Charles J. and Chris Rieger
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[](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/The_Chesapeake_and_the_Chamberlin%2C_Shadyside%2C_2024-04-08%2C_02.jpg)
##### The Chesapeake and the Chamberlin, Shadyside, by Charles J. Rieger
The Riegers are not as well remembered as some of our other architects, but some prominent buildings are their work. We should mention in particular the Poale Zedeck synagogue in Squirrel Hill, which is attributed to Alexander Sharove in modern articles, but is almost certainly by the Riegers. We reprint the biography of Charles J. Rieger in [*History of Pittsburgh and Environs* by George Thornton Fleming (New York: American Historical Society, Inc., 1922), Vol. 5, p. 13](https://archive.org/details/historyofpittsbu05inflem/page/12/mode/2up).
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**CHARLES J. RIEGER**—Following the profession of his choice, although the preparation for it involved sacrifice and unremitting industry, Charles J. Rieger, of Pittsburgh, has made a definite and permanent success as an architect, and placed himself high among the creative and constructive workers of the city.
Mr. Rieger was born in Pittsburgh, Sept. 12, 1873. His early education was gained in the public schools of this city, that part then Allegheny, and as a young man he attended the Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh. He had already made his choice of a profession, and his studies were along the line of architecture. Leaving school, he procured employment in the office of an architect, where he remained for a period of nine years, from 18S9 to 1898. He then went to New York City, where he was employed for six months with an architect; then went to Boston, Mass., where he worked for various architects while attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the night classes. This preparation, hardly won, but thorough and eminently practical, placed the young man in a position to make a start for himself.
Returning to Pittsburgh in 1900, Mr. Rieger opened an office. From the beginning he has largely superintended the construction of those buildings which he has designed, in a personal manner. His work reflects the sturdy individuality of the man, yet lacks nothing of the higher elements which make architecture more than a trade and place it among the fine arts. Among the many public buildings which stand as monuments to Mr. Rieger's ability are the high school at New Kensington; the Syria Temple, of which he was associate architect and was in charge of construction of the temple; the Washington Trust Company; the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange; the Pittsburgh Board of Trade and East Liberty Post Office buildings. He has a very wide general practice, and many of the more beautiful residences of the city have been designed and constructed under his eye.
The name of Rieger has long been familiar in the business circles of Pittsburgh. Mr. Rieger's father, Charles F. Rieger, was for many years a prominent wholesale dry goods dealer in this city. Mr. Rieger's brother, Chris. O. Rieger, has been associated with him in the business since 1913, and a sketch of his career appears elsewhere in this work. Charles F. Rieger married Margaret S. Beckfeld.
Charles J. Rieger married, in Pittsburgh, Louise M. Haslage, of this city, daughter of William C. and Caroline M. Haslage, and they have three children. Their residence is at No. 5818 Northumberland avenue.
Mr. Rieger has a prominent place in the public and social life of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Pittsburgh Board of Trade. He is a member of all the Masonic bodies, and is a popular member of the Lincoln Club. Both he and his family are members of the Third United Presbyterian church.
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A few buildings known to be by the Riegers, or by Charles alone:
*By Rieger & Courrier (as yet Father Pitt knows nothing of Courrier):*
**Longfellow School (Deniston School),** Monroe Street and McClure Avenue, Swissvale, 1902.
*By Charles J. and Chris Rieger:*
**P. R. Hilleman house,** 1830 Beechwood Boulevard, Squirrel Hill, about 1923.
**E. L. Milliron house,** 717 Sherwood Avenue, Sheraden, about 1924.
**Poale Zedeck synagogue,** 6318 Phillips Avenue, Squirrel Hill, 1929. Attributed to Sharove & Friedman in secondary sources, but this seems to be an error. The newspaper articles are quite specific. Source: “Poale Zedek Dedicates Synagogue Tomorrow,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, September 7, 1929, p. 6. “Architects for the new building are: Charles J. Rieger, Chris Rieger and Joseph Kindler, general contractor.” Compare Bamberg, “Architect of the Jewish Community,” Western Pennsylvania History, Summer 2020 [(PDF)](https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/download/63348/62242/72359), which attributes the building to Sharove.
*By Charles J. Rieger:*
[**Chamberlin and Chesapeake Apartments**](https://fatherpitt.com/2024/04/13/the-chesapeake-and-the-chamberlin-shadyside/), 5758 and 5754 Howe Street, Shadyside, 1908.
**McGilvray Shiras house,** 5746 Aylesboro Avenue, Shadyside, 1917.
**Braddock Junior High School,** Washington Avenue and 7th Street, Braddock, 1938.
**Washington Trust Company Building,** East Beau Street and South Main Street, Washington (Pennsylvania). —There are two buildings. [Frederick Osterling’s Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_J._Osterling#Significant_buildings_designed_by_Osterling), citing a now-vanished Observer-Reporter article, attributes the 1902 building to Osterling; but perhaps Osterling was the architect of the 1925 skyscraper addition.