Westinghouse Park is a small municipal park in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

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The park's lands are the site of the former mansion, "Solitude", which was home to George Westinghouse

George Westinghouse

George Westinghouse, Jr was an American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry. Westinghouse was one of Thomas Edison's main rivals in the early implementation of the American electricity system...

, an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

 and engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

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The site also housed his private laboratory, and natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 derrick

Derrick

A derrick is a lifting device composed of one tower, or guyed mast such as a pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by lines powered by some means such as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all four directions. A line runs up it and over its top with a hook on...

s towered above the estate's Victorian gardens. Here, Westinghouse invented methods to control and transmit natural gas for both industrial and residential consumers.

The park's history began when Westinghouse, upon his death in 1914, bequeathed the Point Breeze

Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Point Breeze, or South Point Breeze, is a largely residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.It is adjacent to the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Regent Square, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and North Point Breeze, and the borough of Wilkinsburg. It includes the neighborhood of Park Place...

 mansion to his son, who in turn sold the property in 1918 to the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...

. The Society's intent was to establish both a city park and a memorial to Westinghouse there. The house was razed and the park was developed; the George Westinghouse Memorial, however, was erected a few miles away in Schenley Park

Schenley Park

Schenley Park is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district...

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Writer John Edgar Wideman

John Edgar Wideman

John Edgar Wideman is an American writer, professor at Brown University, and sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.-Early life:...

frequently makes references to the park in his books. Both of his memoirs, Brothers and Keepers and Hoop Roots, use the park as a setting, as well as his fictional Homewood Trilogy.