Greenlawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greenlawn Cemetery is a large and historically significant burial ground in Central Ohio. Located in the southern section of Columbus, Ohio, it is the final resting place for many local notables and well known figures from national history. Greenlawn was the most fashionable and sought after final address in Columbus, and still maintains that reputation today.
Founded in 1848, the facility covers over 444 acres. Five former governors of the State of Ohio are interred in the cemetery. Other national and Ohio notables include:
- Charles A. Bond, Mayor of Columbus, Ohio (1809-1909) and founder of Bond Clothing, the first United States national men's clothing chain store company
- Samuel Bush, Industrialist and grandfather of U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush and great-grandfather George W. Bush.
- Henry Beecher Dierdorff, Engineer & Mining Pioneer
- Max Moorhouse, Merchant and first person to commission air freight delivery of goods (November 7, 1910)
- Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI flying ace, Industrialist and one-time CEO of Eastern Air Lines
- Alice Schille, Watercolor artist
- James Thurber, Humorist, author and New Yorker columnist
The crypts span the breadth of late-Victorian and turn-of-the-century architectural movements, including some styled in the Mesopotamian/Egyptian style favored during the burst of "Egyptian mania" enjoyed after Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb. Some of the largest family crypts that can be seen are those of the Hayden, Battelle, and Packard families. Also entombed here with their own private burial plots surrounding the central crypt is the Lazarus family, the patriarchal line that founded and ran the popular chain of Lazarus department stores.
There are specialized burial areas similar to those found in many other large cemeteries. Specifically, there is "Lullabye Land" where stillborns and infant deaths are laid to rest. Also here are four distinct areas for war veterans, each one a section dedicated to a specific American war and including the oldest section towards the western rear of the cemetery for Civil War veterans of Ohio infantry battalions. A famous monument is erected towards the westernmost boundary for the "Soldiers and Sailors" memorial movement.
The center building of the cemetery is the Mausoleum and Chapel. This building was originally erected at the turn of the 20th century, and then was subsequently added to with an additional wing and cariilon bells in the 1960's. Here can be found intricate precious-stone mosaics on the walls and stained-glass windows commissioned by the Board of Trustees from the famous Tiffany glassworks studio.
Changes to Columbus growth patterns, and demographics have reshaped the cemetery. Once located in the rural outskirts of Columbus, the cemetery is now surrounded by low income residential neighborhoods, industrial facilities and Cooper Stadium (the home of the AAA Columbus Clippers baseball team) . This has shifted the main entrance of Greenlawn away from the western Central Avenue (State Route 62) Gate (now closed except Memorial Day weekend), to the eastern gate on Greenlawn Avenue.
Greenlawn was intended by the Board of Trustees overseeing it to be not just a cemetery but also a significant city park and public gathering area. To this effect, the cemetery is a large sprawling complex, incorporating over 25 miles of roads, paths, and lanes. It has arbors, a butterfly preserve, and at its central pond (also known as "The Pit Pond") is a recognized Audubon Society viewing site.
Magician Thurston the Great is entombed in the nearby, but unrelated, Green Lawn Abbey, a mausoleum that has been the center of debate regarding financial responsibility of privately funded burial locations. In 2001, Trustees for Green Lawn Abby considered selling its already reduced grounds to a nearby construction implement dealer that would have surrounded the building with a dealer lot for back hoes and heavy equipment. The plan failed, but concerns are ongoing, especially by fans of Thurston.
