Pittsburgh Cemeteries

The Art and Architecture of Death

Kamin family mausoleum

A splendid Egyptian mausoleum with a fine view of the Pyramids out the back window.

Stained glass in the Kamin mausoleum

Paul mausoleum

The West View Cemetery is notable for a number of tasteful modernist mausoleums. On this one, note how the etched decoration is repeated in the bronze doors. The landscaping in front is very unusual, and in fact almost unique in Pittsburgh, where cemetery groundskeepers usually expect to be able to mow right up to the steps of a mausoleum.

Stained-glass menorah in the Weil mausoleum

A simplified Doric mausoleum in the style of the early to middle twentieth century. The stained-glass menorah is doubtless a standard catalogue item, but it is well executed.

Weil mausoleum

Duncan mausoleum

From any angle the Duncan mausoleum is impressive. There is nothing like it anywhere else in Pittsburgh—or, as far as old Pa Pitt knows, in the world. The architect was Theophilus P. Chandler Jr., the Philadelphia tastemaker who also designed First Presbyterian downtown and Third Presbyterian at Fifth and Negley in Shadyside. He seems to have been proud of this mausoleum: if you go looking for it on line, you will turn up Father Pitt’s pictures (of course), and then a large number of prints and postcards from the time the mausoleum was built.

Sutmeyer mausoleum

A small stock mausoleum with indeterminate medievalish details. The cross-bearing angel on top has weathered into picturesque abstraction, looking far more otherworldly now than it did when it was new.

Angel on the Sutmeyer mausoleum

Andrews mausoleum

A richly detailed example of Renaissance classicism, with rusticated blocks, arched entrance, “modern Ionic” columns (that is, Ionic columns with volutes at the four corners of the capitals), and flanking urns.

Schreiner mausoleum

A large and luxurious classical structure with a prominent cupola topped by a statue of Hope shaking her fist at heaven. At least that is how old Pa Pitt always reads the statue: it is certainly Hope (the anchor is her ID card), and Father Pitt doesn’t know what else to make of the raised-fist salute.

Statue of Hope

Monogram

Ornate monograms flank the entrance arch.

Hemphill mausoleum

A simple but elegant Ionic mausoleum, seen here with the much more extravagant Brown pyramid in the background.

Robert Carson mausoleum

A simplified Doric mausoleum without entablature or any of the usual fiddly bits. It dates from 1885, but one could be forgiven for supposing it a twentieth-century modernist’s interpretation of classical style.

Fownes mausoleum

A rich-looking Ionic façade with a Victorian profusion of details, including rusticated stone blocks. It seems to have been a stock model; an exact duplicate was built for the Wilson family in the Union Dale Cemetery.