Editing Interstate 279 (section)

=== Unearthed cemetery ===
During the last phases of construction of I-279 in 1987, a long-forgotten [[cemetery]] dating from the 19th century was unearthed near the site of the current I-279/[[Interstate 579|I-579]] split. Archeologists spent four months exhuming the graves for cultural studies at the [[Smithsonian Institution]], putting the [[Pennsylvania Department of Transportation]] (PennDOT) significantly behind schedule. It was determined that the graves belonged to [[Switzerland|Swiss]] and [[German Confederation|German]] immigrants that were members of a local church located next door to the cemetery in what was then [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania|Allegheny City]], with 727&nbsp;graves buried at the {{convert|0.5|acre|ha|adj=on}} site between 1833 and 1861. The graves were forgotten about by 1911 when the church did an addition to the building and had the foundation unintentionally go through about 15&nbsp;graves, with the [[churchyard]] housing the cemetery later becoming a [[parking lot]] in 1950. Aside from a pair of [[Stillbirth|stillborn]] twins, none of the graves were identified, and archeologists were unable to find any living descendants due to the obscurity of the cemetery. The remains were reburied with one marker at the church's current cemetery in the [[Troy Hill (Pittsburgh)|Troy Hill]] section of Pittsburgh in 2003 after the Smithsonian Institution finished studying them; the congregation itself disbanded in 1984 after PennDOT bought the church property via [[eminent domain]] for I-279 and only had 21&nbsp;members at that point. Today, it is the largest number of 19th century graves ([[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] graves notwithstanding) ever studied archeologically in the US.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/lost-pittsburgh-cemetery-lives-on-in-memories-699883/ | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | title=Lost Pittsburgh cemetery lives on in memories |first1=Diana |last1=Nelson Jones | date=August 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012012929/http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/lost-pittsburgh-cemetery-lives-on-in-memories-699883/ |archive-date= Oct 12, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20031028cemetery1028fnp2.asp |title=New burial site for 727 souls will be blessed |date=October 28, 2003 |first1=Patricia |last1=Lowry |website=Post-Gazette |access-date=2013-08-19 |archive-date=2013-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211211046/http://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20031028cemetery1028fnp2.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>