On October 15, 1881, Denny McKnight held a meeting at Pittsburgh's St. Clair Hotel to organize a new team, which began play in 1882 as a founding member of the American Association. Chartered as the Allegheny Base Ball Club of Pittsburgh, the team was listed as "Allegheny" in the standings, and was sometimes called the "Alleghenys" in that era's custom of referring to a team by its pluralized city or club name.

After its closing, Three Rivers Stadium (named for its location near the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers) was imploded in 2001, and the Pirates moved into newly built PNC Park.

Honus Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day and has been matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. Wagner also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times.

Nick Maddox is one of the few pitchers to throw a no-hitter in his rookie season, defeating the Brooklyn Superbas 2-1 at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park on September 20, 1907, one week after pitching a shutout in his major league debut.

His 96 stolen bases in 1980 are the most by any player not to lead the majors in steals on the season. Ron LeFlore edged him out by stealing 97 bases.

Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" became the rally/theme song of the 1979 World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates as they overcame a 3 games to 1 deficit versus the Baltimore Orioles to come back and win the Series 4 games to 3.

Pirates right fielder Chief Wilson is best known for his record-breaking 36 triples in 1912. Wilson's record still stands today and is currently the third oldest single-season record, behind Nap Lajoie's .426 batting average in 1901 and Jack Chesbro's 41 wins in 1904. It is considered one of baseball's most unbreakable records.

On April 23, 1890, the team drew a meager 17 fans (only 6 of whom paid) for a game against the Cleveland Spiders.

Before the 1890 season, nearly all of the Alleghenys' best players bolted to the Players' League's Pittsburgh Burghers. The Players' League collapsed after the season, and the players were allowed to go back to their old clubs. However, the Alleghenys also scooped up highly regarded second baseman Lou Bierbauer, who had previously played with the AA's Philadelphia Athletics. Although the Athletics had failed to include Bierbauer on their reserve list, they protested the Alleghenys' move in an official complaint, calling the signing of Bierbauer "piratical". Although the Alleghenys were never found guilty of wrongdoing, they made sport of the complaint by renaming themselves "the Pirates" for the 1891 season.

Although better known for defensive wizardry, second baseman Bill Mazeroski won the title for Pittsburgh with a game-winning home run off New York Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry in the bottom of the ninth--the only game 7 walk-off homer in World Series history.