Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)

Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut is located at 453 Fairfield Avenue. It was designed by landscape architect Jacob Weidenmann (1829–1893) who also designed Hartford's Bushnell Park. Its first sections were completed in 1866 and the first burial took place on July 17, 1866. Cedar Hill was designed as an American rural cemetery in the tradition of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[3]

Cedar Hill Cemetery
Cemetery entrance at intersection of Fairfield and Maple Avenues in Hartford, CT
Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut) is located in Connecticut
Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)
Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut) is located in the United States
Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)
Map
Location453 Fairfield Ave., in Hartford, Wethersfield, and Newington, Connecticut
Coordinates41°43′20″N 72°42′12″W / 41.72222°N 72.70333°W / 41.72222; -72.70333
Built1865
Architectmultiple, including Weidenmann, Jacob
Architectural styleGothic, Queen Anne, Modern Movement
NRHP reference No.97000333[1][2]
Added to NRHPApril 28, 1997

The cemetery straddles three towns. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, in Hartford, Newington, and Wethersfield.[1][4] It includes the Cedar Hill Cemetery Gateway and Chapel, also known as Northam Memorial Chapel and Gallup Memorial Gateway, which is separately listed on the NRHP.[5]

Cedar Hill Cemetery encompasses 270 acres (110 ha) and includes several historic buildings, including the Northam Memorial Chapel (built 1882), which was designed by Hartford architect George Keller, and the Superintendent's Cottage (built in 1875), which continues to be occupied by Cedar Hill's Superintendent to this day.[6]

The cemetery gates are open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm, April - September, and from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm during all other months.[7]

Notable monuments

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The Mark Howard monument, one of Cedar Hill's most famous

Cedar Hill has many unique monuments. One of the most recognizable is the 18-foot (5.5 m) tall pink-granite pyramid, and life-sized angel statue, erected in memory of Mark Howard and his wife, Angelina Lee Howard. Mark Howard was president of the National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford and Connecticut's first internal revenue collector.[8]

John Pierpont Morgan's family monument was designed by architect George W. Keller. Made of either red Scottish or Nova Scotia granite, the monument was designed to portray Morgan's vision of the Ark of the Covenant.[9][10]

The Porter-Valentine mausoleum features a stained-glass window created by Louis Comfort Tiffany.[citation needed]

Notable burials

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The grave of Katharine Hepburn.
 
Family plot of Yung Wing, the first Chinese graduate of an American university, Yale.
 
General Stedman Monument, sculpted by John M. Moffit.
 
Weidenman family headstone.
 
Horace Wells monument (1909), Louis Potter, sculptor.

More than 30,000 people are buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery, including many notable people such as:[11]

Image gallery: Monuments

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Image gallery: Trees

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System – (#97000333)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ actual announcement, on weekly listings on the NRHP
  3. ^ "Cedar Hill's Distinguished Heritage". cedarhillcemetery.org. Cedar Hill Cemetery. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  4. ^ "Connecticut – Hartford County – Historic Districts". National Register of Historic Places mirror site. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  5. ^ "Northam Chapel". cedarhillcemetery.org. Cedar Hill Cemetery. March 2, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  6. ^ "Architecture". cedarhillcemetery.org. Cedar Hill Cemetery. January 24, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  7. ^ "Welcome to Cedar Hill Cemetery". cedarhillcemetery.org. Cedar Hill Cemetery. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  8. ^ "A Guide to the Mark Howard Papers at the Connecticut Historical Society" (PDF). chs.org. Connecticut Historical Society Museum and Library. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  9. ^ Architectural Gems. Courant.com (2007-07-06). Retrieved on 2013-08-21.
  10. ^ "MORGAN'S RELATIVES BURIED AT CEDAR HILL: NOBLE MONUMENT BUILT BY HIM IN 1889 Father, Mother, Grandparents and Brother Gathered Here OFTEN VISITED THE FAMILY GRAVE WHILE ALIVE". The Hartford Courant. The Hartford Courant (1887-1922). ProQuest Historical Newspapers. April 2, 1913. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Notable Residents". Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut). Retrieved September 28, 2014. Cedar Hill Cemetery is the final resting place of numerous politicians, industrialists, writers, actors, artists and educators. Below is a listing of some of Cedar Hill's most notable residents.
  12. ^ "Katharine Seymour Day (1870–1964)". Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut). Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  13. ^ "Site Offline". April 9, 2024.
  14. ^ Edwin Denison Morgan, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed April 25, 2008.
  15. ^ "Connecticut's Civil War Monuments – Genl. Griffin A. Stedman". CHS.org. Connecticut Historical Society. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  16. ^ "Rev. Joseph H. Twichell Of Hartford". The New York Times. December 15, 1895. Retrieved September 28, 2014. The Rev. Joseph H. Twichell, who completed thirty years of his pastorate at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church Friday, Dec. 13, in a native of the town of Southington and was graduated from Yale in the class of '58. ...
  17. ^ Inscription at base of statue shows date as "MDCCCLXIV" (1864).
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