The Woodlands Cemetery
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| The Woodlands | |
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| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
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| Location: | 4000 Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Architectural style(s): | Georgian |
| Added to NRHP: | 1967 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 67000022[1] |
| Governing body: | Woodlands Cemetery Company |
The Woodlands is a National Historic Landmark on the western banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It includes a magnificent federal style mansion, its matching carriage house and stable, and its historic garden landscape that was later developed as a rural Victorian cemetery. It was once part of Blockley Township.
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[edit] Early history
The property was originally owned by the famous Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton, who in 1735 purchased 300 acres in what is now West Philadelphia. When he died in 1741, he willed his lands to his son, also named Andrew, who survived his father but six years, devising the estate to his son, William (1745–1813), who rebuilt the original house over a period of years into a 16-room manor. The new Woodlands mansion was one of the greatest domestic American architectural achievements of the 18th century, recognized after the Revolutionary War as a leading example of English taste and presaging architectural trends in the following century.
Hamilton was an active botanist, and his estate and greenhouses grew to contain more than 10,000 different species of plants including the first specimens introduced into America of the Ginkgo, Paper Mulberry, Sycamore Maple, Ailanthus, Caucasian Zelkova, and Lombardy Poplar as well as plants grown from seeds harvested during Lewis and Clark’s expeditions--especially the Osage Orange or Maclura pomifera. Hamilton also collected and exchanged numerous native plants with his friends and neighbors, the Bartram family of botanists from nearby Bartram's Garden.
At one point the estate gre wot 600 acres (2.4 km²) and stretched from the Schuylkill River to what is now Market Street on the north and 42nd Street on the west. It incorporated Hamilton Village. Today, more than 720 historic trees and plants have survived and are scattered throughout the property.
[edit] The cemetery
By the first quarter of the 19th Century, the West Philadelphia district was becoming a fashionable suburb. Following Hamilton's death in 1813, his heirs sold off much of the Woodlands estate for residential development. In 1840, The Woodlands Cemetery Company purchased the remaining grounds, which included the mansion, carriage house and Hamilton's extensive plantings.
During the same time the "Garden" or rural cemetery was becoming a popular alternative to crowded and unhygienic urban burying grounds. Rural cemeteries were usually non-sectarian and were distinguished for their use of diverse and elaborate landscaping and architecture. An early advertisement touted their wholesome atmosphere where "... the decaying bodies of the dead may securely moulder into kindred dust, with an abundant vegetation and free winds to absorb and dissipate all noxious effluvia."
The Woodlands' isolated location, its array of exotic trees and its commanding view of the Schuykill River provided an ideal site for a rural cemetery.
As with its rival to the north, Laurel Hill Cemetery, trustees of the Woodlands spurred the cemetery's early growth by interring the remains of a celebrity, Commodore David Porter. His remains, originally buried at the Philadelphia Naval Asylum cemetery, were moved and reburied at Woodlands in 1845.
By mid-century, Woodlands was thriving and attracted many of Philadelphia's elite. [2]
Today, the Woodlands Cemetery Company is a non-profit organization. The Friends of Woodlands works with the Cemetery Company and the University City Historical Society to preserve and maintain both the mansion and the cemetery grounds. The site is also designated as The Woodlands National Recreation Trail by the National Park Service.
[edit] Notable burials
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[edit] Woodlands Heritage National Recreation Trail
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
The pathways and avenues of the cemetery and mansion make up the Woodlands Heritage National Recreation Trail, part of the National Recreation Trail program.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Cemetery map
- Woodlands home page
- The Woodlands at Find-A-Grave
- The mansion's listing, drawings, and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
- The cemetery's listing, drawings, and photographs at the Historic American Buildings Survey
- The stable-carriage house's listing and drawings at the Historic American Buildings Survey
- The mansion's listing and images at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
- The cemetery's listing and images at Philadelphia Architects and Building
- The cemetery gate and drive's listing and images at Philadelphia Architects and Building
[edit] References
- ^ Listing at NPS
- ^ Keels, Thomas H., Philadelphia Graveyards and Cemeteries (Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia Press, 2003)
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