Silver Lake

by Rachel Coleman

What came before the Bulldog?

The Westinghouse Bulldog is a representative and unifying symbol of a resilient community that is determined to create promising futures. However, the iconic mascot has not always been the face of Westinghouse High School. Before we were Bulldogs, we were Silver Lakers!

In 1917, Westinghouse High School was built right next to a historic landmark of Homewood and the Greater Pittsburgh Area— Silver Lake. The lake was owned by a man named George Finley who used it for carp farming and operating an icehouse in the colder months. Finley opened the lake to the public, and it became a cornerstone in Pittsburgh’s appeal through its reputation as a romantic getaway from the bustling city without actually leaving the city!

Figure 1. A postcard of Silver Lake, romanticizing the area for touristic attraction (Blackley, 2020).

Westinghouse’s close proximity to the lake influenced their school and sports nickname, the Silver Lakers, until the lake was drained and filled in 1947 due to pollution and lack of environmental preservation.

Figure 2. An image from a Westinghouse High School 1926 yearbook, which shows the athletic field— called the “Westinghouse Bowl”— and the lake that sat yards below the field (Blackley, 2020).

Two years later, the city’s first outdoor theater filled the spot behind Westinghouse. It was named Silver Lake Drive-In Theatre to pay homage to what came before. The drive-in accommodated 550 vehicles and was frequently visited by Westinghouse High School students.

Figure 3. The grand opening advertisement that was published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper on September 9, 1949 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, n.d.).

The drive-in closed down in 1968, and now storage lockers and a car wash reside behind Westinghouse High School. The only remaining fragment of Silver Lake’s and the theater’s legacies lies in the road name, Silver Lake Drive.