During his administration, the Bureau of Water placed the Brilliant Pumping Facility into service.

In 1878, Holy Ghost Fathers started a college on the Bluff which would become Duquesne University.

City streets were electrified in 1879 and Alexander Graham Bell's telephone went into limited use in Pittsburgh.

The city expanded west and south, annexing Mount Washington, Temperanceville and Birmingham.

When Mayor Liddell left office, he was employed as a liquor dealer.