The Life of WILLIAM J DIEHL

Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1899 to 1901.

Mayor Diehl was born in 1845 and worked as a bookkeeper in his early career. He entered the public service as a Deputy Sheriff for four years followed by work in the city treasury office in the 1870's. His main fortune was in the oil and gas industries around the region. Diehl was also a thirty-third degree Mason.

During his two years as mayor, Diehl oversaw a city growing to its full commercial and industrial potential. The ritzy and exclusive business forum Duquesne Club was founded in the city, as well as the amalgamation of Andrew Carnegie's vast industrial empire into U.S. Steel was completed. Mayor Diehl's administration successfully completed the rudimentary expressway Bigelow Boulevard to the east neighborhoods of the city.