August in Pittsburgh means it’s time for Little Italy Days, the annual four-day Bloomfield celebration spotlighting on the city’s rich Italian heritage. Bloomfield, though, was just one of several Little Italys that sprouted in Pittsburgh in the early years of the 20th century. Italians comprised one of Pittsburgh’s largest immigrant groups.

Along with craft skills, foodways, and rich religious festivals, they also brought traditional Italian approaches to community building. Immigrants clustered together with others who spoke their language and shared their village cultures. Pittsburgh’s Little Italys didn’t appear overnight. Some grew from inauspicious family enclaves, and took years to coalesce into more than city neighborhoods with lots of Italians living there.