Pete Hill honored with street renaming in Homewood, the late baseball great's onetime neighborhood

Ron Hill calls his great-uncle, John Preston “Pete” Hill, “the first Black superstar.”

That star — a Baseball Hall of Famer from Pittsburgh, who played in the early 19th century — was celebrated Monday with a street renaming in his onetime neighborhood of Homewood.

Multiple generations of the Hill family, elected officials and about 70 Homewood community members braved snow flurries to be part of the Pete Hill Way reveal.

The new street sign, at the intersection of Hamilton and North Lang avenues, now serves as a reminder of a great talent who came out of the neighborhood.

“To have someone to come out of Homewood, the children who are growing up in Homewood now would know that greatness comes from this area,” said Loretta Hill Embry, 66, who is Pete Hill’s great-niece and Ron’s sister.