List of rural cemeteries in the United States

The rural cemetery, or garden cemetery, is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century. This article is a list of rural cemeteries in the United States.

Name Year opened Location Notes
Mount Auburn Cemetery 1831 Boston, Massachusetts The first rural cemetery built in the U.S.[1]
Mount Hope Cemetery 1834 Bangor, Maine
Laurel Hill Cemetery 1836 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mount Pleasant Cemetery 1836 Taunton, Massachusetts
Rose Hill Cemetery 1836 Macon, Georgia
Rural Cemetery 1837 New Bedford, Massachusetts
Monument Cemetery 1837 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The cemetery was condemned in 1956. The land was purchased by Temple University and bodies reinterred to Lawnview Memorial Park.[2]
Mount Hope Cemetery 1838 Rochester, New York
Green-Wood Cemetery 1838 Brooklyn, New York
Green Mount Cemetery 1838 Baltimore, Maryland
Rural Cemetery 1838 Worcester, Massachusetts
Glendale Cemetery 1839 Akron, Ohio
Harmony Grove Cemetery 1840 Salem, Massachusetts
Valley Cemetery 1840 Manchester, New Hampshire
The Woodlands 1840 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Chelsea Garden Cemetery 1841 Chelsea, Massachusetts
Lowell Cemetery 1841 Lowell, Massachusetts
Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum 1841 Dayton, Ohio
Springfield Cemetery 1841 Springfield, Massachusetts
Mount Albion Cemetery 1843 Albion, New York
Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery[3] 1843 Wilmington, Delaware
Laurel Hill Cemetery 1844 Saco, Maine
Albany Rural Cemetery 1844 Menands, New York
Frankfort Cemetery 1844 Frankfort, Kentucky
Allegheny Cemetery 1844 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mount Pleasant Cemetery 1844 Newark, New Jersey
Spring Grove Cemetery 1844 Cincinnati, Ohio
Harrisburg Cemetery 1845 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Swan Point Cemetery 1846 Providence, Rhode Island
Elmwood Cemetery 1846 Detroit, Michigan
Forest Home Cemetery 1847 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Cave Hill Cemetery 1848 Louisville, Kentucky
Cypress Hills Cemetery 1848 New York, New York
Forest Hills Cemetery 1848 Roxbury, Massachusetts
Green Lawn Cemetery 1848 Columbus, Ohio
Lexington Cemetery 1848 Lexington, Kentucky
Oak Hill Cemetery 1848 Washington, D.C.
Oakwood Cemetery 1848 Troy, New York
Bellefontaine Cemetery 1849 St. Louis, Missouri
Boxwood Cemetery 1849 Orleans County, New York
Cemetery of the Evergreens 1849 New York, New York
Easton Cemetery 1849 Easton, Pennsylvania
Forest Lawn Cemetery 1849 Buffalo, New York
Glenwood Cemetery 1849 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania In 1938, the cemetery and all burials were relocated to Glenwood Memorial Gardens in Broomall, Pennsylvania.[4]
Hollywood Cemetery 1849 Richmond, Virginia
Mountain Grove Cemetery 1849 Bridgeport, Connecticut
Oak Grove Cemetery 1849 Falmouth, Massachusetts
Shawsheen Cemetery 1849 Bedford, Massachusetts
Evergreen Cemetery 1850 Boston, Massachusetts
Forest Hill Cemetery 1850 Utica, New York
Indian Hill Cemetery 1850 Middletown, Connecticut
Magnolia Cemetery 1850 Charleston, South Carolina
Graceland Cemetery 1850 Chicago, Illinois
Old Gray Cemetery 1850 Knoxville, Tennessee
Ridgewood Cemetery 1850 North Andover, Massachusetts
Cedar Grove Cemetery 1851 New London, Connecticut
Dale Cemetery 1851 Ossining, New York
Erie Cemetery 1851 Erie, Pennsylvania
Evergreen Cemetery 1851 Owego, New York
Wildwood Cemetery 1851 Winchester, Massachusetts
Elmwood Cemetery 1852 Memphis, Tennessee
Greenwood Cemetery 1852 New Orleans, Louisiana
Mount Hope Cemetery 1852 Boston, Massachusetts
Oakdale Cemetery[5] 1852 Wilmington, North Carolina
Swampscott Cemetery 1852 Swampscott, Massachusetts
Evergreen Cemetery 1853 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Evergreen cemetery is part of the Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District and played a strategic role in the Battle of Gettysburg.[6] It was the site of the dedication of the adjacent National Cemetery. Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address from a platform in Evergreen Cemetery.[7][8]
Greendale Cemetery 1853 Meadville, Pennsylvania
Mount Adnah Cemetery 1853 Fulton, New York
Oak Hill Cemetery 1853 Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Oak Woods Cemetery 1853 Chicago, Illinois The first burials at the cemetery did not occur until 1860.[9]
Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery 1853 Poughkeepsie, New York
Riverside Cemetery 1853 Waterbury, Connecticut
Walnut Grove Cemetery 1853 Methuen, Massachusetts
Woodland Cemetery 1853 Cleveland, Ohio
Woodlawn Cemetery 1853 Clinton, Massachusetts
Chippiannock Cemetery 1854 Rock Island, Illinois
Hope Cemetery 1854 Worcester, Massachusetts
Oak Grove Cemetery 1854 Gloucester, Massachusetts
Oaklands Cemetery 1854 West Chester, Pennsylvania
Evergreen Cemetery 1855 Portland, Maine
Fairmount Cemetery 1855 Newark, New Jersey
Mount Moriah Cemetery 1855 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The cemetery closed its gates in 2011 and had no owner after the last board member died. Philadelphia's Orphan Court appointed the Mount Moriah Cemetery Preservation Corporation as owner in 2014.[10]
Mount Wollaston Cemetery 1855 Quincy, Massachusetts
Oak Grove Cemetery 1855 Fall River, Massachusetts
Riverside Cemetery 1855 Oswego, New York
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery 1855 Concord, Massachusetts
Mount Vernon Cemetery 1856 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The cemetery was placed into conservatorship in 2021 due to neglect.[11]
Woodward Hill Cemetery 1856 Lancaster, Pennsylvania Founded in 1850 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity and became a non-denominational cemetery in 1856.[12]
Holyhood Cemetery 1857 Brookline, Massachusetts
Lake Forest Cemetery 1857 Lake Forest, Illinois
Mount Feake Cemetery 1857 Waltham, Massachusetts
Vale Cemetery 1857 Schenectady, New York
Green Hill Cemetery 1858 Amsterdam, New York
Mount Olivet Cemetery 1858 Washington, D.C.
Lindenwood Cemetery 1859 Fort Wayne, Indiana
Oakwood Cemetery 1859 Syracuse, New York
Rosehill Cemetery 1859 Chicago, Illinois
Hillside Cemetery 1860 Middletown, New York
Oak Ridge Cemetery 1860 Springfield, Illinois
Chester Rural Cemetery 1863 Chester, Pennsylvania
Crown Hill Cemetery 1863 Indianapolis, Indiana
Monongahela Cemetery 1863 Monongahela City, Pennsylvania
Mountain View Cemetery 1863 Oakland, California
Woodlawn Cemetery 1863 Bronx, New York
Dellwood Cemetery 1865 Manchester Village, Vermont Designed by Burton A. Thomas[13]
Cedar Hill Cemetery 1866 Hartford, Connecticut
Hillside Cemetery 1866 Clarendon, New York
Cedar Lawn Cemetery 1867 Paterson, New Jersey
Lakeview Cemetery 1867 Burlington, Vermont Designed by E.C. Ryer[14]
Woodmere Cemetery 1867 Detroit, Michigan
West Laurel Hill Cemetery 1869 Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
Glenwood Cemetery 1871 Maynard, Massachusetts
Lakewood Cemetery[15] 1871 Minneapolis, Minnesota
Metairie Cemetery 1872 New Orleans, Louisiana
Cedar Grove Cemetery 1873 Chaumont, New York
Walnut Hills Cemetery 1875 Brookline, Massachusetts
Woodlawn Cemetery 1876 Toledo, Ohio
Homewood Cemetery 1878 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Highland Lawn Cemetery 1884 Terre Haute, Indiana
Fairview Cemetery 1885 Dalton, Massachusetts
Harleigh Cemetery 1885 Camden, New Jersey
Riverside Cemetery 1885 Fremont, New York
Riverside Cemetery 1887 Macon, Georgia
Lakeview Cemetery 1891 Sweden, New York
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park 1892 Colma, California
Fairview Cemetery 1892 Boston, Massachusetts
Hope Cemetery 1895 Barre, Vermont Designed by landscape architect Edward P. Adams[16]
Elmwood Cemetery 1897 Kansas City, Missouri

