Roll of Honor
Henry Hess
Incident
Constable Henry Hess drowned while attempting to rescue citizens during a flood in Allegheny City.
Heavy rains had caused a stream above O'Hara Street (present day Spring Garden Avenue in Pittsburgh) overflow, which resulted in a large landslide. Constable Hess became caught in the flood waters and drowned as he attempted to rescue several citizens in the area of Concord Street and Chestnut Street.
Constable Hess' body was located along Perry Street the following morning. An estimated 150 to 200 people died in the flood.
Constable Hess was the constable of Allegheny City's Ward 3 for four years. He was a Union Army veteran of the Civil War.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-DD4D83CC- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Constable Hess gave the Pennsylvania State Constable 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the Pittsburgh community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Henry Hess served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Constable Henry Hess is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Pennsylvania State Constable - Allegheny County, 1 of 11 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 9.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Henry Hess's cause is highlighted.
How Henry Hess Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Henry Hess is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
10 officers from Pennsylvania State Constable - Allegheny County are honored on badge.nw.
