The cemetery is 74-acre (300,000m2) in size and overlooks the Schuylkill River. The cemetery was designed by John Notman and grew to its current size through the purchase of four land parcels between 1836 and 1861. It contains over 11,000 family lots and more than 33,000 graves, including many adorned with grand marble and granite funerary monuments, elaborately sculpted hillside tombs and mausoleums.[4] It is an accredited arboretum with over 6,000 trees and shrubs representing 700 species.
The cemetery was founded in 1836 by John Jay Smith,[9] a librarian and editor with interests in horticulture and real estate, who was distressed at the way his deceased daughter was interred at the Arch Street Meeting House burial ground in Philadelphia. Smith wrote, "Philadelphia should have a rural cemetery on dry ground, where feelings should not be harrowed by viewing the bodies of beloved relatives plunged into mud and water."[10]
Smith joined forces with other prominent Philadelphia citizens including Benjamin Wood Richards, William Strickland and Nathan Dunn to form the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company and create a rural cemetery three miles north of the Philadelphia border on the east bank of the Schuylkill River.[11] The group considered several locations but decided on the 32 acre[4] former estate of businessman Joseph Sims[1] known as "Laurel" or "Laurel Hill".[12] The location was viewed as a haven from urban expansion and a respite from the increasingly industrialized city center. The city later grew past Laurel Hill, but the cemetery retained its rural character.
Designs for the cemetery were submitted by William Strickland and Thomas Ustick Walter[13] but the commission selected Scottish-American architect John Notman.[1] Notman's designs incorporated the topography of the location and included a string of terraces that descended to the river.[13] Notman built upon designs incorporated by Henry Edward Kendall at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.[14] The cemetery was developed and completed between 1836 and 1839.[1] Notman designed the gatehouse which consists of a massive Roman arch surrounded by an imposing classical colonnade and topped with a large ornamental urn. A large Gothic Revival style chapel was built on the grounds but removed in the 1880s to make room for additional graves.[13]
In 1836, the cemetery purchased a group of three sandstone statues from Scottish sculptor James Thom, known as Old Mortality. The statues were placed in a small enclosure in the central courtyard directly in front of the main gatehouse. The statues are based on a tale by Sir Walter Scott and depict Scott talking to Old Mortality, an elderly man who traveled through the Scottish Highlands re-carving weathered tombstones, along with his pony.[15] A plaster bust of the artist, James Thom, was added to the display in 1872. The owners of the cemetery intended to equate the mission of Old Mortality with their own – to keep the cemetery in perpetual care so future generations may remember the deceased.[4]
From its inception, Laurel Hill was intended as a civic institution designed for public use. In an era before public parks, museums and arboretums, it was a multi-purpose cultural attraction[16] where the general public could experience the art and refinement previously known only to the wealthy.[17] By the 1840s, Laurel Hill was an immensely popular destination and required tickets for admission. Writer Andrew Jackson Downing reported "nearly 30,000 persons…entered the gates between April and December, 1848."[This quote needs a citation]
In 1844, due to increasing popularity, Laurel Hill purchased the 27-acre former estate of jurist William Rawle, half a mile south and named it South Laurel Hill.[4] In 1849, a set of iron gates on sandstone piers was built in the southeastern corner of the cemetery and served as a secondary entrance.[4]
In 1855, the Pennsylvania State Assembly authorized the cemetery to purchase an additional 10 acres from Frederick Stoever known as the Stoever Tract. The Yellow Fever Monument was built in this section in 1859 to honor the "Doctors, Druggists and Nurses" who helped fight the epidemic in Portsmouth, Virginia.[8]
In 1860, Laurel Hill Cemetery had an estimated 140,000 people visit annually.[18]
In 1861, the 21-acre estate of George Pepper between the two cemeteries was purchased and named Central Laurel Hill.[4] With these additions, the cemetery reached the current size of approximately 95 acres. A bridge was built over Hunting Park Avenue to connect Central and South Laurel Hill.[19]
The cemetery association restricted who could buy lots and the majority of burials were for white Protestants. The cemetery discouraged unmarried people from buying lots in order to keep the cemetery as a family destination.[20]
