History & local legend
Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill Firehouse formerly housed Engine Company 39. Stories from the firefighters’ years there describe a building with several kinds of nighttime company, including the spirit of a firehouse dog called Queenie.
Queenie supposedly continued an old habit after her death: bouncing on a bed on the second floor. Other accounts describe blankets being tugged from sleeping firefighters, footsteps overhead, and figures gathered around a basement table as if playing cards.
Ron Ieraci collected these stories in a 2007 account drawing on Beth Trapani and Charles Adams III’s Ghost Stories of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
Sources
- Ron Ieraci, Troy Hill Firehouse (2007), recounting Beth Trapani and Charles Adams III’s Ghost Stories of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County
- Chloe Jad, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, How an old Troy Hill firehouse’s rebirth could be a model for the city, February 27, 2026, interview with new tenant
- City of Pittsburgh, Troy Hill Fire House historic nomination and fire service history
- Historical Marker Database, Troy Hill Fire Station #39
