"The population...creates an indefinite demand for the engines and machines, hollow ware, nails, horseshoes, glass, tools and implements, pottery and stuffs of Pittsburgh. It needs axes to fell the primitive forests, saws to convert the trees into boards, plowshares and spades to turn up the soil once cleared. It requires steam engines for the fleet of steamers which throng the western waters. It must have nails, hinges, latches and other kinds of hardware for houses; it must have white paint to lead them, glass to light them; and all these new households must have furniture and bed linen, for here everyone makes himself comfortable".

from Pittsburgh: A Place in Time, Pittsburgh Historical Society