Penn & Liberty Avenues (Commercial Buildings), Arbuthnot Building, 719-721 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA

Written data includes sketches & photocopies of maps & photographs.
Significance: The Arbuthnot Building stands as a monument to the Arbuthnot-Stevenson Company, a wholesale dry-goods firm that ranked among the best known in its trade in 19th century western Pennsylvania. Moreover, its presence at 719-721 Liberty Avenue since the 1870s and decisions to build larger stores at Penn Avenue and Eighth (1891) and the old Liberty Avenue site (1893), reflected the company's commitment to upgrading the Penn-Liberty produce commission district into a more fashionable shopping and office center. In addition to its commercial significance, the Arbuthnot Building holds architectural importance as the work of Charles Bickel, one of Pittsburgh's most popular architects of the period.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-202
Survey number: HABS PA-5152-D
Building/structure dates: 1893 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1940 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: after. 1950- before. 1970 Subsequent Work