Another Egyptian mausoleum that hits all the expected marks, except that it is too small (or cheap) for lotus columns. This one, however, adds the delightful detail of pharaoh’s-head door pulls, which more than makes up for the missing columns.
Little smiley characters like the one at upper left occasionally appear on mausoleum doors in Pittsburgh cemeteries. It’s a cheerful little mystery.
A thorough history of the Sunsteins and Speyers is in the Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania.
The West View Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery, but negative historical associations did not prevent two of its residents from specifying the popular Egyptian style for their grand mausoleums. This is one of them, built (according to the inscription) in about 1930 by Herman Kamin. It is not as grand as the Egyptian mausoleums in the very richest cemeteries, but it does have fresh palms in the urns, and a fine view of the pyramids from inside.
Mr. Worthington, an oil baron, chose to be buried in an unusual Gothic tower, more castle-like than chapel-like. It is particularly notable for its inscription, which is nearly unique in using quasi-medieval letters on quasi-medieval architecture. (Most Gothic monuments use plain “gothic” characters like the ones used in advertising signs of the era.)
Addendum: The architect was Louis Stevens, who also designed Mr. Worthington’s mansion on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill (now part of Temple Sinai).
A somewhat unusual interpretation of the Egyptian temple, though it does not abandon the three requisites: sloping sides, lotus columns, winged scarab. The front is a very close scale model of the front of Trajan’s Kiosk at Philae (now moved to Agilkia Island) in Egypt.
Here are two more pictures, these from July of 2022.
Here lie the earthly remains of Pittsburg Phil, as George E. Smith was known when he moved to Chicago.
The Union Dale Cemetery is full of colorful characters who grew rich in shady businesses—Allegheny was a notoriously corrupt city, and indeed one of the arguments often advanced by advocates of “Greater Pittsburgh” was that Allegheny needed a dose of good clean Pittsburgh government. We pause for the requisite howls of laughter.
Pittsburg Phil was less shady than many: he merely bet on horses, and he made millions doing so. He was famously impassive and disdained corruption of any sort. He commissioned this mausoleum when he was still in his thirties, doubtless imagining many years of satisfaction ahead of him in knowing that his final resting place would be one of the most elegant in the Union Dale Cemetery. In fact he died in 1905 at the age of forty-three. The cemetery’s site has his whole story, which is fascinating.
The statue on top is a portrait of the man himself, clutching a Racing Form. It was commissioned by his mother some time after his death. The fact that his urns are always filled with beautiful plantings suggests that even now, more than a century later, there are people who treasure the memory of Pittsburg Phil. Inside is a simple but elegant stained-glass window.
