The Pittsburgh Branch House: International Harvester Company of America

The Pittsburgh Branch House

Photograph by Jeff Slack, courtesy of Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Quick Facts

Location:

810 West North Ave. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Significance:

Architecture & Commerce

Designation:

Listed in the National Register – Reference number 100006371

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

MANAGED BY:

Private

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2021, The Pittsburgh Branch House of the International Harvester Company is a significant example of a regional branch house for sales, distribution and service of agricultural implements and motor trucks, initially for the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and then for the International Harvester Company. Under the direction of Cyrus Hall McCormick, Jr., the site and plan for the branch house building were selected in 1901. In August 1902, the International Harvester Company (IHC) was formed by the merger of McCormick and four other harvester manufacturing concerns. The building was constructed in 1902 as one of the final acts of the company and is one of the earliest assets of the newly formed combination. The Pittsburgh Branch House is significant for its innovation in commerce and agriculture sales as well as its identifiable architecture features. The Pittsburgh Branch House is an example of the Classical Revival style that was widely used to convey International Harvester’s brand and success. In the first decades of the twentieth century, IHC embarked on an intensive campaign for national expansion. The addition to the building and its overall reconfiguration in 1913 is a representative of this effort. The company’s national campaign was successful, and the Pittsburgh Branch House was ranked among the top IHC branches in the country.