Pulled pork, history on menu for Prospect Cemetery picnic

A cemetery may seem like an unusual place to have a picnic, but it’s a great place to learn about history — maybe your own.

Prospect Cemetery in Brackenridge will host a free picnic with food provided by neighboring Infuzed Bistro from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The cemetery hosted a picnic once before, five or six years ago, said Cindy Homburg, president of the Prospect Cemetery Association.

“It was a big event,” she said. “At that time, we just had free hot dogs. This time we’ll have hot dogs, burgers and pulled pork.”

Computers will be set up to help people find their relatives buried in the historic cemetery, which dates to 1863. It has more than 17,000 graves spread over 13.5 acres.

Homburg said she wanted to hold a picnic there last year, but couldn’t because of the pandemic.

The first 100 people to come will get a binder donated by Central Presbyterian Church that includes the history of the cemetery and information on the prominent and notable people buried there, including the founder of Tarentum, Henry Marie Brackenridge.

More than 750 veterans are buried there, dating to the Revolutionary War. Civil War veterans account for more than 250 of them.

“I want people to see what we have and what we look like,” Homburg said. “We have lots available.”

About 100 single cemetery plots are available, and a section for cremations has room for 150, Homburg said. The cemetery sees between 15 and 20 burials a year.

Those attending the picnic will be able to park across Freeport Road at Trinity United Methodist Church. No advance registration or reservations are required.

Homburg suggests those coming bring flowers to decorate the graves of their loved ones.