Homewood Cemetery

As you enter the stunning wrought-iron gates of the Homewood Cemetery and pass the plaque that proudly displays the cemetery’s status as a landmark, you’ll take in winding paths, stunning architecture, and beautiful landscaping. Whether visitors to the cemetery are paying tribute to the deceased, enjoying a morning jog, or taking in the impeccable landscape on their lunch break, space welcomes all members of the Pittsburgh community to explore rolling hills and winding walkways. As the permanent home to some of Pittsburgh’s most iconic figures such as the founder of the Heinz Company H.J. Heinz, industrialist Henry Clay Frick, and beloved Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, the site is rooted in Pittsburgh’s history and tradition.

The topographical history of the cemetery plays a large role in shaping its modern appearance, in addition to attracting visitors. The Homewood Cemetery website makes a clear distinction that this space is separate in meaning from a graveyard, claiming that cemeteries like this one are “a reaction against [graveyards]”. Graveyards, usually tied to a specific religious denomination and located within the middle of the city, contributed to several serious problems during the 1800’s – the overpopulated cities did not have enough room for the living and the deceased to comfortably coexist, which led to the spread of infectious diseases. Burial sites were seen to be sites of death and decay, and it was socially ingrained that they were not appealing sites to visit. To resolve this problematic lack of space, a separate area was created specifically to supplant graveyards, one rooted in the idea that spaces of burial should be tidy and livable not only to respect the dead but to offer an inviting space for the living to seek communion with them. The birth of the cemetery allowed individuals to part with the crowded and unsanitary burial practices of the past. Visitors now are able to peacefully to visit their loved ones in a natural and controlled setting.

Each person buried in this new peaceful landscape has a life story. This memory is preserved by loved ones who visit and surround the dead. In addition to family and friends playing a role in the preservation of their loved one's life stories, the archives of Homewood serve the same purpose. Once those who visit the dead are no longer around themselves, it is up to the archives to preserve those deceased's memory.  Jennie Benford is one of these people who comb through these archives in order to preserve stories from those who have passed. She plays an essential role in keeping memories of the dead alive, in that Jennie Benford is responsible for creating programs around the history of Homewood. She takes on a big responsibility, for without her many people would be forgotten and no longer talked about. Jennie has the experience to be in the position that she is in because she has worked in CMU's archives prior to working at Homewood. This specialized knowledge allows her to make a difference in preserving loved one's lives after death through the stories she tells. Jennie's knowledge not only benefits the visitors of today but the visitors of the past. She has the ability to conserve past knowledge and pass on that past knowledge to future generations.

In addition to preserving stories, the landscape must be maintained. To maintain the landscape’s organized appeal, Homewood has made it part of their mission to routinely re-upright fallen headstones and return them to their former beauty. In addition, Homewood Cemetery has planted and created wildlife that is able to maintain this beauty, even through the winter months across many years. Homewood's botanists have carefully constructed rolling hills and big beautiful trees to be part of the landscape of the Cemetery. In doing this, Homewood Cemetery has been designed as a long-lasting environmental landscape through trees that live for hundreds of years, and through the construction of permanent hills. When you decide to visit the Homewood Cemetery, you’ll find grassy knolls and stunning foliage, and it’s no mistake that the layout is so gorgeously designed and maintained. As the only lawn park cemetery in Western PA, the professional layout and synthetic hilly design are meant to allow visitors to have breathtaking views of the lot from any vantage point inside the cemetery grounds.

In modern times, Homewood Cemetery prides itself on being an accessible arboretum burial place for all local citizens. In contrast to graveyards that are ruled by religious institutions; cemeteries like Homewood, are more often maintained by a corporate structure. This allows the cemetery to provide a variety of burial options for many different groups. Within Homewood Cemetery, sections can be found specifically for cultural groups including a Jewish section, a Chinese section, and a Muslim section, to name a few. In addition to cultural groups, Homewood cemetery also maintains spaces for unique social groups from military veterans to unmarried mothers. Homewood Cemetery accommodates the burial requests of these different people as well as offering traditional burials and cremations, which are becoming more popular in the US. Homewood Cemetery provides this service to the city of Pittsburgh to this day, functioning not only as a business and burial site but as a public park, on top of its status of being officially recognized as an arboretum.

Whether you’re catching up with a deceased loved one or visiting for an afternoon stroll, the Homewood Cemetery is a beautiful historical landmark with deep roots in Pittsburgh history.