“Don’t give up the ship! Fight her till she sinks.“ Dying words of a loyal soldier to his men in the heat of a losing battle, in a solemn bay off the coast of a fledgling country during a forgotten war. Captain James Lawrence’s final words sounded a rallying cry that aided the effort of American troops to fend off the British invasion of 1812. These last words also inspired a prominent businessman in a burgeoning city, off the coast of powerful rivers during an industrial revolution. William Foster founded a community in 1814 outside that industrial hub, which would become a hub of industry itself, naming it Lawrenceville. One of the largest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, it owes it’s size to early economic success, as a gateway between the river passages and one of the largest iron reserves in the country. This success is highlighted by the gold colour of the graphic.

Recognizing this unique geographic opportunity, the US Army Ordnance Department chose Lawrenceville in 1814 for a new arms depot. The arsenal served the Union army faithfully for all western campaigns/missions, reaching its height of production/use during the Civil War. One fateful day of September 17, 1862, a series of explosions rocked the arsenal and leveled the main lab, taking the lives of 78 workers. The cause remains 100% unconfirmed, but it served as one of the biggest tragedies of the war for a non-combat event. The navy of the shirt honours the Arsenal, not in glorification of the explosion, but in reverence of its entire lifetime use in support of the Union Army.

A rare geographical inclusion for Lawrenceville, sits the Allegheny River island of Washington’s Landing (previously Herrs Island). It was so named for an incident in 1753 in which George Washington was thrown from his raft, and clambered to safety on the small island. Coincidently, Washington didn’t actually land on Washington’s Landing, but instead made it to McCullough’s Island. More coincidently, this particular island no longer exists. McCullough’s Island either disappeared into the river from erosion, or was extended towards the mainland, plat maps are unclear. What is clear though, and makes for a better story, is the reputation of the island. It was colloquially known as the “Island Of Good Liquor,” and hops were known to grow abundantly on its shores. No breweries or distilleries appear to have lasted long enough on the island or near it to be remembered, yet on the mainland, one brewery can trace it’s origin back to 1861: the year that Pittsburgh Brewing Company was founded, and still exists today, brewing the venerable Iron City Beer family. Hops adorn the Lawrenceville shirt in homage to these histories.

Pittsburgh Railways operated trolley cars throughout the city, connecting neighborhoods with convenient public transit: the 94 line, Sharpsburg-Aspinwall, would have been the prominent trolley line for the Lawrenceville neighborhoods.