Sixteen “ghosts” of long-gone prominent residents will haunt Prospect Cemetery in Brackenridge on Thursday.
People are invited to hear their tales at the 17th annual tour which doubles as a fundraiser for the cemetery.
Cost is $10 a person. Proceeds pay for maintenance at the 13-acre site along E. 10th Avenue.
Organized by historian Cindy Homburg, the event features local characters who helped shape Tarentum, Brackenridge and Harrison. The list of people to meet-and-greet changes each year, except for Henry Brackenridge. He’s always the first stop because he donated the land for the cemetery, Homburg said.
In years past, attendees have learned about an array of people, including the first pastor at First United Presbyterian Church in Tarentum, a Harrison judge, a Ziegfeld Follies girl and William Harbison, grandson of Massy Harbison who was famously captured by Native Americans in her cabin along the Allegheny River.
“New this year, people will meet a ghost family,” Homburg said. “Samuel Gardner was an attorney in Tarentum who became a judge. His wife, Bertha Wood, had two brothers who were well-known doctors in the area.”
Tours begin at 6 p.m. and leave every 10 minutes. Tours will continue until the crowd dwindles. Last year, about 200 people attended.
Flashlights are suggested.
Attendees can park across the street at Trinity United Methodist Church.
