Pioneer Cemetery

Pioneer Cemetery. Highland Park. , In 1788, Alexander Negley became one of the earliest settlers of the East Liberty Valley, bringing his family west from Philadelphia to a 300-acre farm in Pittsburgh. Part of the original Negley family farmland is now Highland Park., Negley first settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1739 at the age of five. Following the Revolutionary War, Negley moved his family to Ligonier and then to Pittsburgh in 1788., Memorial Grove provides a tribute to Negley and his fellow settlers. A granite monument off Reservoir Drive, erected by Sarah Jane Negley Mellon, marks the resting place of the Negley family. The inscription on the monument reads, "This monument marks the center of a burial ground located on the former homestead of Alexander Negley where are interred about 50 settlers of the East Liberty Valley.", Another surviving feature of Negley's original 300-acre tract is the nearly 200-year-old farmhouse. The house's original resident was Negley's wife, Mary Berkstresser Negley, who had it built after her husband's death so she wouldn't have to live in their original home (on the site of present-day Reservoir No. 1) without him. The property was operated as a dairy farm by a subsequent owner. In the late 1800s, the farmhouse was used as the clubhouse for the nine-hole golf course at the Highland Park Country Club. Today, the farmhouse hosts occasional events, and the playground built in 2002 makes it a popular family gathering spot., [Photo captions, top to bottom, read] , . Pioneer Cemetery and Negley Monument, . Highland Park Farmhouse