Historic Cemeteries in the Midwest

These majestic rural cemeteries are a who’s-who of the Midwest’s historic and influential personalities.

From captains of industry, to former presidents, storied military figures, inventors, and artists, Midwestern cemeteries are filled with former residents who made outsized contributions to American history. Many of these cemeteries are considered historic in their own right, owing to their art and architecture.

Bohemian National Cemetery, at 5255 N. Pulaski Road in Chicago, Illinois, was created in 1877 by Chicago’s ethnic Czech community, and has since expanded to 126 acres. Approximately 120,000 of the city’s former residents are buried here, including victims of the SS Eastland shipwreck. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Established in 1869 as a nonprofit garden cemetery, Lake View Cemetery at 12316 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio contains a veritable who’s who from Cleveland’s once-storied past, including the remains of U.S. President James A. Garfield. Over 110,000 former residents are interred in its sprawling 285 acres.

Established in 1863, Crown Hill Funeral Home and Cemetery at 700 38th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, sprawls across 555 acres, making it the third largest private cemetery in the United States. Indianapolis architect Adolph Scherrer designed its triple-arch Gothic gatehouse at 34th Street and Boulevard Place in 1885. Crown Hill is the final resting place for one U.S. president, three vice presidents, and several governors, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, industrialists, military generals, and over 190,000 other former residents. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Oak Ridge Cemetery is the second-most visited cemetery in the United States, and its 365 acres are the final resting place for over 75,000 dead. It also happens to be the site of Lincoln’s Tomb, a National Historic Landmark and the final resting place for our sixteenth president and his family. Oak Ridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Designed by Architect Howard Daniels and established in 1848, Green Lawn Cemetery, at 1000 Greenlawn Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, is a historic private rural cemetery. Its meandering roads wander 360 acres, where over 155,000 are interred, including Samuel Bush, grandfather of President George H.W. Bush and great-grandfather of President George W. Bush, and World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker.