Frankfort Cemetery
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| Frankfort Cemetery and Chapel | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Location: | Frankfort, Kentucky |
| Built/Founded: | 1844 |
| Architect: | Carmichael,Robert; Launitz,Robert E. |
| Architectural style(s): | Romanesque |
| Added to NRHP: | July 12, 1974 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74000872 |
| Governing body: | Private |
The Frankfort Cemetery is located at 215 East Main Street, in Frankfort, Kentucky. It has views of the Kentucky River, which forms its western boundary. It was created by Judge Mason Brown, son of statesman John Brown, inspired by a visit to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston.
Brown enlisted other Frankfort civic leaders and in 1844 the Kentucky General Assembly approved the cemetery's incorporation. The 32-acre property, then called Hunter's Garden, was purchased in 1845 for $3,801. Additional land was purchased in 1858 and in 1911 for a total of 100 acres.
Brown hired Scottish-born landscape architect Robert Carmichael to design the cemetery in a style similar to Mount Auburn, with curving lanes, terraces and a circle of vaults. Carmichael imported flowers from around the state, intending the cemetery to double as an arboretum in a time when residents could not easily travel to see mountain flowers not native to the region. A central feature is the State Mound, featuring a military memorial designed by Robert E. Launitz.
The most famous burial is Daniel Boone. The cemetery contains the graves of seventeen Governors of the Commonwealth, Vice-President Richard M. Johnson, and Kentucky artist Paul Sawyier. It also features the Confederate Monument in Frankfort.
 Pioneer explorer Daniel Boone & wife Rebecca Bryan. |
 Gov. Robert P. Letcher |
 Impressionist painter Paul Sawyier |
[edit] References
- L.F. Johnson, History of Frankfort Cemetery (Frankfort, Ky., 1921).
[edit] External links
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