Lake View Cemetery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio
Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio

Lake View Cemetery is located on the east side of the City of Cleveland, Ohio, along the East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights borders. It was founded in 1869 and sits on 285 acres (1.2 km²) of land. There are over 102,000 people buried at Lake View, with more than 700 burials each year. There are 70 acres (0.3 km²) remaining for future development. Known locally as "Cleveland's Outdoor Museum," Lake View Cemetery is also home to the Wade Chapel, featuring an interior designed by Louis Tiffany, as well as an 80 million gallon capacity concrete-filled dam.

The cemetery is so named because it is partially located in the "heights" area of Greater Cleveland, with a view of Lake Erie to the north. It was modeled after the great garden cemeteries of Victorian era England and France. The Italian stonemasons brought in to create the Cemetery founded the Cleveland neighborhood of Little Italy just to its northwest.

The James A. Garfield Memorial is the most prominent point of interest at Lake View Cemetery. The ornate interior features a large marble statue, stained glass, bas relief, and various historical relics from Garfield's life and presidency. The monument also serves as a scenic observation deck and picnic area. President and Mrs. Garfield are entombed in the lower level crypt, their coffins placed side by side and visible to cemetery visitors.

The other prominent structure in the cemetery is the Wade Chapel. A small-but-magnificent chapel with Tiffany windows and elaborate Bibically-inspired mosiacs on the walls, the edifice is still used for small weddings and located north and down the hill from the Garfield monument. Behind the chapel is a large pond.

The cemetery is among those profiled in the 2005 PBS documentary A Cemetery Special.

Lake View Cemetery is located at 41.51345° N 81.59856° WCoordinates: 41.51345° N 81.59856° W.

[edit] Notable interments

See also Category:Burials at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland.

The James A. Garfield Memorial
The James A. Garfield Memorial

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: