In the mid 1800's, just before the founding of the Pittsburgh College of the Holy Ghost (Duquesne), the land now under Rooney Field was occupied, believe it or not, by "Coward's Alley".  It was named after the man who owned the land and built houses for his many family there, Robert Coward.

The new visitor's dressing room will occupy the very area where Robert Coward and the rest of the Cowards lived.

The alley ran from what was then Cooper Street (Now McNaulty) under the Science Center towards Mercy Hospital ending at a brewery owned by the Magee Family, the current sight of the Duquesne Locker Rooms. 

Legend has it the the Magee Family would often enjoy the resulting brew and challenge the Cowards to a game of American Football/Soccer on the alley and usually ended up driving the Cowards back towards their own goal beating them soundly. 

Many of the Magee Family,  good Irish Catholics that they were, would later end up attending Duquesne's prep school and college.

The Cowards, I’ve often heard, went on past their homes to the Western University of Pennsylvania (WUP), originally further into town at the corner of Ross and Diamond where the City County Building now is (Pitt before they moved to Oakland).

Next time you're enjoying a game at Rooney, close your eyes and picture the ghosts of the Magees routing the Cowards back towards their former dwellings.

If you don't believe me, look up the old maps of Pittsburgh-  they are on line.

For those of you that don't know me, I'm a history nut (Duquesne MA in History).  I used to run a blog with most of it still there with Duquesne Football History.  I used to do a weekly article during the season for Rivals (Yahoo Sports that was carried nationally.  The blog link is in my signature tag.

Last edited by coffee (3/12/2019 9:53 pm)