Panther Hollow

Panther Hollow is a small, somewhat isolated neighborhood at the bottom of Joncaire Street in Junction Hollow that runs along Boundary Street and is located in the Central Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The neighborhood was settled in late 19th century mostly by Italian immigrants from Pizzoferrato and Gamberale, Italy. Even today, park benches and picnic tables in the neighborhood are painted in the red, white, and green of the Italian flag and a sign post marks the distance to the two Italian cities from which most of the original residents arrived. Among its most famous such residents was Pittsburgh boxing legend Mose Butch. A remembrance memorial in the neighborhood, dedicated on December 2, 2007, commemorates the original 95 families that first settled in the neighborhood.

Panther Hollow also refers to an adjacent wooded valley in Schenley Park that runs within the park west to east approximately 1.5 miles, beginning at Boundary Street in Junction Hollow and ending near Hobart Street in Squirrel Hill. (Thus, curiously, the neighborhood of Panther Hollow lies not within the valley of Panther Hollow itself, but rather in Junction Hollow.) The hollow features the man-made Panther Hollow Lake, on the east end of which is the confluence of Panther Hollow Run and Phipps Run. Created in the 1880s, Panther Hollow Lake was once the center of a busy picnic and recreational area that included a boat house adjacent to the lake from which couples could rent boats for an afternoon. The boathouse was razed in the 1930s. Today, hiking trails follow both streams.

The heavily-travelled Panther Hollow Road lies on the southern edge of the hollow. It begins where the Boulevard of the Allies ends at Anderson Bridge in Oakland and continues through Schenley Park to become Hobart Street to the park's east.

Above the lake some 120 feet is Panther Hollow Bridge, which carries Schenley Drive over the hollow. The landmark 1897 bridge features bronze sculptures by Giuseppe Moretti of four panthers, crouching as sentinels, on each corner.

The hollow is named for the mountain lions once native to the area. The University of Pittsburgh, adjacent to the park, also uses the panther as its mascot. At one time, painting or defacing the Moretti sculptures was a popular form of vandalism committed by the fans of rival universities prior to the schools' football games.