Meet me under the Kaufmann’s clock
A Pittsburgh landmark takes its rightful place in the magical world of the Miniature Railroad & Village.
Jacob Kaufmann was just 19 when he left everything he knew—his family and native Germany—to immigrate to the U.S. His goal was simple: find a way to pay for his brothers to join him.
Jacob arrived in Pittsburgh in 1868 and immediately got to work. His first job was peddling goods along Carson Street in East Birmingham, today’s South Side. Labor- intensive and far from glamorous, it served the purpose. Within a year he was able to send for Isaac. Then the pair, having opened a tailor shop in the same neighborhood, sent for Morris (in 1872) and finally Henry (in 1876).
Once reunited, the four brothers would go on to build an enduring legacy that still stands today. The story of Kaufmann’s Department Store is the story of America at the turn of the century: how one family’s aspirations and drive to succeed could capture the heart and imagination of an entire city.
