UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

The University of Pittsburgh (commonly referred to as Pitt) is a public research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded on the edge of the American frontier as the Pittsburgh Academy in 1787, and evolved into the Western University of Pennsylvania by alteration of its charter in 1819. After surviving two devastating fires and various relocations within the area, the school moved to its current location in the Oakland neighborhood of the city and was renamed to the University of Pittsburgh in 1908. For most of its history Pitt was a private institution, until it became part of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education in 1966.
Founded by Hugh Henry Brackenridge as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh is one of the few universities and colleges established in the 18th century in the United States. It is the oldest continuously chartered institution of learning in the U.S. west of the Allegheny Mountains.The school began its life as a preparatory school, presumably in a log cabin, possibly as early as 1770 in Western Pennsylvania, then a frontier.Hugh Henry Brackenridge sought and obtained a charter for the school from the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that was passed by the assembly on February 28, 1787, just ten weeks before the opening of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.A brick building was erected in 1790 on the south side of Third Street and Cherry Alley for the Pittsburgh Academy. The small two-story brick building, with a gable facing the alley, contained three rooms: one below and two above
The University of Pittsburgh's main campus comprises approximately 132 urban acres (0.53 km2) located in Pittsburgh's historic Oakland neighborhood. Much of the campus, including its centerpiece 42-story Cathedral of Learning, falls within the Oakland Civic Center/Schenley Farms National Historic District.The campus has been noted for its impressive architecture, and contains an eclectic mix of architecture that includes Greek revival, Neogothic, Italian Renaissance, and modern. It has been termed "a theme park of replica buildings, representing the architecture of the past speaking to the present."The campus has won multiple Green Star Awards from the Professional Grounds Management Society.
The University of Pittsburgh's main campus can be thought to be made up of four contiguous sections: upper (sports complexes, residence halls); mid (Benedum, Chevron, Allen and Thaw Halls); lower (Cathedral of Learning, Union, Posvar Hall); and on the west end of campus, the medical center complex. The campus is generally bordered by Darragh Street/McKee Place to the west and Bellefield Avenue/Dithridge Street to the east; Forbes and Fifth avenues traverse the campus from west to east. Although generally within walking distance, the university also runs a bus and shuttle service between various campus locations and bordering neighborhoods.
The main campus abuts or is within a short walking distance of many recreational, cultural, and educational institutions that also populate the Oakland neighborhood. The campus is directly adjacent to Schenley Plaza, the main branch of the Carnegie Public Library, the Carnegie Museums of Natural History and Art and the Carnegie Music Hall, as well as portions of Carnegie Mellon University. Carlow University is just west of campus, adjacent to the University's medical center complexes. The main quad of Carnegie Mellon University, Central Catholic High School, and historic Schenley Park, site of the Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, lie across Junction Hollow on the east end.