Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Category: Smaller Graveyards

  • Harmonist Cemetery, Old Economy Village

    Father Pitt has a number of pictures of Old Economy Village on his main site, but the cemetery is relevant here, so we reprint the picture and the text of the article.

    The Harmony Society was founded by George Rapp, a German peasant who declared himself a prophet. The Harmonists were persecuted by Lutherans in Württemberg as threats to social order, so Rapp led his followers to America, where they soon proved that they were actually quite good at social order. They settled first in Harmony, and then moved for ten years to New Harmony in Indiana. In 1824, they ended up in Economy, now the western end of Ambridge. In each settlement, they lived comfortable and virtuous lives, and—perhaps more admirable in American citizens—they made good money in business. They prized celibacy as a superior state, however, and the community eventually withered away.

    Old Economy Village is something like the Williamsburg of Western Pennsylvania. The streets are full of simple and well-built brick houses, the smell of boxwood is in the air, and there is a notable absence of ugly overhead wires.

    There are no gravestones in a Harmonist graveyard; such ostentation is unnecessary, since Christ will know his own.

  • Unknown Grave, St. Mary and St. Ignatius Cemeteries

    This grave marker, almost certainly Polish, once had space for a name, perhaps on a metal plate. It appears to be cast from concrete, and it is not holding up well.

  • Victoria Zalot Tombstone, St. Mary and St. Ignatius Cemeteries

    A typical East European cross-topped tombstone; this one originally held a photograph of the deceased, which has long since faded.

  • Joseph Pinkos Monument, St. Mary and St. Ignatius Cemeteries

    An English-language monument among many Polish-language monuments; Mr. Pinkos died relatively young, and could perhaps have been a second-generation immigrant. Cameo photographs appear in Polish monuments of a century ago more often than in any other class of monument; indeed, they seem to be an almost exclusively Polish phenomenon. This one is unfortunately smashed.

  • Zmitrowicz Monument, St. Mary and St. Ignatius Cemeteries

    Father Pitt was not able to read much beyond the name Zmitrowicz; the letters are fading, and he knows almost nothing of Polish. This is an elaborate variation on the standard East European cross-topped tombstone; note the charming folk-art angels and leaves in relief. Rusty streaks on the cross suggest that there might have been an iron crucifix there at some point; the statue leaning against the stone may or may not belong to this grave. St. Mary and St. Ignatius Cemeteries in Scott Township seem to have started as two neighboring parish cemeteries, but they are now one indistinguishable whole administered by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.