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: Cemeteries
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,…
Forest Cemetery and La Grange, Toledo
At Cherry Street, I found the private street from Hell. I drove in Birckhead Place, which has streets that look like they have recently been the epicenter of a Ukrainian and Russian artillery duel. Maybe it’s time to swallow your pride and let the City of Toledo make your streets public so they’ll get fixed?…
New Harriett and Dred Scott Memorial, Calvary Cemetery
I was excited to attend the dedication of the new Dred and Harriett Scott memorial in Calvary Cemetery. There had been a small tombstone, but it was recently upgraded to an easier to find and much more fitting monument. As more and more Americans do not know who the Scotts are, it is more and…
Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit
Founded in 1895 on Woodward Avenue, Woodlawn Cemetery relieved pressure on the smaller cemeteries such as Elmwood or Mount Elliott cemeteries deeper into the city. It is big, clocking in at 140 acres, and is placed strategically close to the border with the suburbs. It is huge, and boasts over one hundred mausolea, which in…
Mount Elliott Cemetery, Detroit
For some reason, Mount Elliott Cemetery, part of a constellation of other cemeteries, no longer promotes itself as a Catholic burial ground, though it opened as one in 1841, making it the oldest in Detroit. It’s a beautiful cemetery, and I only discovered its existence when I noticed a barbed wire-topped fence on the eastern…
Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit
Created in 1849 in the same period as many other rural cemetery movement burial grounds were founded throughout America, Elmwood Cemetery was inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, which we looked at back in October of 2022. It’s the oldest still existing non-denominational cemetery in Detroit, and it lies to the northeast of downtown…
Another Howell Cemetery, St. Charles County
Besides the Thomas and Francis cemeteries, there is another unmarked Howell burial ground further west on the eponymous road in St. Charles County near Route 94 on the way to Defiance. There are some extremely old burials from the 1700s. Tall trees shade the cemetery. There is even at least one Revolutionary War veteran, below.
Francis Howell Cemetery
Tucked away but not hidden in August A. Busch (Sr.) Wildlife Conservation Area is the Francis Howell Cemetery. We’ve looked at the Thomas Howell Cemetery a few years back, and there are even more cemeteries founded by the family, including one just a few miles away, showing just how prolific and important the clan was…
Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church and Cemetery
We visited the Hopwell Missionary Baptist Church just south of Wentzville in St. Charles County recently, and also looked at the historic cemetery behind the African American congregation’s buildings. The church can trace its roots back so far that at one point some of its members were actually slaves, and the pastor was white, the…