The Monongahela Riverfront, better known as The Wharf. The banks of the river once went right up to Front Street and the area was a very busy spot for river commerce. In the old days, automobiles were not very numerous so parking availability was not much of an issue, unless you were a steamboat captain looking for a place to dock your boat.

Most of the business conducted here dealt with the delivery of supplies and the temporary docking of the many steamers that navigated the waterways tugging barges full of coal to the steel mills upriver.

As time went on and automobiles became more common, the Wharf was used as a parking lot, with hundreds of vehicles parked in neat rows all along the waterfront. As the city evolved, the Wharf was developed, with an elevated roadway stretching its entire length, and paved parking underneath.

The Wharf is the site of seasonal flooding and at least once a year is submerged by the rising river.