Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Civil War Memorial, Homestead Cemetery

The Civil War memorial, with a fine bronze of a Civil War soldier, was put up in 1891. It stands in the middle of the Homestead Cemetery Soldiers Circle, which is dedicated to veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the two World Wars.

A. D. 1891
Erected to the memory of the country’s defenders by Gen. Griffin Post No. 207 G. A. R., Gen. Griffin Circle No. 41 Ladies of the G. A. R., J. S. Hollinshead Camp No. 31 Sons of Veterans, and the Citizens of Homestead and vicinity.

“Bivouac of the Dead” was written by Theodore O’Hara, who fought for the Confederacy; but it is a mark of how serious we were about reconciliation after the war that it appears on many Union monuments. Like Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees,” it is one of those poems against which nothing can be said, not because it is a great work of art, but because people love it with an unreasoning devotion.

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Enlow-Schwer Mausoleum, Union Dale Cemetery

A rustic mausoleum that combines the form of a Greek temple with the rough-hewn rocky aesthetic of Stonehenge.

The stained-glass window in the rear is a standard item, but a tasteful and well-made one, with a crown and lilies, symbolic of victory and resurrection.

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Sunshine Mausoleum, South Side Cemetery

Late-afternoon sunshine on the Sunshine mausoleum and its contemplative mourner. We have more pictures of the Sunshine mausoleum here, here, and here.

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Coffin and Adams Obelisks, South Side Cemetery

You are qualified to be a mortician if you can sit down with a client named Coffin and make no remark whatsoever on the name.

The Adams obelisk is one of the few monuments signed by the makers, Campbell & Horigan.

The Adams family plot is still surrounded by its circular stone fence. Groundskeepers hate these stone fences, but the South Side Cemetery has been less aggressive about removing them than most other cemeteries.

We have more pictures of the Coffin and Adams obelisks.

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Schwarm Monuments, South Side Cemetery

Two monuments in the high Victorian romantic style, both decorated with passionflowers. Above, Charles and Sarah Irwin Schwarm (Charles’ death date was never filled in; perhaps he remarried and was buried elsewhere); below, Jacob and Sophia Schuler Schwarm.

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