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Linden, Blanche M. G. (2007). Silent City on a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-55849-571-5. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  2. ^ Barley, Luke. "How Thousands of Headstones Ended Up Under a Philadelphia Bridge". www.citylab.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  3. ^ "Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery". www.wilmingtonbrandywinecemetery.org. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  4. ^ Pickard, Sam. "Glenwood: The Westward-Moving Cemetery". www.marplehistory.com. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  5. ^ "Oakdale Cemetery". www.oakdalecemetery.org. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  6. ^ Hawthorne, Frederick W., Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments, Hanover, Pennsylvania: The Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides, 1988, p. 107.
  7. ^ Historical Marker Database. "The Gettysburg Address". Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  8. ^ National Park Service. "National Cemetery Walking Tour" (PDF). Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  9. ^ Linden, Blanche M. G. (2007). Silent City on a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-55849-571-5. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  10. ^ "History". www.friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org. October 17, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  11. ^ Bender, William. "Judge ousts absentee owner of historic Mount Vernon Cemetery. Rehab could involve goats". www.inquirer.com. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  12. ^ Schuyler, David (2004). "Woodward Hill Cemetery" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places nomination form. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  13. ^ Cothran, James R.; Danylchak, Erica (2018). Grave Landscapes. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781611177992. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  14. ^ Friends of Lakeview Cemetery (October 2, 2015). "Lakeview Cemetery: More than a burial ground". Burlington Free Press. Burlington, VT.
  15. ^ "Discover Our Proud Past". www.lakewoodcemetery.org. Lakewood Cemetery. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  16. ^ "Hope cemetery Guide". Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce. 2002. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.

References

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