Pittsburgh Cemeteries

The Art and Architecture of Death

Brown pyramid

This pyramid, almost certainly the most-photographed mausoleum in the cemetery, was designed for William Harry Brown, banker and heir to a shipping empire, by Alden & Harlow, Andrew Carnegie’s favorite architects. It was built in 1898.

Doorway to the Brown pyramid

Brown pyramid

Probably the most photographed monument in the cemetery, this pyramid is festooned with Egyptian symbols—but, like most other pyramids in Pittsburgh cemeteries, it has the Roman proportions of the Pyramid of Cestius in Rome.

An exceptional Gothic monument with beautiful foliage-and-flower reliefs. The inscription is also exceptional, with a wide variety of different lettering styles.