Point State Park
Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park which is located on 36 acres (150,000 m2) in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River.
| Point State Park | |
|---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
Point State Park in fall | |
Location of Point State Park in Pennsylvania Point State Park (the United States) | |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°26′30″N 80°00′43″W |
| Area | 36 acres (15 ha) |
| Elevation | 718 ft (219 m) |
| Established | August 1974 |
| Named for | the point of confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers forming the Ohio River |
| Governing body | Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |
| Website | Point State Park |
Forks of the Ohio | |
Marker denoting the point of confluence | |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000643 |
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| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | October 9, 1960 |
Built on land that was acquired via eminent domain from industrial enterprises during the 1950s, this park opened in August 1974 after construction was completed on its iconic fountain. Pittsburgh settled on the current design after rejecting an alternative plan for a Point Park Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The park also includes the outlines and remains of two of the oldest structures in Pittsburgh, Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne. The Fort Pitt Museum, which is housed in the Monongahela Bastion of Fort Pitt, commemorates the French and Indian War (1754–63), during which the area soon to become Pittsburgh became a major battlefield. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1960 for its role in the strategic struggles between Native Americans, French colonists, and British colonists, for control of the Ohio River watershed.