PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

It’s time to talk about the Duquesne Brewery Clock, the largest clock face in the United States and one of the biggest in the world.

Built by Audichron in Georgia, it was erected on Mount Washington by Pittsburgh Outdoor Advertising in 1932. Three decades later, it was dismantled and moved to Duquesne Brewing Company on the South Side, where — despite the suds factory’s closure in ’72 — it has been ticking ever since.

Although you can no longer “Have a Duke!” at the site, fledgling beer-maker Velum Fermentation is located below the timepiece that towers 200 feet above South 21st and Mary streets. It’s unlikely, though, that you’ll eventually see their logo on the clock; lettering and refinishing the face (it’s currently painted gray with neon lights) would cost around $200,000.

After some tax trouble, it was in 2001 acquired in a sheriff’s sale by the Milan family’s Jedo Enterprises LP. Helene Milan says the upkeep on the behemoth is minimal thanks to the installation of sophisticated electronics; normal maintenance, inspection and lubrication is done bi-annually.

The clock’s face, which has advertised everything from Stroh’s beer and Coca-Cola to Equitable Gas and AT&T, covers an area of approximately 3,000 square feet, and its hands collectively weigh 4,300 pounds. The Steel City landmark is twice the size of London’s Big Ben. (Sorry, Roethlisberger.)

Find It!
SOUTH SIDE: 181 S. 21st St. (Map it)