History and Development of Greenwood Cemetery

Greenwood Cemetery's history dates back to around 1850. Society has gone through many changes in the last two centuries, and the American cemetery has gone through changes as well. Greenwood Cemetery reflects these transformations. Before discussing the history of Greenwood, an overview of the history of cemeteries in America will first be given. A firm understanding of the evolution of American cemeteries will provide a context for the discussion of Greenwood's history.

American cemeteries went through three distinct stages of change, starting about 1831. The “rural” or “garden” cemetery movement dominated thinking from roughly 1830 to 1855. From about 1855 to 1920 the “lawn” and “memorial park” cemetery movement took center stage. After 1920, the "memorial park" style began to emerge with Los Angeles' Forest Lawn. These movements were critical in the evolution of today's modern cemetery. Each left impressions on cemeteries across the country, including Greenwood.

Prior to 1831 urban cemeteries in America were primarily located in churchyards, at or near the center of the city or town. Since the beginnings of settlement in New England the standard places of burial had been amid the living, in the middle of towns, in churchyards or in churches, a practice which in England dated back to the 8th century.[1] Churchyard cemeteries were not only characteristic of New England, but were found all along the Atlantic coast.

Before 1830 most cemeteries were not viewed in the same manner as today. Today, cemeteries are seen as a peaceful place of internment around trees and lawns. This was not the case in early American history. Cemeteries were simply treated as unattractive necessities to be avoided as much as possible.[2] Cemeteries prior to 1831 were often neglected and overgrown with weeds. This phenomenon was evident in the history of Greenwood Cemetery as well. In the early days of Greenwood Cemetery, there was no regular sexton, but patrons cared for their own family lots, a good many maintaining fences around them to keep cattle from trampling the graves.[3]

As the years passed churchyards and burial grounds became overcrowded. Overcrowding brought with it many problems. Many times cities would just build over the graveyards as if they were not even there, in order to serve the needs of a growing population. Because of the rapidly increasing population the old cemeteries became so crowded that they were frequently little more than stinking quagmires—chronically offensive and often serious public health hazards.[4] More than just health hazards prompted change in the American cemetery. As Stanley French states in his essay, “The Cemetery as Cultural Institution: The Establishment of Mount Auburn and the Rural Cemetery Movement”: Rapid urban growth and population mobility, booming business and commercial ventures, aggregations of surplus wealth, concentrations of educated and public-spirited people, revisions of religious doctrines, Romantic affection of Nature—all combined to create a context in which the rural cemetery was a logical alternative to the burial places of an earlier era.[5] With numerous complaints about the revolting state of churchyards, a new place of burial was needed.

Changes in cemetery layout and structure began in New England, around Boston. These changes spread across the country, and the impact and influence of the rural cemetery movement are visible in cemeteries across the country. The rural cemetery was the answer society was looking for. The rural cemetery movement is recognized as the first stage in the evolution of the modern cemetery. Promoters of the rural cemetery movement wanted to change the horrible image cemeteries had received over the years, and replace it with an image of peacefulness surrounded by nature. A new appreciation of nature began. People began to see nature as something to be enjoyed as well as tamed. In 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mount Auburn is recognized as the first rural cemetery in America, and an example which cemeteries across the nation began to follow. Its creation marked a change in the prevailing attitudes about death and burial.[6] Mount Auburn was a new type of burial place designed not only to be a decent place of internment, but also to serve as a cultural institution.[7]

Mount Auburn, unlike the early city cemeteries, utilized landscape architecture for the first time in the planning of cemeteries. Nature's gifts were interwoven into the layout of rural cemeteries. Cemeteries and tombstone markers would melt into the landscape in perfect harmony. Hill and trees were left alone and formed part of the Cemetery's attraction. Roads followed the contours of the landscape. The Original Section of Greenwood Cemetery portrays this perfectly. The roads there are winding, hilly, and follow the landscape. This is a typical characteristic of the rural cemetery movement. In contrast, the roads in the newer sections of Greenwood Cemetery are squared off around the blocks and sections, resembling a typical city block. Whereas the old churchyard had become overcrowded to the point where there was no visible order, in the crooked and sporadically placed tombstones, the new rural cemeteries used nature as an important factor in their creation. Many rural cemeteries are placed among huge shade trees. This phenomenon is another sign of the rural cemetery movement. One can see this in Greenwood Cemetery's oldest sections where graves are intermixed in a grove of enormous old oaks. These trees add to Greenwood Cemetery’ s beauty.

Original Section

Visitors to these new rural cemeteries, especially in the case of Mount Auburn, included not only the families of loved ones buried in the cemetery, but also those wanting to experience the peacefulness and serenity of a beautiful park. Tombstones became a form of art themselves. Masons and sculptors began to use the tombstone as a medium through which to express their artistic abilities. The success of rural cemeteries also stimulated the public parks movement and the profession of landscape architecture.[8]

The next two stages in the evolution of the American cemetery was a direct result of the rural cemetery movement. People enjoyed the natural aspects the rural cemetery movement offered so much that many public parks were created. In this era, cemeteries became not only places of mourning, but also places for pleasant strolls. The public parks movement led to the next stages of evolution in the development of the modern cemetery: the “lawn” and “memorial park cemetery” movements. Whereas the rural cemetery contained various paths, fenced off family plots, and often times a large iron fence and gate surrounding it, the promoters of the later stages foresaw a different image.

Original Roads