Lost Resting Places: Allegheny Cemetery

Former Allegheny Cemetery

      Recently I have been researching some of the lesser known cemeteries in central Pennsylvania. Living near Altoona, I have become very familiar with the early people who built the city. One of

Base of a grave marker

which being the Baker family.Elias Baker, a prominent Iron Master of the area, built his home The Baker Mansion and the Allegheny Furnace in Altoona. The mansion and remnants of the furnace still exist and are now in the care of the Blair County Historical Society. Elias Baker and much of his family and employees now rest in the Fairview Cemetery in Altoona.  A little known detail is that he was first put to rest in the Allegheny Cemetery. The Allegheny, or sometimes referred to as Baker cemetery, used to be located along the ridge above the furnace. The Baker family and employees of the furnace were buried there.The first interment was an infant of a furnace worker in 1812.  I say “used to be” since the bodies of the cemetery have now since been moved. The only remainders of the cemetery are a few scattered bases of tombstones and the indentations where graves once were. The almost forgotten grave yard now lies behind the Altoona Mirror building and is covered in creeping myrtle and lily of the valley giving it an eerie feeling. The cemetery had been restored a few times in the past; the last time being in the 1970's. Not much else is known about the cemetery and no current records indicate who owns the property.

Leaves filling in the recessed ground