Mexican War Streets

The Mexican War Streets, originally known as the "Buena Vista Tract", is a historic district in the Central Northside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The district is densely filled with beautifully restored row houses, community gardens and tree-lined streets and alleyways. The area dates from 1848, around the time of the Mexican–American War, and consists largely of row houses, mostly Victorian-era.

The Mexican War Streets Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. In that year, the listing was a 27-acre (11 ha) area and there were 119 buildings deemed to contribute to the historic character of the district. In 2008, the district's listing was increased to include an additional 288 contributing buildings over a 25.7-acre (10.4 ha) area.

Three entities associated with the district are Mexican War Streets Society (MWSS), the Allegheny City Central Association (ACCA) and Brighton Place Preservation Coalition (BPPC).

Mexican–American War

A war between the U.S. and Mexico spanned the period from spring 1846 to fall 1847. The war was initiated by the United States and resulted in Mexico's defeat and the loss of approximately half of its national territory in the north. In the U.S. the war is termed the Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the Invasion of Mexico. In Mexico names for the war include Primera intervención estadounidense en México (United States' First Intervention in Mexico), Invasión estadounidense a México ("United States' Invasion of Mexico"), Guerra de la Invasión estadounidense, and Guerra del 47 ("The War of 1847").

After its independence in 1821 and brief experiment with monarchy, Mexico became a republic in 1824, characterized by considerable instability, so that when the U.S. initiated the conflict with the Centralist Republic of Mexico, Mexico was ill-prepared to respond. The war with the U.S. followed in the wake of decades of Indian raids in the north of Mexico, which Anglo-American migration to the Mexican province of Texas was aimed at buffering. Anglo-Americans and some Mexicans revolted against the Mexican government in the 1836 Texas Revolution, creating a republic not recognized by Mexico, which still claimed it as its national territory. The 1845 expansion of U.S. territory with its annexation of Texas escalated the dispute between the U.S. and Mexico into open war.