Now known as the Cardello Building the Old National Casket Manufacturing Building has been a Prominent North Side Land Mark since the Civil War .
The building is the original 1864 site of the Excelsior Coffin and Casket Works, in what was then the City of Allegheny. The firm became the National Casket Company by the turn of the century, and the building served as its headquarters, factory, and warehouse. National Casket was one of the first manufacturers of mass-produced caskets. At the height of its business in the early 1900s, National Casket shipped more than 52,000 caskets worldwide each year, making it the largest coffin manufacturer in the country.
Sitting to the left as you cross the West End Bridge heading to the North Side you cant miss the big brown brick building which was lovingly restored by the owners of Cardello Electric Supply.
While once a dirty dingy industrial building the dirt was removed and the modern Office building makes a welcome approach But this building has plenty of story's which go with it. Not the least of which is it is haunted.
A couple of people I know who once worked there after it was converted talk about shadows and doors opening by them selves but is any of it true or are people just letting their imagination run wild.
The couple times I was in the building when it was still being used by the Cardellos for Electrical Distributor on first floor I never picked up any thing.
But then you hear the story's because after all they made caskets there.
2 story's which have circulated for years involves Burns International Detective Agency which I worked for in 1978-79
https://adiligentobserver.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/the-william-j-burns-detective-agency/
The first story is burns provided guard service to the building and in the huge basement they had sand bags piled up in one section and guards where taken there and allowed to practice with shot guns.
While I have not been able to confirm this story as I worked as an unarmed guard I know some agency's had them when doing riot duty. and I heard this story from several older men who worked for Burns. So it is possible since there was so much open space after they stopped making caskets there.and where using building as a warehouse.
The 2nd story involves a new guard and his supervisor in an effort to scare the new guard who was armed with a 38 caliber pistol the supervisor hid in one of the coffins and as the guard was making his rounds the supervisor moaned and made noises which scared the guard so bad he shot at the coffin hitting the supervisor in the legs. Again any truth who knows might just be a funny story and it would have had to happen back before Act 235 went into effect in 1970's . as
guards had to be trained and certified to carry a gun unlike the old days when most guards carried guns which is not the case today in Pa.
I can imagine just such an incident happned but have not been able to find proof.
which would be neat if I could find an old article or guard report .
Either way its good to know a piece of north side history was saved and still exists.
