- Last Updated on Friday, 30 August 2019 23:59
The fifth annual McKeesport & Versailles Cemetery Living History Tour sponsored by the McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center will be Sept. 21 and 22 from 12 noon to 4 p.m. with an encore performance Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. at the Heritage Center.
This self-guided walking tour of the historic cemetery, located at 1608 Fifth Ave. in McKeesport, will bring to life the stories of 10 famous - and maybe not so famous - McKeesport natives and residents. The one thing they all have in common is their final resting place is in the cemetery. The fascinating 163-year history of the cemetery will be told by "The Widow."
This year's tour will bring to life Isabella Cornell Painter, a 1930s matron; G.C. Murphy, the man synonymous with five and dime stores; Carl Willig, a World War I soldier; George H. Lysle, mayor of McKeesport; Phyllis Garland, a 1970s journalist; Norman "Boots" Johnson, a Vietnam War soldier; Laroux Soles, a woman in the 1930s whose life was filled with lust, murder and intrigue; Walter Riggs, a historian who may have explained the Queen Aliquippa burial legend; and Arnold Varga, a renowned advertising artist.
Tickets for the Living History Tour are $10 in advance, $12 at the event, and youth under 12 are admitted for half price. Tickets are available at the Heritage Center, 1832 Arboretum Drive in McKeesport's Renziehausen Park, or online at Eventbrite. For more information, call the center at 412-678-1832; for links and event details, visit www.mckeesportheritage.org.
