Grant Building - Pittsburgh, PA
N 40° 26.272 W 079° 59.867
17T E 585000 N 4476840
The Grant Building is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of Downtown Pittsburgh. It is located at 330 Grant St. One of its features is a beacon which flashes Pittsburgh in Morse Code.
Waymark Code: WM3N13
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 04/22/2008
Views: 68
The Grant Building, 330 Grant St., a modern skyscraper of limestone, brick, and Belgian granite, designed by Henry Hornboastel, has 40 stories above ground, and five below for parking. It was named for James Grant, whose advance guard in the attack on Fort Duquense in 1758 was routed by the French. On the roof is the world's largest neon air beacon, blinking P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H in Morse code, and visible for 150 miles on a clear night. The third floor occupied by KDKA, 'the pioneer broadcasting station of the world.' A public observation deck (open 9-5 daily; adm 25c) is on the 37th floor.
---Pennsylvania, A Guide to the Keystone State, 1940
From Wikipedia:
The Grant Building is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The tower is located on and named for Pittsburgh's Grant Street corridor where most of the city's major corporations and government offices are located.
The Grant Building was completed in 1930 and it has thirty-seven floors. It rises 485 feet or 148 meters above downtown Pittsburgh. The art deco building's facade is built with Belgian granite, limestone, and brick. It was famous for a radio antenna that rose roughly 100–150 feet from the roof of the tower which had an aviation beacon that spelled out P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H in Morse Code. The beacon could be seen as far away as 150 miles on clear nights. A smaller version of the beacon, still flashing out the name of the city, remains to this day.
The tower on the roof also served as the broadcast signal for the world's first radio station KDKA Pittsburgh.