On your left, you will spot a massive, seven-story rectangular block of light stone masonry, topped with a distinctive dark cornice, the decorative ledge lining its flat roof.
This is the Frank and Seder Building! The story starts with Isaac Seder and Jacob Frank, two Russian Jewish immigrants who chased the American dream right here in Pittsburgh. They began selling women's wear wholesale in the early nineteen hundreds, then pivoted to retail, opening a booming downtown department store in nineteen oh seven.
They expanded, but then disaster struck. On January twenty seventh, nineteen seventeen, a massive fire ripped through this district. The original store was completely reduced to ash, causing six hundred thousand dollars in damage, which is over fourteen million dollars today! But Isaac and Jacob did not quit. They immediately rebuilt, and by nineteen eighteen, the thirty meter tall structure standing before you was finished. Glance at your screen. That is a nineteen twenty seven snapshot showing the grand department store at its absolute peak.
The brand became a giant, expanding across several states. It had its rocky moments, including intense, sometimes violent labor strikes in the nineteen fifties, before eventually closing its doors in nineteen fifty eight. Today, after developers abandoned plans to tear it down for a towering skyscraper, it is being reborn as Smith and Fifth, blending modern apartments, retail, and office space inside its historic shell.
It is amazing how this survivor just keeps reinventing itself for a new generation. Let's follow the route to our next piece of history when you're set.
