Pittsburgh Cemeteries

The Art and Architecture of Death

Almost all the walls and fences that used to surround family plots in Allegheny Cemetery have been taken down, but there is an important exception to the rule. In one section of the cemetery are several circular plots where the low stone walls are maintained. Most of them have a central monument with individual graves orbiting it around the edge of the circle; one or two have no central monuments.

The Head plot (above) and the Fitzsimons-Morrison plot (below) are two good examples of the style.

Almost all the fences and barriers that used to demarcate family plots in the nineteenth century were removed in Allegheny Cemetery, but this one has somehow survived the loud protests of groundskeepers. You will note, however, that the groundskeepers seem to be deliberately avoiding the interior of the plot.