Some little-known facts about the Pitt-Johnstown campus:
- The Wilmore Coal and Real Estate Companies, as part of the Berwind Corporation, gave the University of Pittsburgh a land tract of 136 acres, on which the current campus was built.
- The original campus was constructed between 1963 and 1967.
- When buildings were being constructed, then-President Dr. Theodore W. Biddle insisted that the utility companies lay their lines around many of the large trees.
- The stone used on the buildings is a quartzite, originally deposited about 600 million years ago. The stone weighs about 180 pounds per cubic foot and will withstand pressure of 280,000 pounds per square inch.
- The campus’ heating system was featured in Look magazine in 1968 as a state-of-the-art system, theoretically recycling body heat.
- The campus contains one of the largest private cemeteries in Richland Township.
- The General State Authority allocated $2,375,000 for construction of the Owen Library.
- In 1973, Pitt-Johnstown constructed four townhouse apartment buildings, increasing the number of beds to 784.
- On the first day of school in 1967, neither Schoolhouse Road nor Theatre Drive had been paved.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered one of his last major addresses at the dedication of the campus on September 27, 1967.
- In the aftermath of the Johnstown Flood of 1977, the campus became a refuge for flood victims.
- Krebs Hall used to house a snack shop called “The Pitt” in its basement.
- The first gymnasium was in the Student Union (where the Cambria Room is currently located), with a seating capacity of 600.
- Pitt-Johnstown maintains more than one-million square feet of facility space.
- The Pitt-Johnstown Log Cabin, which opened in 1972, was constructed entirely by students and employees, is built from utility poles.