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The Beinhauer family has been involved in the mortuary business since 1863, when Louis Beinhauer opened his first mortuary in downtown Pittsburgh, at 520 Third Avenue. Two branch locations were later opened on the Southside in the 1880s.
In 1910 the family moved their home, and their main business offices, to their present location, situated across from the Brookline Junction, at 2630 West Liberty Avenue in Dormont. A large home was constructed that served as both a family residence and a funeral parlor. Stables were built behind the home for the funeral carriages and horses. The land was purchased from the Kerr family, who owned a large portion of land along West Liberty Avenue at the intersection with Wenzell Avenue.
Prior to the 1915 reconstruction of West Liberty Avenue, the home was moved back away from the road and slightly further up the hill because of the widening of the improved avenue. In 1921, Beinhauer consolidated all of their facilities at this location. A new three-story mortuary was designed and built specifically for funeral services. The first of it's kind in Allegheny County, the parlor was built next to the family home along West Liberty Avenue. The Beinhauer's new facility also included Pittsburgh’s first crematory, built behind the mortuary. Still in operation, it is the second oldest continuously operating crematory in the United States. <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> Fire Destroys Mortuary Building - September 3/4, 1952
Tragedy struck on September 4, 1952, when a seven-alarm fire caused irreparable damage to the mortuary building. Scarred walls and charred timbers were all that remained of the thirty-one year old building. The family quickly rebounded from the loss, and a new funeral parlor was constructed shortly afterwards on the same location, one that has been continually enlarged and modernized to this day. <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> Pittsburgh Press, Post-Gazette and Sun-Telegraph Articles * Click on images for readable versions of newspaper pages *
<><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> The Beinhauer's Brookline Connection Although Beinhauer Funeral Home is located in Beechview and is often the site of services for residents of the Brookline community, there is another interesting "Brookline Connection" involving the Beinhauer family business. The DeBor family, owners of DeBor Funeral Home on Brookline Boulevard, got their start in the mortuary business at Beinhauer's. Frank F. DeBor, founder of DeBor Funeral Home, had strong ties to the Beinhauer family. His parents, Frank M. and Anna DeBor, both worked for the Beinhauer Funeral Home. Anna was the grand-daughter of Louis Beinhauer, the founder of the Beinhauer family business. Frank also began working for the Beinhauers, and was soon busy arranging and conducting funerals. He and his wife Mary Jo lived for a while on the Beinhauer estate on West Liberty Avenue. In 1950, the DeBor's left Beinhauers to start their own funeral parlor at 1065 Brookline Boulevard.
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