One of the medals I have for auction on eBay at present is a 25th
Anniversary medal from Heeren Bros. Jewelers in Pittsburg PA. I knew
there was something strange about Pittsburgh, adding and dropping the
"H" at the end of it's name, but I never knew the details. I had heard
that it had something to do with World War I and de-Germanizing U. S.
town names, but wuzzen't confident of the source of that info ...

Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know ...



Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes in honor of the
British statesman William Pitt. Given that Forbes was a Scotsman, it is
possible that the intended pronunciation of the settlement was
/»pjtsbJrY/ (PITS-brY or PITS-bY-rY), similar to the pronunciation of
Edinburgh.[28][29][30][31][32] It was incorporated as a borough in 1794
and chartered as a city in 1816.[33]

Pittsburgh was officially named with its present spelling on April 22,
1794, by an act of the Pennsylvania Department, stating, "Be it enacted
by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, that the said town of Pittsburgh shall be, and
the same is hereby, erected into a borough, which shall be called the
borough of Pittsburgh for ever."[34]

Pittsburgh is one of the few American cities to be spelled with an h at
the end of a burg suffix.[35] While named "Pittsburg" from 1890 to 1911
following a declaration by the United States Board on Geographic Names,
the "Pittsburgh" spelling was officially restored after a public
campaign by the citizens of the city.[34]



Another interesting numismatic fact re Pittsburg(h) it that FIVE
national banks chartered during the 1890 - 1911 period used Pittsburg in
their titles, while all the other banks chartered prior to 1890 retained
the Pittsburgh spelling ... Unfortunately, it looks like all five have
VERY FEW notes reported, so a complete collection of these is quite
unlikely.

So the next time you're in Pitts-bra, be sure to pronounce it correctly
....

--
Ken Barr Numismatics * * * *email:
P. O. Box 32541 * * * * * * website: *http://www.kenbarr.com
San Jose, CA *95152 * * Coins, currency, exonumia, souvenir cards, etc.
408-272-3247 * ** NEXT SHOW: Peninsula CC 11/4 Napredak Hall SJ