Sleigh Herse donated
PITTSBURGH – A 120-year-old sleigh hearse has been donated to the Sen. John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center by the Hunter family of Saegertown, Crawford County, and will be on display in the history center’s second floor gallery. Purchased for the family’s Hunter Funeral Home in the 1880s, the sleigh hearse is fitted with large plate glass windows, carved and gilded finials (decorative ornaments), and rich velvet curtains that are trimmed with metallic fringe. During the period it was used, the sleigh hearse was considered a very elegant and dignified method of carrying the deceased to the grave. The Hunters used the sleigh hearse nearly 40 years until motor vehicles made it obsolete.
Also donated by the family and planned for display are a wood coffin and two signs from the funeral home. The coffin – made by Francis M. Hunter in the early 1900s – will be displayed inside the sleigh hearse. Both of the signs date between 1904 and 1907, one of which identifies the Hunter Brothers as practitioners of embalming, a common but not completely accepted practice during this time period.
The history center, located at 1212 Smallman St. in the Strip District, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The library and archives are open Tuesday through Saturday. General admission is $6 for adults; $3 for ages 6-18; $4.50 for seniors age 62 and older and students with valid ID; and free to children ages 5 and under and to members of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. With validation from the history center, up to four hours parking in the 11th and Smallman Streets lot (entrance at 12th and Smallman) is only $3. For more information, call (412) 454-6000, or visit the Web site at www.phghistory.org
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