Fifth Avenue by the Numbers Guided Walking Tour

Fifth Avenue by the Numbers

Fifth Avenue by the Numbers visits sites once used by Pittsburgh’s numbers gambling barons. Numbers arrived in Pittsburgh in the mid-1920s and took hold in the Hill District. The Uptown sites featured in this tour include places where numbers bankers, writers, and runners worked, played, dined, and lived. These gambling entrepreneurs helped make numbers an iconic part of Pittsburgh’s informal economy and social history for most of the twentieth century.

NOTE: A smartphone is recommended so that participants may view supplemental images during the tour.

Starting Address: Fifth Avenue Lofts, 1800 Fifth Avenue

Ending Address: PPG Arena, 1000 block of Fifth Avenue

Tour Host: David Rotenstein is a public historian and folklorist. He has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and has worked in public history and historic preservation for more than 35 years.