During and after the American Civil War, Laurel Hill became the final resting place of hundreds of military figures, including 40 Civil War-era generals. Laurel Hill also became the favored burial place for many of Philadelphia's most prominent political and business figures, including Matthias W. Baldwin, founder of the Baldwin Locomotive Works; Henry Disston, owner of the largest saw factory in the world (the Disston Saw Works); and financier Peter A. B. Widener.[10]
By the mid-19th century, the creation of Fairmount Park and the encroaching city began to limit the expansion of Laurel Hill Cemetery. In 1869, John Jay Smith, the founder of Laurel Hill Cemetery, purchased 200 acres from three farms in nearby Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania for the creation of West Laurel Hill Cemetery.[21] The first burial occurred in 1870.[22]
20th century
The terra cotta receiving vault in South Laurel Hill was built in 1913
In 1913, a Doric receiving vault made of terra cotta was built in South Laurel Hill near the bridge connecting it to Central Laurel Hill.[4]
By the 1970s, Laurel Hill Cemetery had fallen out of favor as a burial site. Many bodies were re-interred at the more suburban West Laurel Hill Cemetery and the remaining graves suffered neglect, vandalism and crime.[23]
In 1973, Laurel Hill updated its policy and removed the prohibition on the burial of African-Americans in the cemetery.[24]
In 1978, the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded by descendants of John Jay Smith to support the cemetery.[10] The mission of the Friends is to assist the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company in preserving and promoting the historical character of Laurel Hill. The Friends raise funds and seek contributed services; prepare educational and research materials emphasizing the historical, architectural and cultural importance of Laurel Hill Cemetery; and provide tour guides to educate the public. The organization was instrumental in Laurel Hill Cemetery's placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1998.[10]
21st century
"The Silent Sentry" was stolen from Mount Moriah Cemetery in 1970 but was recovered and rededicated in Laurel Hill in 2013.
In 2013, an 1883 bronze statue of a Civil War soldier was moved to Laurel Hill Cemetery. Cast at the Bureau Brothers Foundry, "The Silent Sentry" weighs 700 pounds and stands 7 feet, 2 inches high. It was installed in 1883 at the Soldiers' Home of Philadelphia burial plot in Mount Moriah Cemetery. In 1970, thieves removed the statue from its base and attempted to sell it as scrap metal to a scrap yard in Camden, New Jersey, but the scrap dealer notified the authorities.[25] It was recovered and repaired by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. In 2013, the statue was installed and rededicated in Laurel Hill Cemetery.[26]
Laurel Hill Cemetery is a popular tourist destination that attracts thousands of visitors every year for historical tours, concerts, and physical recreation.[28]
Headstone for the fictional character Adrian Balboa from the Rocky movie franchise
Tombstones for the fictional characters Adrian Balboa and Paulie Pennino from the Rocky movies sit near the main gatehouse.[29] The Adrian Balboa tombstone was used as a prop in the 2006 movie Rocky Balboa and both were used in the 2015 movie Creed.[30] In the films, Rocky visits the gravesites in the cemetery's South Laurel Hill section.[31]
The 2010 young adult book Tombstone Tea[34] by Joanne Dahme takes place in Laurel Hill Cemetery and some of the well-known people buried there, such as Adam Forepaugh and Elisha Kent Kane, appear as characters.
Gallery
The Henry Disston family mausoleum is the largest monument in Laurel Hill[35]
The monument for William J. Mullen was built by Daniel Kornbau and exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition[35][36]
The Mother and Twins Monument was carved by Polish sculptor Henry Dmochowski-Saunders. It depicts his deceased wife Helena Schaff and their two deceased children[38]
Polar explorer Elisha Kent Kane was interred in the family's hillside tomb
Sculpture on William Warner memorial by Alexander Milne Calder depicting a woman releasing a soul from a sarcophagus[19]
Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark.
Alexander Milne Calder (MILL-nee) was a Scottish American sculptor best known for the architectural sculpture of Philadelphia City Hall. Both his son, Alexander Stirling Calder, and grandson, Alexander Calder, became significant sculptors in the 20th century.
Hollywood Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 412 South Cherry Street in the Oregon Hill neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. It was established in 1847 and designed by the landscape architect John Notman. It is 135-acres in size and overlooks the James River. It is one of three places in the United States that contains the burials of two U.S. Presidents, the others being Arlington National Cemetery and United First Parish Church.
