As I mentioned in the post on the Heinz History Center, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was a show I grew up on, and still have a great fondness for today. There are exhibits and displays about Fred and his impact all around Pittsburgh. There are a couple Fred Rogers landmarks to see about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh in a town called Latrobe.
Latrobe is mainly known for three things: Fred Rogers, Arnold Palmer, and training camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers… we will come back to that shortly. First off, we went to pay our respects to Mr. Rogers himself.
We were driving out to Unity Cemetery, a couple miles outside Latrobe on a winding back road. The thing we noticed was that for a seemingly sleepy town on a random Thursday, there was a LOT of traffic on this road. Once we got out near the cemetery, the traffic died off. It’s a nice cemetery, up in the hills overlooking the town. (If I were better at this, I’d put a picture here, but I didn’t think to take one… it was a great view, however).
In the middle of the cemetery is a small mausoleum for the Given family. Given was his great-grandmother’s last name.
Along the left side wall in the niche for Fred McFeely Rogers (in case you ever wondered where the postman from the show got him name).
Unfortunately, the doors were locked, so the best I could do was get a picture through the window. Directly across from Fred rests his wife Sara (who often went by Joanne).
A number of well-wishers left small trinkets wedged into the door on the mausoleum.
After visiting the grave, we headed into Latrobe to Saint Vincent College, where Mr. Rogers went to college, because there is a Fred Rogers center with an exhibit about his life.
This is where the headaches began. You see, even though it was a Thursday, there was a Steelers preseason game or scrimmage going on, and there were literally THOUSANDS of Steelers fans swarmed onto tiny Saint Vincent’s campus. I was a bit worried that we weren’t going to be able to see the exhibit, but the folks working at the college could not have been nicer. They allowed us to park in the VIP section (for free) so we could have close access to the building.
Inside the building, there was a (I assume) Season ticket holder meal going on. There was a ton of food, people guarding that food as if their lives depended on it, and so many Steelers jerseys. At one point, I believe a player was announced to the crowd, and the whole building shook from the cheer.
Along the right-hand wall as you entered the Fred Rogers center, there are some small windows which actually give you a little look into the storage rooms for all of Mr. Rogers memorabilia. There was some cool stuff here.
Heading up to the second floor, again along the right-hand wall is the Fred Rogers exhibit.
The panels give a pretty exhaustive record of his life’s work, and especially his work to make the world a better and less confusing place for children to exist and grow. In addition to being a tv star, he was also an ordained minister and a musician. He often performed music on his show and was friends with many musicians who also appeared on his show.
For a fairly small exhibit, they managed to pack in a bunch of artifacts from the show. While the Heinz Museum has some of the bigger set pieces, I loved seeing a Trolley, and the main puppets from The Land of Make Believe.
As you exited the exhibit, there were a couple cases showing a few of the awards the show and Fred won over the years.
If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, and you want to pay any amount of respect to the legacy of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, then a trip to Latrobe is necessary. It’s a wonderful little exhibit. Just be sure to check the Steelers’ pre-season schedule.
Travel 88 
Fred was, in my humble opinion, the best children’s show hosts ever. His advice to “Look for the helpers” at the scene of a catastrophe was inspired.
Safe travel my friend!
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