Westinghouse Castle

In the process of building my website, I’ve been digging up old photos and I thought I would share some here. These were taken in February of 2013 at Westinghouse Castle in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania.

Westinghouse Castle was built in 1890 as an office building for Westinghouse Air Brake Company. It was constructed by Frederick J. Osterling and destroyed by a fire in April 1896. Only the foundation survived. During reconstruction, the clock tower operated by chains and pulleys was added. In 1927, it was remodeled by Janssen & Cocken, which added the Executive Wing. It continued to be used as an office building until 1985, when it was vacated and donated to the American Production and Inventory Control Society.

From 2006 to 2016, the building was owned and operated by Wilmerding Renewed, a non-profit organization that rented out the property and ran tours. They were unable to keep up with the maintenance costs, and in 2016, the building was sold again, this time to a company that planned to turn it into a hotel that never came to be.

The castle is now owned by Turtle Creek Valley Arts, and will be used for art education, including classes for a local high school, as well as an event facility. This building has such a long history and has been through so much destruction and rebuilding. I think art education is a fantastic use for it, and I hope it stays that way for years to come.