Allegheny Cemetery

Allegheny Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery[4] and is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Allegheny Cemetery
Allegheny Cemetery in 2008
LocationRoughly bounded by N. Mathilda and Butler Sts., and Penn, Stanton, and Mossfield Aves., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°28′N 79°57′W
Area300 acres (120 ha)
Built1844
ArchitectChislett, John; Multiple
Architectural styleLate Victorian, Tudor Revival, English Gothic
Part ofLawrenceville Historic District[1] (ID100004020)
NRHP reference No.80003405 [2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 10, 1980
Designated CPJuly 8, 2019
Designated PHLF1988[3]

It is a nonsectarian, wooded hillside park located at 4734 Butler Street in the Lawrenceville neighborhood and bounded by the Bloomfield, Garfield, and Stanton Heights areas. It is sited on the north-facing slope of hills above the Allegheny River.[5]

In 1973 the cemetery's Butler Street Gatehouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1980 the entire cemetery was listed on the National Register.[6]

History

Incorporated in 1844, the Allegheny Cemetery is the sixth oldest rural cemetery in America and has expanded over the years to now encompass 300 acres (120 ha).[5]

Allegheny Cemetery memorializes more than 124,000 people.[7] Some of the oldest graves are of soldiers who fought in the French and Indian War, which were moved here from their original burial site at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh. Many notables from the city of Pittsburgh are buried here. The cemetery was amongst those profiled in the PBS documentary A Cemetery Special.[5]

In 1834 three members of the Third Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Dr. J. Ramsey Speer, Stephen Colwell and John Chislett, Sr. tried to establish a rural cemetery near Pittsburgh. Dr. Speer later visited several famous rural cemeteries, Mount Auburn Cemetery on Boston, Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, and Green-Wood Cemetery in New York. In 1842 the 100 acre farm of Colonel Bayard was selected for the site. An Act of Incorporation passed the Pennsylvania Legislature and was signed by Gov. David R. Porter on April 24, 1844.[8]

"Mt. Barney" was selected as the site of a memorial to naval heroes in 1848 and Commodore Joshua Barney and Lt. James L. Parker were reinterred there. Another memorial was erected on Memorial Day, 1937 to the memory of over 7,000 servicemen buried in the cemetery.[8]

Notable interments
The Butler Street entrance (1870 portion)
The 1848 portion of the Butler Street Gatehouse (located beside the 1870 portion of the Butler Street entrance shown in the above picture)
The Penn Avenue Gatehouse, built in 1887
The cemetery has many hills, lakes, and wooded areas.
  • Angel of the Resurrection on James B. Hogg monument (sculpted by Henry Kirke Brown, ca. 1850)
  • Angel of the Resurrection on James B. Hogg monument (sculpted by Henry Kirke Brown, ca. 1850)
  • Faith, Hope and Charity on Moorhead Column (sculpted by Carl Conrads, 1877)

See also

References
  1. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Lawrenceville Historic District" (PDF). City of Pittsburgh. National Park Service. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  4. Linden, Blanche M.G. (2007). Silent City on a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-55849-571-5. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  5. Kidney, Walter C. (1990). Allegheny Cemetery: A Romantic Landscape in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. ISBN 0-916670-14-7.
  6. Van Trump, James D. (1973). "Butler Street Gateway - Allegheny Cemetery" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  7. "Allegheny Cemetery". Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  8. "History". Allegheny Cemetery. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
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