Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester)
 Gate House of Mount Hope Cemetery | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1838 |
| Location | Rochester, New York |
| Country | USA |
| Coordinates | 43°07′42″N 77°37′17″W / 43.12833°N 77.62139°W |
| Type | public |
| Owned by | City of Rochester |
| Size | 196 acres (793,000 m²) |
| Number of graves | 350,000 |
| Find a Grave | Mount Hope Cemetery |
| The Political Graveyard | The Political Graveyard |
Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, founded in 1838, is one of the United States' first municipal rural cemeteries. Situated on 196 acres (793,000 m²) (0.3 square miles) of land adjacent to the University of Rochester on Mount Hope Avenue, the cemetery is the permanent resting place of over 350,000 people. The annual growth rate of this cemetery is 500-600 burials per year. Mount Hope also contains the ruins of a now outdated catacomb system, most notably with its sealed entrance on the east-facing drumlin upon entering the cemetery from the north. Its alternative entrance (also sealed) can be found in the Sunken Garden of Warner Castle across Mt. Hope Avenue.
Geology of Mount Hope
About 12,000 to 14,000 years ago, Mount Hope was covered with ice one to two miles thick. As the glacier receded, cracks appeared in the ice, and these crevasses became rivers of water and gravel. When the miles-high ice sheets finally melted, these river beds were left as ridges created from all the rock and rubble that had been deposited by the flowing river. In geological terms, these ridges are called eskers. One such esker snakes its way through much of Mount Hope Cemetery. The Seneca Indians used it as a trail from the Bristol Hills south of Rochester to Lake Ontario on the city's northern border. For them, it provided a continuous high path through the moraine and visibility of valleys around them. Today, this esker is a principal vehicular lane through the cemetery and is called Indian Trail Avenue.
Notable burials
- Samuel G. Andrews
- Susan B. Anthony
- Charles S. Baker
- John Jacob Bausch
- Hartwell Carver
- Jonathan Child
- Emma Lampert Cooper
- Adelaide Crapsey
- Algernon Crapsey
- Frederick Douglass
- Thomas B. Dunn
- George Ellwanger
- Frank Gannett
- Morton Goldberg
- Seth Green
- James Hard
- Myron Holley
- Thomas Kempshall
- Henry Lomb
- General E.G. Marshall
- Vincent Mathews
- Lewis Henry Morgan
- Anna Murray-Douglass
- Henry O'Reilly
- Amy and Isaac Post
- Charles Mulford Robinson
- Nathaniel Rochester
- Thomas H. Rochester
- Abraham M. Schermerhorn
- George B. Selden
- Henry R. Selden
- Hiram Sibley
- Elijah F. Smith
- Fletcher Steele
- Margaret Woodbury Strong
- Theron R. Strong
- Samuel R. Thayer
- James Vick
- Lillian Wald
- Henry Augustus Ward
- Don Alonzo Watson
- Jessica M. Weis
- George Whipple
- Frederick Whittlesey
- Abel Carter Wilder
General Elwell Stephen Otis was originally interred at Mount Hope before being removed to Arlington National Cemetery. Notable cremations at Mount Hope include Blanche Stuart Scott and George Eastman.
Friends of Mount Hope
The Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery is a non-profit organization of volunteers founded in 1980 to restore, preserve, and encourage public use and enjoyment of this unique historical treasure.
See also
References
Further reading
- Richard O. Reisem (2002). Buried Treasures in Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York: A Pictorial Field Guide ISBN 9780964103337. OCLC 50799185
- Richard O. Reisem (2012). Gravestones in Mount Hope Cemetery ISBN 9780964103351. OCLC 801480231