The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral. Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only a small percentage are named on monuments and not every grave has a stone. Approximately 3,500 monuments exist here.
Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and is recognized as a US National Historic Landmark.
The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark District on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It includes a Federal-style mansion, a matching carriage house and stable, and a garden landscape that in 1840 was transformed into a Victorian rural cemetery with an arboretum of over 1,000 trees. More than 30,000 people are buried at the cemetery. Among the tombstones at Woodlands cemetery is the tombstone of Dr Thomas W. Evans, which at 150 feet (46 m), is both the tallest gravestone in the United States and the tallest obelisk gravestone in the world.
John Notman was a Scottish-born American architect and landscape architect based in Philadelphia. He designed buildings, cemeteries, churches and country estates in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and helped popularize Italianate architecture in the United States.
Henry Disston was an English American industrialist who founded the Keystone Saw Works in 1840 and developed the surrounding Tacony neighborhood of Philadelphia to build housing for his workers. His company became the Disston Saw Works and was the top manufacturer of hand saws in the United States during the late 19th-century and early 20th century.
Mount Moriah Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery that spans the border between Southwest Philadelphia and Yeadon, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1855 and is the largest cemetery in Pennsylvania. It is 200 acres in size and contains 150,000 burials. It differed from Philadelphia's other rural cemeteries such as Laurel Hill Cemetery and the Woodlands Cemetery in that it was easily accessible by streetcar; allowed burials of African-Americans, Jews and Muslims; and catered to a more middle-class clientele.
Rose Hill Cemetery is a 50-acre cemetery located on the banks of the Ocmulgee River in Macon, Georgia, United States, that opened in 1840. Simri Rose, a horticulturist and designer of the cemetery, was instrumental in the planning of the city of Macon and planned Rose Hill Cemetery in return for being able to choose his own burial plot. The cemetery is named in his honor.
Greenwood Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1869, is 43 acres in size and contains approximately 20,000 graves.
West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is 200 acres in size, and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in nearby Philadelphia. The cemetery property is an accredited arboretum and has an on-site funeral home and crematorium. The cemetery contains two Jewish burial sections and an environmentally friendly burial section. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Eden Cemetery is a historic African-American cemetery located in Collingdale, Pennsylvania. It was established June 20, 1902, and is the oldest existing black owned cemetery in the United States. The cemetery covers about 53 acres and contains approximately 93,000 burials.
Monument Cemetery was a rural cemetery located at the current day intersection of Broad and Berks Street in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1837 to 1956. It was the second rural cemetery in Philadelphia after Laurel Hill Cemetery. It was approximately 20 acres in size and contained 28,000 burials. It had a grand gothic gatehouse and a 67-foot high obelisk monument to George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette designed by John Sartain at the center of the cemetery.
Ivy Hill Cemetery is a public cemetery and crematorium located at 1201 Easton Road in the Cedarbrook neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1867, it is 80 acres in size and was originally named the Germantown and Chestnut Hill Cemetery. It was renamed Ivy Hill Cemetery in June 1871.
Mount Vernon Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 3499 West Lehigh Avenue in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1856, is 27 acres in size and contains over 18,000 graves. It was neglected for decades by an absentee landlord. No plots have been sold since 1968, it was not open to the public, many graves fell into disrepair and the cemetery became heavily overgrown. In 2021, a Philadelphia judge ordered the cemetery be placed in conservatorship due to neglect.
Riverside Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 496 Riverside Street in Waterbury, Connecticut, on the western bank of the Naugatuck River.
Lafayette Cemetery was a cemetery in the Passyunk Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1828 and originally intended for 14,000 burials but over time fell into disrepair and became overcrowded with 47,000 burials. In 1946, the cemetery was condemned by the city of Philadelphia. The bodies were disinterred in 1947, transported to the Evergreen Memorial Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, and reinterred in a mass grave.
Lone Mountain Cemetery was a complex of cemeteries in the Lone Mountain neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States on the land bounded by the present-day California Street, Geary Boulevard, Parker Avenue, and Presidio Avenue. Opened 1854, it eventually comprised Laurel Hill Cemetery, Calvary Cemetery, the Masonic Cemetery, and Odd Fellows Cemetery.
↑ "PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
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