United States historic place
Allegheny Cemetery
Allegheny Cemetery in 2008
Show map of the United States Location Roughly bounded by N. Mathilda and Butler Sts., and Penn, Stanton, and Mossfield Aves.,
Pittsburgh ,
Pennsylvania , U.S. Coordinates
40°28′21″N 79°57′00″W / 40.4725°N 79.9500°W / 40.4725; -79.9500 Area 300 acres (120 ha) Built 1844 Architect Chislett, John; Multiple Architectural style Late Victorian, Tudor Revival, English Gothic Part of
Lawrenceville Historic District
[2] (
ID100004020 ) NRHP reference
No.
80003405
[1] Added to NRHP December 10, 1980 Designated CP July 8, 2019 Designated PHLF 1988
[3]
Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in
Pittsburgh ,
Pennsylvania . It is a historic
rural cemetery .
[4]
The non-sectarian, wooded hillside park is 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 the United States. It has been expanded over the years and now encompasses 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 . Their remains were reinterred here, moved from their original burial site at
Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh. Many notables from the city of
Pittsburgh are buried here. The cemetery was among 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. determined to establish a rural cemetery near Pittsburgh. Dr. Speer later visited several famous rural cemeteries,
Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston,
Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, and
Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. In 1842 the group selected the 100-acre farm of Colonel Bayard 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. On Memorial Day, 1937, a new memorial was unveiled at Allegheny Cemetery, dedicated to the more than 7,000 servicemen buried here.
[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.
Gabriel Adams (1790–1864),
Mayor of Pittsburgh (1847–49)
John Arbuckle (1838–1912), coffee and sugar businessman
[9]
Marcus E. Baldwin (1863–1929), Major League Baseball player
Joseph Barker (1806–1862), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1850–51)
Joshua Barney (1759–1818),
Commodore in the
United States Navy and
American Revolutionary War ,
War of 1812 veteran (Moved to new site in 1848)
Richard Biddle (1796–1847), US Congressman
Lem Billings (1916–1981), friend and campaigner for President
John F. Kennedy
William Bingham (1808–1873), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1856–57)
James Blackmore (1821–1875), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1868–69 & 1872–75)
Francis B. Brewer (1820–1892), US Congressman
Don Brockett (1930–1995), motion picture and television actor, "Chef Brockett" on the PBS series
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Adam M. Brown (1826–1910), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1901)
James W. Brown (1844–1909), US Congressman
Jared M. Brush (1814–1895), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1869–72)
Eben Byers (1880–1932), wealthy American industrialist and socialite noted for his gruesome death caused by consumption of the radioactive
patent medicine
Radithor .
John Caldwell Jr. (1827–1902), George Westinghouse partner and member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
Louis Semple Clarke (1867–1957), automotive pioneer, founder of the
Autocar Company and member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
James Wallace Conant (1862–1906), manager of the
Schenley Park Casino and
Duquesne Gardens , and founder of the
Western Pennsylvania Hockey League .
Beano Cook (1931–2012), college football commentator
Daniel William Cooper (1830–1920), one of the founders of the Sigma Chi Fraternity
[10]
John Dalzell (1845–1927), US Congressman
Cornelius Darragh (1809–1854), US Congressman
Ebenezer Denny (1761–1822), first Mayor of Pittsburgh (1816–17),
American Revolutionary War veteran
Harmar Denny (1794–1852),
U.S. Congressman
Harmar D. Denny Jr. (1886–1966), US Congressman
William J. Diehl (1845–1929), politician and Mayor of Pittsburgh (1899–1901)
Samuel Diescher (183–1915), engineer who designed the
Duquesne Incline and the majority of such projects in Pennsylvania and the US, also designed many industrial projects
Harry Allison Estep (1884–1968), US Congressman
John Baptiste Ford (1811–1903), industrialist, founder of
PPG Industries and
Ford City, Pennsylvania
Walter Forward (1786–1852),
United States Secretary of the Treasury
Stephen Foster (1826–1864), songwriter
Andrew Fulton (1850–1925), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1884–87)
Edward D. Gazzam (1803–1878), doctor, politician, and abolitionist
Josh Gibson (1911–1947), baseball great of the
Negro leagues
Gus Greenlee (1893–1952), Major League Baseball Team Owner
George W. Guthrie (1848–1917), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1906–09)
John B. Guthrie (1807–1885), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1851–53)
Lizzie M. Guthrie (1838–1880), missionary
Moses Hampton (1803–1878), US Congressman
Alexander Hay (1806–1882), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1842–45)
General Alexander Hays (1819–1864)
William B. Hays (1844–1912), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1903–06)
Joseph Horne (1826–1891), founder of Pittsburgh department store
Horne's ; this chain closed in 1994
Thomas Marshall Howe (1808–1877), US Congressman
Alfred E. Hunt (1855–1899), co-founder of the company that became
Alcoa
Thomas Irwin (1785–1870), US Congressman
William Wallace Irwin (1803–1856), US Congressman, Mayor of Pittsburgh (1840–41)
William Freame Johnston (1808–1872), Governor of Pennsylvania
