Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic
rural cemetery
A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries. They were typically built one to five ...
located at 700 West 38th Street in
Indianapolis,
Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high point overlooking Indianapolis. It is approximately northwest of the city's center. Crown Hill was dedicated on June 1, 1864, and encompasses , making it the third largest non-governmental
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Its grounds are based on the landscape designs of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
landscape architect and cemetery superintendent John Chislett Sr and
Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
horticulturalist
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
Adolph Strauch
Adolph Strauch (b. August 30, 1822 – 1883) was a renowned landscape architect born in Silesia, Prussia, known particularly for his layout designs of cemeteries like Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forest Lawn in Buffalo, NY and O ...
. In 1866, the U.S. government authorized a
U.S. National Cemetery
The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress o ...
for Indianapolis. The
Crown Hill National Cemetery is located in Sections 9 and 10.
Crown Hill contains of paved road, over 150 species of trees and plants, over 225,000 graves, and services roughly 1,500 burials per year. Crown Hill is the final resting place for individuals from all walks of life, from political and civic leaders to ordinary citizens, infamous criminals, and unknowns.
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
, 23rd
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
, and
Vice Presidents
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Charles W. Fairbanks
Charles Warren Fairbanks (May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918) was an American politician who served as a senator from Indiana from 1897 to 1905 and the 26th vice president of the United States from 1905 to 1909. He was also the Republican vice pre ...
,
Thomas A. Hendricks
Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his ...
, and
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas Riley Marshall (March 14, 1854 – June 1, 1925) was an American politician who served as the 28th vice president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson. A prominent lawyer in Indiana, he became an acti ...
are buried at Crown Hill. Infamous bank robber and "Public Enemy #1"
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times an ...
is another internee. The gravesite of Hoosier poet
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...
overlooks the city from "The Crown".
Many of the cemetery's mausoleums, monuments, memorials, and structures were designed by architects, landscape designers, and sculptors such as
Diedrich A. Bohlen,
George Kessler
George Edward Kessler (July 16, 1862 – March 20, 1923) was an American pioneer city planner and landscape architect.
Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 comm ...
,
Rudolf Schwarz,
Adolph Scherrer
Adolph Scherrer (1847-1925) was an American architect. He designed the 1888 Indiana State Capitol building, the Tipton County Courthouse, and Tipton County Jail and Sheriff's Home. He also designed Maennerchor Hall and the gateway and waiting st ...
, and the architectural firms of
D. A. Bolen and Son and
Vonnegut and Bohn
Vonnegut & Bohn was an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States.
Founded in 1888 by Bernard Vonnegut Sr., FAIA (1855–1908) and Arthur Bohn (b. 1861), all the partners were German Americans and were trained in both Am ...
, among others. Works by contemporary sculptors include David L. Rodgers, Michael B. Wilson, and Eric Nordgulen.
The cemetery's administrative offices, mortuary, and crematorium are located at 38th Street and Clarendon Road on the cemetery's north grounds. Crown Hill's Waiting Station, built in 1885 at its east entrance on 34th Street and Boulevard Place, serves as a meeting place for tours and programs. The Crown Hill Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit corporation established in 1984, raises funds to preserve the cemetery's historic buildings and grounds. Crown Hill Cemetery was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on February 28, 1973.
History
Crown Hill was not Indianapolis's first major cemetery.
Alexander Ralston
Alexander Ralston (1771 – January 5, 1827) was a Scottish surveyor who was one of two co-architects for the design of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He also helped to design Washington, D.C.
Life
Alexander Ralston was born in Scotlan ...
included a cemetery site in his 1821 plan of Indianapolis at the south end of Kentucky Avenue, where it intersects South and West Streets.
Prior to the establishment of Crown Hill Cemetery in 1863, the city's main cemetery was expanded in the 1830s to create the
Greenlawn Cemetery on the city's southwest side.
During the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, Greenlawn was quickly filling with burials of
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
soldiers and
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
and faced encroachment from west side industrial development. By the end of the 1870s it was closed to further interments due to lack of space.
[
The normal demands of a growing city, along with the capacity issues at Greenlawn, prompted a group of Indianapolis's civic-minded men to establish a new and larger cemetery within five miles of the city. On September 12, 1863, the men met with John Chislett Sr, a ]Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
landscape architect and cemetery superintendent, to discuss ideas for a cemetery that would be based on the park-like settings becoming popular in Europe, most notably the Pere Lachaise Cemetery Pere may refer to:
*Pere, Hungary, a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county
* Rangimārie Te Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere (1937–2020), Māori New Zealand educationalist and spiritual leader
* Wi Pere (1837–1915), a Māori Member of Parliament ...
in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. On September 25, 1863, the group formed the Association of Crown Hill.[ Its selection committee bought a farm and tree nursery owned by Martin Williams for $51,500. The site for the new cemetery at Strawberry Hill, a high point overlooking Indianapolis, was northwest of the city. The committee also acquired adjacent acreage of naturally rolling terrain from other sources.][ On October 22, 1863, a 30-member Board of Corporators (trustees) formally established Crown Hill as a privately owned cemetery.][Sanford, p. 1.]
