Blog

The Byzantine chapel in the "A" section of the Saints Peter & Paul (St. P&P) parcel in our cemetery was built in the early 1900s.   It belongs to St. P&P Byzantine Catholic Church in Braddock, PA.   Several parcels of ground were dedicated as burial plots for members of the St. P&P congregation.   In the past, the Byzantine
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Several flocks of turkeys forage and roost on our cemetery grounds and the nearby environs.   Turkeys are very wary birds and rarely let you get close.   In the autumn, however, the "Toms" become a little less wary, preening their tail feathers, displaying their tail fans, and strutting.   A few hens usually provide an appreciative audience. 
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  Please, do not feed the cemetery wildlife, including deer and migratory waterfowl (geese). Feeding the geese can actually harm them.   Food handouts may entice them to delay their normal migration and cause them to lose their fear of most things people-related.   Lack of fear can cause groups of birds to approach people and congregate in inappropriate
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Our cemetery is home to a variety of wildlife:  deer, geese, turkey, ground hogs, hawks, racoons and other small mammals like rabbits and squirrels (not to mention song birds).   When you visit, feel free to observe and record wildlife, but please DO NOT FEED the fauna.   Some photos follow below.   More can be found in
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Buried in Monongahela Cemetery of North Braddock (Division 10, Row 8, Grave 46) is native Pittsburgher Ernest Gooden (b. 1900/02/04; d. 1934/10/19).   He played in Negro League Baseball as an infielder during the 1920s (1921-1923).   Until July 2023, his grave had remained unmarked since his burial in 1934.   The Negro League Memorial Markers project (an
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Byzantine Chapel -- There is a Byzantine Chapel located in Saints Peter and Paul (St. P&P) Section A of our cemetery.   This section is one of the ethnic parcels where parishioners from St. P&P Byzantine Catholic Church in Braddock PA are interred.   The chapel was built in the early 1900s and belongs to St. P&P
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The Draped Urn -- was a common grave marker/monument throughout the 1800s.   There are two draped urns in our cemetery, both located in Section Two near the Dinkey-Wagner mausoleum.   The urn harkens back to Greek and Roman times, when it served as a vessel for cremated human remains.   Interestingly enough, during the 1800s cremation was
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Treestones -- Stone Tree Trunks Used as Grave MarkersThere are many unique grave marker styles in our cemetery.   Among the more unusual markers are stone monuments carved in the shape of a tree trunk.   They often have what appears to be a scroll hanging on the tree.   These markers were popular during the last two
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Flags Placed for Memorial Day 2022Thanks to Rege and the AMVETS of North Braddock volunteers, American flags have been placed on the graves of veterans interred in our cemetery.   Flags were placed in the two Veterans Sections (23 and 20V) and on all veteran graves in the remainder of the cemetery. 

Repaving of the cemetery's internal asphalt roadways has been completed.   Concrete sections will be repaved later in 2023.   

Memorial bench donated for the Cremains Garden by Mr. Kevin Kanak of Ragan Monuments in Turtle Creek, PA.   The bench is made of Indian Jet Black granite.   Click the link for contact information on Ragan Monuments.   https://www.moncemeterynorthbraddock.com/other-contacts/ The word "cremains" is a contraction of "cremation remains."   It is a term invented by the death-care industry to
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Map Veterans Memorial, Monongahela Cemetery of North Braddock, Section 23.   This memorial was the Eagle Scout Project of Jonathan Droznenk, Troop 61.   Section 23 is one of our veterans sections, where graves for veterans are free.   (Honorable discharge papers are required.   The veteran's spouse can be buried in the veterans section, but the spouse's grave is
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Newspaper Story on New Cemeteries, 1885   THE LOCAL NEWS    (Homestead, PA), Saturday, January 3, 1885   NEW CEMETERIES   MONONGAHELA,   ST. JOSEPH,   AND ST. THOMAS   Located at Copeland Station, P.R.R., West Braddock, are most convenient and beautifully laid out grounds; all accommodation trains stop; board walk from station to cemetery; so near that carriages are unnecessary;B &
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"They Held Lincoln's Life in Their Hands"  --  Article from the online historical journal, Emerging Civil War, regarding Jacob J. Soles, Private in the Union Army.   He helped carry President Abraham Lincoln from Ford’s Theater to the Petersen House in Washington DC, moments after the President had been mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth on
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Article from Pittsburgh History magazine, March 1, 1990, pp. 32-40 by Eugene Levy titled "The First Generation." -- This article contains several historic photographs (black & white) from the early years of the Monongahela Cemetery of North Braddock.   Photographs from other cemeteries favored by Eastern European immigrants, such as St. Nicholas in the hills above
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Article from the online historical journal Clio about various minor historical connections to Monongahela Cemetery of North Braddock, including the novel Out of This Furnace, which traces the lives of three generations of Slovak immigrants who lived in Braddock, PA.   A recurring religious symbol in this cemetery is the triple cross of the Eastern-rite churches. 
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