William Kerr (1809–1853), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1846–47)
[11]
Samuel Kier (1813–1874), pioneer oil refiner
Charles H. Kline (1870–1933), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1926–33)
Andrew W. Loomis (1797–1873), US Congressman
F. T. F. Lovejoy (1854–1932), Industrialist, associate of
Andrew Carnegie
James Lowry Jr. (1820–1876), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1864–66)
William McClelland (1842–1892), US Congressman
Charles McClure (1804–1846), US Congressman
James McCord (1822–1894), millionaire owner of the oldest hattery west of the Allegheny Mountains and member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
Henry Sellers McKee (1843–1924), millionaire glass manufacturer, founder of
Jeannette, Pennsylvania and member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
Robert McKnight (1820–1885), US Congressman
William McNair (1880–1948), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1934–36)
Thomas Mellon (1813–1908), founder of
Mellon Bank
Alexander Pollock Moore (1867–1930), publisher of the
Pittsburgh Leader and ambassador who was married to actress
Lillian Russell
James Kennedy Moorhead (1806–1884), US Congressman
Philip H. Morgan (1825–1900), lawyer, jurist, diplomat
General James S. Negley (1826–1901),
Civil War
general and
U.S. Congressman
John Neville (1731–1803),
American Revolutionary War veteran and tax collector during the
Whiskey Rebellion
George Tener Oliver (1848–1919), publisher of the Pittsburgh
Gazette Times and
Chronicle Telegraph , US Senator
Alfred L. Pearson (1838–1903),
United States Army officer
Henry Kirke Porter (1840–1921), US Congressman
James Hay Reed (1853–1927), founding partner, Knox & Reed (now
Reed Smith LLP ), and member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
Robert M. Riddle (1812–1858), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1853–54)
John Buchanan Robinson (1846–1933), US Congressman
William Robinson Jr. (1785–1868), politician, businessman and militia general
Calbraith Perry Rodgers (1879–1912), aviation pioneer
James Ross (1762–1847), US Senator
Archibald H. Rowand Jr. (1845–1913), Civil War Congressional
Medal of Honor Recipient
Lillian Russell (1861–1922), singer, actress
Ted Sadowski (1936–1993), Major League Baseball Player
Richard Mellon Scaife (1932–2014), billionaire supporter of conservative causes, publisher of the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
George Shiras Jr. (1832–1924), United States Supreme Court Associate Justice
Jacob B. Sweitzer (1821–1888), Pennsylvania lawyer and soldier. He commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division/5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Gettysburg
Jane Swisshelm (1815–1884),
journalist ,
abolitionist , and
women's rights advocate
Adamson Tannehill (1750–1820), Revolutionary War and War of 1812 officer, US Congressman
Benjamin Thaw (1859–1933), Pittsburgh financier and member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
Harry Kendall Thaw (1871–1947), murderer of architect
Stanford White , husband of
Evelyn Nesbit
James Thomson (1790–1876), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1841–42)
Stanley Turrentine (1934–2000),
jazz musician
Ferdinand E. Volz (1823–1876), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1854–56)
Rachel Mellon Walton (1899–2006), member of the prominent
Mellon family ,
centenarian , and prominent Pittsburgh
philanthropist
Henry A. Weaver (1820–1890), Mayor of Pittsburgh (1857–60)
Calvin Wells (1827–1909), industrialist, financier and member of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
Jane McDowell Foster Wiley (1829–1903), wife of Stephen Foster and inspiration for his song "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair"
Thomas Williams (1806–1872),
Civil War congressman, prosecutor in the
impeachment of President Andrew Johnson .
The unidentified remains of 54 victims of the 1862
Allegheny Arsenal explosion.
Gallery
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
^
"National Register Information System" .
National Register of Historic Places .
National Park Service . March 13, 2009.
^
"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Lawrenceville Historic District" (PDF) . City of Pittsburgh . National Park Service.
Archived (PDF) from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019 .
^
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 .
^ Linden, Blanche M.G. (2007).
Silent City on a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery . Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 293.
ISBN
978-1-55849-571-5 .
Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2019 .
^
a
b
c Kidney, Walter C. (1990). Allegheny Cemetery: A Romantic Landscape in Pittsburgh . Pittsburgh:
Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation .
ISBN
0-916670-14-7 .
^ 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 . [
permanent dead link ]
^
"Allegheny Cemetery" .
Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2014 .
^
a
b
"History" . Allegheny Cemetery .
Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2014 .
^
Sebak, Rick (2010-04-29).
"Pittsburgh was the Coffee Capital of America!" . pittsburghmagazine.com .
Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-12-16 .
^
"The Norman Shield" . Sigma Chi – The Norman Shield . p. 153.
Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022 .
^ Swetnam, George (September 28, 1973).
"Mayors' Notebook" .
The Pittsburgh Press . p. 43.
Archived from the original on 2023-02-18. Retrieved 2023-02-17 .
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