Allegheny Cemetery | |
![]() Allegheny Cemetery in 2008 | |
Location | Roughly bounded by N. Mathilda and Butler Sts., and Penn, Stanton, and Mossfield Aves., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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Coordinates | 40°28′21″N79°57′00″W / 40.4725°N 79.9500°W |
Area | 300 acres (120 ha) |
Built | 1844 |
Architect | Chislett, John; Multiple |
Architectural style | Late Victorian, Tudor Revival, English Gothic |
Part of | Lawrenceville Historic District [1] (ID100004020) |
NRHP reference No. | 80003405 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 10, 1980 |
Designated CP | July 8, 2019 |
Designated PHLF | 1988 [2] |
Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a historic rural cemetery. [3]
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. [4]
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. [5]
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). [4]
Allegheny Cemetery memorializes more than 124,000 people. [6] 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 . [4]
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. [7]
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. [7]