Once the initial land was secured, the board hired Chislett's son, Frederick, as Crown Hill's first superintendent. He arrived in Indianapolis with his wife and children on December 31, 1863. Frederick supervised the construction of the cemetery's first roads and developed the property's grounds based on the landscape designs of his father and Prussian horticulturalist Adolph Strauch
Adolph Strauch (b. August 30, 1822 – 1883) was a renowned landscape architect born in Silesia, Prussia, known particularly for his layout designs of cemeteries like Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forest Lawn in Buffalo, NY and O ...
. The design retained many of the cemetery's natural features and laid out winding roads to create a landscape in the Victorian Romantic style. The cemetery's first main entrance was off old Michigan Road (later known as Northwestern Avenue and currently as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard).
Crown Hill Cemetery was dedicated on June 1, 1864.[Wissing, p. 17.] The first burial at Crown Hill was the body of Lucy Ann Seaton, aged 33, a young mother who had died of consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
.[ Later that year, James Pattison built a stone gateway for $2,300 at the cemetery's west entrance off of Michigan Road. The cemetery's east entrance at 34th Street opened in 1864.][Sanford, p. 3.] Omnibus transportation reached the cemetery in 1864. Visitors could also travel by steam-powered boat up the Central Canal to reach Crown Hill. Automobiles were allowed on the grounds beginning in 1912.
In 1866, the federal government purchased of land within the grounds of Crown Hill for a national military cemetery. The bodies of more than 700 Union soldiers who had died in Indianapolis during the Civil War were moved from Greenlawn Cemetery to new graves at the National Cemetery.[ On May 30, 1868, Crown Hill, along with Arlington National Cemetery and 182 others in 27 states, took part in the country's first Memorial Day celebrations. An estimated crowd of 10,000 attended the Crown Hill ceremony, beginning an annual tradition at the site.
]
By the mid-1800s, Crown Hill was a burial ground as well as a popular location for recreational activities such as picnics, strolls, and carriage rides. It is well known for its views of downtown Indianapolis from "The Crown". In addition to developing the cemetery grounds, Crown Hill's Corporators built new structures on the site. A Gothic chapel and vault was erected in 1875.[ The main entrance was moved to 34th Street on the cemetery's east side, where the cemetery's Waiting Station building and a three-arched gateway were erected in 1885. A new gate and gatehouse were built at the west entrance in 1900 to replace earlier structures that were demolished. Over several decades Crown Hill's grounds expanded to include substantial parcels of land north of 38th Street (known then as Maple Road). In 1911, the acquisition of at the northwest corner of Crown Hill made the grounds the third largest nongovernmental cemetery in the United States.
Crown Hill's Pioneer Cemetery was established on the north grounds in 1912. The bodies of 1,160 early settlers from Greenlawn Cemetery were moved to this new section at Crown Hill. The remains of 33 people from Rhoads Cemetery, established on the city's west side in 1844, were interred in the Pioneer Cemetery in 1999. Bodies from the Wright-Whitesell-Gentry Cemetery located near Castleton on the city's northeast side were moved to the Pioneer Cemetery in 2008–09.
The cemetery's grounds continued to change. In 1914, landscape architect ]George Kessler
George Edward Kessler (July 16, 1862 – March 20, 1923) was an American pioneer city planner and landscape architect.
Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 comm ...
designed a brick and wrought-iron fence nearly long. It was completed in the early 1920s and surrounded three quarters of the cemetery's south grounds and the southern end of the north grounds along 38th Street. A bridge/underpass that became known as the Subway passed beneath 38th Street to connect the north and south grounds.[Sloan, pp. 1, 3.] Although Crown Hill faced competition from other cemeteries in the area, it continued to expand. More than 100,000 people were buried there by the late 1930s and more than 155,000 by the late 1970s. The cemetery's Community Mausoleum was formally dedicated in 1951. Building five of the Garden Mausoleums, a series of outdoor mausoleums, was completed in 1962. A new administrative building by Bohlen and Burns was dedicated in 1969.[Sanford, p. 10.] By the early 1980s, Crown Hill was valued at nearly $3 million. Its annual sales were estimated at $250,000, with an operating budget of $895,000. The cemetery employed 15 salaried employees, 21 full-time maintenance workers, and 25 seasonal workers.
Preservation of the cemetery's monuments and structures remained an ongoing concern to Crown Hill's board. The Crown Hill Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit corporation, was established in 1984 to raise funds for restoration of the cemetery's historic buildings and its grounds. By 1997 the foundation had raised $1.8 million, with an additional $3.2 million raised later, to restore the Gothic Chapel and make other improvements to the cemetery. In the 1990s Crown Hill added a mortuary and a new crematorium.
