Josh Imhof | features editor

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s the largest clockface in North America!

The South Side Clock, aka the Iron City Clock, aka the Duquesne Brewing Company Clock, aka the Coca-Cola Clock, rests on the side of an old factory building on 21st and Mary Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood.

This octagonal marvel is 60-feet wide and features a 35-foot minute hand and a 25-foot hour hand. It is the seventh largest clock face in the world.

Built in 1933, the clock was originally commissioned to be a part of a Coca-Cola ad that sat on Mt. Washington above the P.J. McArdle Roadway.

Assembled by the Audichron Clock Company in Doraville, Georgia, the clock made the over 600 mile journey to Pittsburgh by railway. At the time, it was the largest clock face in the world.

The timepiece remained on Mt. Washington for almost 30 years until 1961 when the now defunct Duquesne Brewing Company purchased the clock and relocated it to Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood. The rebranded clock face featured the company’s slogan “Have a Duke.”

Since Duquesne Brewing Company’s closure, the clock has seen multiple sponsors, from AT&T to Iron City Beer. It remains a Pittsburgh staple, and a way for drunk college kids to tell what time it is.

Josh Imhof can be reached at imhofj@duq.edu