Mount Auburn Cemetery
About this property
Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in 1831 and set with classical monuments in a rolling landscaped terrain, it marked a distinct break with Colonial-era burying grounds and church-affiliated graveyards. The appearance of this type of landscape coincides with the rising popularity of the term "cemetery," derived from the Greek for "a sleeping place," instead of graveyard. This language and outlook eclipsed the previous harsh view of death and the afterlife embodied by old graveyards and church burial plots. Mount Auburn Cemetery can be considered a link between Capability Brown's 18th century English landscape gardens and Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's Central Park in New York (1857-1876). The 174-acre (70 ha) cemetery is important both for its historical aspects and for its role as an arboretum. It is Watertown's largest contiguous open space and extends into Cambridge to the east, adjacent to the Cambridge City Cemetery and Sand Banks Cemetery. It was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2003 for its pioneering role in 19th-century cemetery development.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Mount Auburn Cemetery
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Questions about this property
When was Mount Auburn Cemetery listed on the National Register?
Mount Auburn Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1975.
What type of historic resource is Mount Auburn Cemetery?
Mount Auburn Cemetery is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
Is Mount Auburn Cemetery a National Historic Landmark?
Yes. Mount Auburn Cemetery has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.
What is the period of significance for Mount Auburn Cemetery?
The period of significance for Mount Auburn Cemetery is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Mount Auburn Cemetery?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Mount Auburn Cemetery will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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