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The Temple of Athena
Many ancient classical designs are replicated in American graveyards, often in grand neoclassical mausoleums based on the designs of Greek and Roman temples. The Greek temple, the Parthenon, is one...
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What to do with leftover turkey?
The Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the fall of 1621. They had made it through a harsh New England winter with a little more than half of the original group having survived it. For three...
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Valentin Blatz, Beer Baron
Valentin Blatz Born October 1, 1826, Miltenburg, Germany Died May 26, 1894, Saint Paul, Minnesota Valentin Blatz, a German émigré, settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1849. Blatz had worked in his...
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Adolphus Busch, Beer Baron
Adolphus Busch Born July 10, 1839, Kastel, Grand Duchy of Hesse (now Germany) Died October 10, 1913, Lindschied, Germany Certain foods go together like peanut butter and jelly, bread and butter, or...
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Uncomfortable Coexistence
Lawrence McMahon 1845 – 1941 Jennie McMahon 1847 – 1907 The pyramid-shaped tomb of Lawrence McMahon, a retired pharmacy chain store businessman, and his wife, Jennie, in the Calvary Cemetery in...
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Keyhole Doorway
William Farrington Aldrich March 11, 1853 Palmyra, New York October 30, 1925 Birmingham, Alabama William Farrington Aldrich was an Alabama Congressman from 1896 until 1901, a successful mining...
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Seated Angels
Not far inside the Gothic gates of the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, is the David and Adelia Stewart mausoleum. The mausoleum was designed by Stanford White, of McKim, Mead and White, at...
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Art Nouveau
The Tiedeman mausoleum in the Bonaventure Cemetery, in Savannah, Georgia, with a rounded roof line is an outstanding example of Art Nouveau design. The flowing design on the bronze doors exhibit the...
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The Tuscan Order
David D. Pursglove Born April 3, 1881 England Died December 19, 1921 The gray granite mausoleum in the Saint Clairsville, Ohio, Union Cemetery is an example of Neo-classic design in the Tuscan order...
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James Cash Penny, Jr.
The light gray granite mausoleum belongs to J. C. Penny (September 16, 1875 – February 12, 1971) the American businessman and department chain founder that bears his name. The mausoleum is relatively...
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Double Take
The Egyptian Revival was an architectural movement that swept the United States and Europe. The movement in America was influenced by three separate events—the first was Napoleon’s defeat of Egypt in...
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Escorts on the journey ahead
The modest mausoleum in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx was built for Charles Waite Waller (March 20, 1870-January 19, 1927) and his wife, Rose Ann Hutchcroft Waller. Charles was born in the tiny...
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Neo-Classical
The seemingly plain light gray granite Cuneo family mausoleum is a stunning example of Neo-classical architecture. The pedimented porch is a key aspect of Neo-classical door design. The porch...
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French Gothic
Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (1858-1908) Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont (1853-1933) The Belmont Mausoleum, in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, is a near replica of the Chapel of Saint Hubert; the...
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A Simpler Version
The Belmont Mausoleum, in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, is a near replica of the Chapel of Saint Hubert; the original in Amboise, France—the final resting place of Leonardo da Vinci. The Murphy...
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Gothic Architecture Inspired by Sainte-Chappelle
Tucked away under some massive trees that form a canopy over a large part of the Dexter Family Mausoleum in the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a great Gothic Revival-style tomb. The...
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The Whittell Egyptian Revival-Style Mausoleum
George Whittell, Jr. September 28, 1881 – April 17, 1969 Elia Pascal Whittell September 9, 1892 – May 1, 1977 George Whittell, Jr. was born rich—very rich. His grandfather invested in real estate...
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Columbarium & Sarcophagus Mausoleum
Two cemeteries very far apart—Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona, and Crest Lawn Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia, have the exact same statue of a man standing next to a woman with his arm around her....
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The Crown and the Angel
Elisabeth L. Roark wrote an article about cemetery angels titled, “Embodying Immortality: Angels in America’s Rural Garden Cemeteries, 1850—1900”, pages 56 – 111, 2007 edition of Markers, XXIV, in...
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