittsburg. In support of its decision favoring the Pittsburg spelling, the Board referenced the 1816 city charter. The full decision and rationale from the Board follows:
Pittsburg. Pennsylvania. The city was chartered in 1816, its name being spelled without the h, and its official form is still Pittsburg. The h appears to have been added by the Post-Office Department, and through that action local usage appears to have become divided. While the majority of local newspapers print it without the h, certain others use the final h.
The Board's decisions had limited but effective power; they were compulsory upon all federal government agencies, including the Post Office. The decisions were not, however, binding outside the federal government. Official city documents continued to use the spelling with the h, as did such local institutions as the Pittsburgh Gazette, the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange and the University of Pittsburgh. In 1908, a Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce committee, determining that Pittsburgh was the spelling with more history behind it, resolved to work toward getting that spelling federally recognized. Responding to mounting pressure and, in the end, political pressure from senator George T. Oliver, the names board reversed itself and added an h to its spelling of the city on July 19, 1911. The letter sent to Senator Oliver to announce this decision, dated July 20, stated:
Hon. George T. Oliver, United States Senate:
Sir: At a special meeting of the United States Geographic Board held on July 19, 1911, the previous decision with regard to the spelling of Pittsburgh without a final H was reconsidered and the form given below was adopted:
Pittsburgh, a city in Pennsylvania.
Very respectfully,
C. S. SLOAN,
Secretary.
Though headed for extinction after the Board's reversal, the h-less form of the city's name had years of life left. Some local newspapers carried it in their titles until the early 1920s, when The Pittsburg Dispatch and The Pittsburg Leader ceased publication and The Pittsburg Press became The Pittsburgh Press. Many cities across the United States named after the city of Pittsburgh, such as Pittsburg, Kansas, Pittsburg, California, and West Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, continue to use the Pittsburg spelling in their names. Other independent municipalities, such as the borough of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reflect the modern spelling.
Baseball card
Perhaps the most familiar reference to the Pittsburg spelling is on the renowned 1909 T-206baseball card of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Honus Wagner. Its scarcity, even at the time, combined with Wagner's reputation as one of the greatest players in baseball history, made it the most valuable sports cardof all time, with one pristine specimen yielding $2.8 million at auction. It has been characterized as the "Holy Grail" of baseball cards. The city name displayed across Wagner's jersey on the card was an artistic addition that did not actually appear on the Pirates' uniforms of the time. The portrait of Wagner makes it appear as if there could be an H on the end, cut off by the border of the picture, but the caption beneath it is "WAGNER, PITTSBURG", confirming that the omission of the H was intentional.
The presence of the -h at the end of the word Pittsburgh is occasionally recognized in Pittsburgh culture. It is often rendered as PGH. For example, Pittsburgh International Airport's abbreviation is PIT, while Union Station's abbreviation is PGH. The area's Fox affiliate takes their calls, WPGH-TV from this. A recent playful take on the final -h of Pittsburgh appears in the name of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's brand of bottled water: PGH2O, which is a portmanteau of the abbreviation PGH and the chemical name for water, H2O. In homage to the city's history, the "Pittsburg Plunge" at Kennywood park retains the alternate spelling without the h.
