General Views 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10

Transcription and Photos contributed by Ellis Michaels unless otherwise noted

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church Cemetery
Altoona, Blair County, PA

DIRECTIONS TO CEMETERY:
Take US-22 to Altoona.
Take I-99/US-220 North for 5 miles.
Exit at 17th Street (Exit 33).
Turn right off exit onto 17th St.
Follow 17th St. for 1 1/2 miles, and turn right onto 1st Avenue.
Follow 1st Ave. for 10 blocks to the cemetery, located along 1st Ave.
between 10th and 12th Streets.

     St Mary's Cemetery lies directly below St. John's Cemetery. St. John's extends from the very top of the hill (along First Avenue), down along the iron fence and posts and partway into the hedgerows, to the last remaining iron post. The cemeteries dividing fence line occurs along a line connecting the last iron posts on both of the sides of the cemetery. It runs approximately 4 rows in front of the large Bowman and Greeley vaults in St. Mary's. A natural small dip occurs in the landscape along western portion of the old fence line.

     St. Mary's Catholic Church was founded out of St. John's Church in 1860 by the German speaking population of Altoona. St. Mary's Cemetery was established in 1879.

     Abstract written by author using a digital photographic survey and inventory of the cemetery performed by the author during several visits to the cemetery during the summer of 2005. The author also utilized as a reference St. Mary's Church Deaths and Marriages 1862 -1888, Tombstone Inscriptions which was published in 1987 by the Blair County Genealogical Society.

Abbreviation Key:
s/o = son of
d/o = daughter of
w/o = wife of
h/o = husband of
s/w = shares tombstone with