Located across the Mahoning River from downtown Youngstown, Oak Hill Cemetery takes its name from the neighborhood in which it is located. Founded in 1853 by a group of prominent citizens, the it fits in nicely with the Rural Cemetery Movement that took off in the years before the Civil War. Interestingly, the cemetery does…
Tag: Egyptian Revival
Lake View Cemetery and Little Italy, Cleveland
A little bit of a latecomer in the Rural Cemetery Movement, Lake View Cemetery was founded in 1869, east of downtown Cleveland on rugged, steep terrain. While due to the growth of the city and mature trees, the name comes from what had once been a commanding view of Lake Erie. The grounds are lush,…
Mount Moriah Lodge #40
If you ever have trouble understanding what Egyptian Revival is, look no further than the old Mount Moriah Lodge #40 on North Garrison Avenue. It almost certainly does not preserve its original paint scheme, but nonetheless it is in an excellent state of preservation. Combining elements of the Temple of Karnak at Luxor, it shows…
Bellefontaine Cemetery, The Last Snow
I snapped these photos the last time it snowed in St. Louis back when it was just pretty and not a complete and total nightmare like this most recent snowstorm. I’m experimenting around with a new function which is a gallery; as has always been the case you can click on any photo to see…
Calvary Cemetery, Winter 2021
Some of the most important early French families in St. Louis originally had their graves in downtown St. Louis, even in the cemetery around the Old Cathedral. When they were removed, most ended up at Calvary Cemetery, including the Chouteau family. As is common in many large family plots, the land is divided up into…
Springdale Cemetery, Peoria
When I first drove into Springdale Cemetery, founded in 1855, I thought it was just going to be a standard burial ground with rows of normal tombstones. But that changed dramatically, as I soon hit narrow roads that dropped precipitously into deep hollows that stretch down into the river Illinois River valley. In the first…
Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton, Ohio
Established in 1841, Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum in Dayton, Ohio is one of the oldest institutions in the rural cemetery movement. It’s interesting to compare it to Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, or to its similarly named counterpart in Quincy, Illinois. It is sited on some downright rugged terrain, creating a dramatic setting with deep…
McLean Mausoleum, Bellefontaine Cemetery
I’ve always enjoyed the McLean Mausoleum in Bellefontaine Cemetery. It’s perhaps an understated example of the Egyptian Revival in funerary architecture in local cemeteries, but there are other reasons I like it. The most obvious being, if you look closely, is that the obelisk towering over the mausoleum sits above thin air, as the window…
Bellefontaine Cemetery, Summer 2020
Bellefontaine Cemetery has been a welcome respite this summer with so many other places closed. The self-guided tour is a great way to spend some time safely. James Eads’s monument looks very much like Verrocchio’s design for Piero and Giovanni de Medici’s sarcophagus in the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo in Florence. Leonardo da Vinci…
Calvary Cemetery, Summer 2020
This interesting enclosure at Calvary Cemetery is rare in St. Louis cemeteries; it is Gothic Revival in style and still has plenty of room left in it, as it seems like the burials are around the outside so far. Joseph O’Neil was born in 1817, coming to St. Louis in 1837, taking up the construction…