“Frick Park” Gallery

Henry Clay Frick was a wealthy steel baron in Pittsburgh who bore a large part of the responsibility for two great calamities perpetrated upon the working class of Western Pennsylvania.

First, the Johnstown Flood of 1889, which occurred after an earthen dam on Lake Conemaugh, created for the pleasure of Pittsburgh's capitalist ruling elite, failed. Frick played a key role in forming the exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club which constructed the dam high above Johnstown. 2,209 persons were killed and 1,600 homes were destroyed. He was instrumental in organizing the wealthy elite to prevent legal retribution.

In the second, he orchestrated, in concert with Andrew Carnegie, a vicious strike-breaking drive at Carnegie's Homestead Steel works which resulted in the killing of seven strikers by Pinkerton detectives and the mobilization of 5,000 state militia. The union was broken.

Frick was an avid art collector and doting father. When he told his 17-year-old daughter, Helen, that she could have anything she wanted for her debutante party in 1908, she asked for a park where the children of Pittsburgh could enjoy nature. Her wish came true and Frick Park was born. The 600-acre park is the largest of the city's parks and widely enjoyed by persons of all classes in all seasons.

Beautiful stonework and rough hewn rail fences add to the elegance of the park.