Westinghouse Air Brake Company General Office Building
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Westinghouse Air Brake Company General Office Building
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The building as it appeared in 2009, with the "Executive Wing" on the left.
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| Location | Marguerite and Bluff Sts., Wilmerding, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | 40°23′31″N 79°48′27″W / 40.39194°N 79.80750°WCoordinates: 40°23′31″N 79°48′27″W / 40.39194°N 79.80750°W |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | Osterling, Frederick J.; Janssen & Cocken |
| Architectural style | Renaissance, Romanesque, Chateauesque |
| NRHP Reference # | 87000376 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 06, 1987 |
| Designated PHLF | 1975 |
The Westinghouse Air Brake Company General Office Building (Known locally as The Castle or Library Hall) in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania is a building from 1890. It was listed on the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in 1975,National Register of Historic Places in 1987. Originally built as an office building for the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, it now houses The George Westinghouse Museum.
Constructed by architect Frederick J. Osterling, the building has a four-sided clock tower, which was operated by a system of chains and pulleys. Additional designs and remodeling were done by Janssen & Cocken in 1927, which added the "Executive Wing", containing executive offices as well as conference and dining rooms.
The architectural style is a mix of Renaissance Revival and Romanesque. It was destroyed by a fire on 8 April 1896; the foundation, being made of brick, stone, and cement survived, however, and the structure was rebuilt upon the same foundation. It was during this reconstruction that the clock tower was added. At the time, the entire first floor was designed for employees' use, with accommodations such as a library, fully equipped gymnasium, restaurant, swimming pool, and bowling alleys. This brought the total area inside the building to 55,000 square feet (5,100 m2).
The building also housed a boiler house and light station, that supplied both steam and power to the plant, as well as various businesses in the community, such as the Wilmerding YMCA.
This building contained the offices of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company for well over a century. The company was originally established by George Westinghouse in 1869. Westinghouse had developed many companies during this time of industrial growth at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Air Brake plant, that made for improved performance and increased speed on the nations railways, was moved to its new location in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania in 1889. Wilmerding is a small town about 14 miles (23 km) outside of Pittsburgh which, at the time, was only inhabited by about 5,000 people. Socialism was strong in Wilmerding and it was a peaceful non-violent farming borough. It was thought to be “The Ideal Town” for the company because of its location right along the Pennsylvania Railroad and its mainly blue collar inhabitants. The Air Brake Company employed 3,000 citizens from the surrounding Pittsburgh area, but its work force was composed almost entirely of individuals from Wilmerding.
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