Kaufmann's Clock, Pittsburgh, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

Kaufmann's Clock is a large street clock hanging at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street in downtown Pittsburgh. It marked the entrance of the Kaufmann's department store for generations and became the city's best-known place to meet someone. Locals still say "meet me under the clock".

The story behind it

Kaufmann's was Pittsburgh's flagship department store, run by the Kaufmann family. The clock hangs over the sidewalk at the corner of the building, and shoppers used it as a fixed point in a busy downtown. Arranging to meet beneath it was so common that it turned into a local tradition, and the clock became a symbol of the city's downtown life.

The store itself is no longer a department store, but the clock stayed. Pittsburghers have a lasting attachment to it, and it has become part of local lore, from first dates to wedding photos taken at its foot. The Kaufmann name is also tied to Pittsburgh's wider story: Edgar J. Kaufmann, who led the store, commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

What to look for

• The clock itself is double-faced and projects out over the pavement, so you can read the time from either direction along the street.
• Watch the corner at Fifth and Smithfield, where people check their phones and glance up as they wait for friends, just as shoppers did for decades.
• Step back across the street and look at the clock against the large masonry building behind it, which shows how it was meant to be seen from a distance.
• Look along Smithfield Street and Fifth Avenue for the mix of older commercial buildings and newer towers that makes downtown Pittsburgh feel layered.

Tips for your visit

• You only need five to ten minutes at the clock itself. It stands on the street, so there is nothing to go inside and no need to book.
• Morning and late afternoon give softer light for photos, and the pavement is usually busiest around lunch and the evening commute.
• It sits in the middle of downtown, so you can easily combine it with a walk to nearby churches, Market Square and the riverfronts.
• If you plan to meet someone here, say which corner you mean, since the junction is wide and busy.

See it on a quest

The clock works well as one stop on Pittsburgh Historic Downtown. You reach it on foot as part of a longer route through the center of the city, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. There is no guide to follow and no group to join, so you can start whenever you like. One ticket covers the whole group.