On February 28, 1973, Crown Hill Cemetery, including the National Cemetery, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. The National Cemetery portion, which is listed separately, was added to the National Register on April 29, 1999.
The first African American female, Cynthia Strayhorn Whisler, served as the Managing Director of Crown Hill Cemetery in 1996. Milton O. Thompson, a lawyer, former deputy Marion County prosecutor, and founder of a sports and entertainment management company became the board's first African American member. Hilary Stour Salatich, a Conseco
CNO Financial Group, Inc. (formerly Conseco, Inc. (from Consolidated National Security Corporation)) is a financial services holding company based in Carmel, Indiana. Its insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supplemental he ...
executive and civic leader, became the first female corporator in 1997.[Wissing, pp. 241–43.]
Special sections
National Cemetery
In 1866 the U.S. government authorized a U.S. National Cemetery
The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress o ...
for Indianapolis as a burial site for Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
soldiers who died in military camps and hospitals near the city during the Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. The National Cemetery is located on within the grounds of Crown Hill in Section 10 The federal government purchased the site from Crown Hill's board for $5,000. On October 19, 1866, the remains of the first Union soldier were removed from Greenlawn Cemetery and interred at the National Cemetery at Crown Hill. By November 1866, the bodies of 707 soldiers had been moved from Greenlawn to the National Cemetery. As of December 31, 1998, the National Cemetery is filled. It encompasses 795 burial sites.[
]
Confederate soldiers' burials
Crown Hill is also a burial site for Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Morton, a prison camp located north of Indianapolis. In 1931, when industrial development around Greenlawn Cemetery required the bodies of the Confederate prisoners to be moved, their remains were interred in a mass grave known as the Confederate Mound in Section 32 at Crown Hill. In 1993 a memorial with ten bronze plaques listing the names of the 1,616 Confederate soldiers and sailors who died at Camp Morton was dedicated at the site.
Field of Valor
Wars in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
prompted expansion of Crown Hill's military sections to include the Field of Valor on of the north grounds. It was dedicated on Veterans Day
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than d ...
, November 11, 2004. The Eternal Flame and Eagle Plaza installed in front of the memorial were dedicated on Veterans Day in 2005.
Nature
Wildlife abounds in Crown Hill Cemetery, which serves as a large refuge for birds, white-tailed deer, and small animals. More than 100 species of trees have been identified on the grounds.[Sanford, p. 19.]
Artworks
There are many works of art on the property, some of which are freestanding, but most of which are associated with a gravesite. Notable examples include:
* James Whitcomb Riley's Tomb: Following Riley's death on July 22, 1916, Crown Hill's board offered his family the prestigious site at "The Crown", the summit of Crown Hill that overlooks Indianapolis, as his final resting place. His was buried there on October 6, 1917. Riley's gravesite is marked with a large, open-canopied monument.
* Forrest Memorial: This is the gravesite of Albertina Allen Forrest, wife of Butler University
Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...
professor and Citizens Gas general manager Jacob Dorrsey Forrest. She died on April 27, 1904. To mark the grave, her husband commissioned Viennese sculptor Rudolf Schwarz, whose work adorns numerous monuments and memorials including the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Indianapolis, to create "Statue in Repose", a kneeling woman in mourning beneath a couplet from Alfred Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
's "In Memoriam". Albertina's husband, who died in 1930, is buried in an unmarked grave beside the memorial.
* Three limestone statues depicting the Greek goddesses Themis
In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; grc, Θέμις, Themis, justice, law, custom) is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, fai ...
, Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
, and Persephone
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...
from the old Marion County Courthouse. The courthouse was demolished in 1962.[Sanford, p. 20.]
* Equatorial Sundial:David L. Rodgers was commissioned to create the functional sundial
A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
in 1985. It was fabricated of Indiana limestone in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...
, and installed in front of the Community Mausoleum in 1987.[Wissing, p. 228.]
* The Hoosier Artists Contemporary Sculpture Walk: Established to mark Crown Hill's 140th anniversary, the walk includes works by ten artists, including Michael B. Wilson's "Social Attachments" and Eric Nordgulen's "Antenna Man".
* Holcomb Mausoleum Door
''Holcomb Mausoleum Door'' is a public artwork by United States, American fabricator Amick & Wearley Monuments, located in Crown Hill Cemetery, which is near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. ''Holcomb Mausoleum Door'' is bronze and ...
: Part of a memorial for James Irving Holcomb, an Indianapolis industrialist and a Vice President of the Butler University board of trustees
Notable memorials
* Medical Science Donor Memorial, installed in 1991. In 1978 the Anatomical Education Board of the Indiana University School of Medicine
The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) is a major multi-campus medical school in the state of Indiana. There are nine campuses throughout the state; the principal research and medical center is located on the Indiana University–Purd ...
purchased Section 41-A to inter the cremated remains of bodies that had been studied. As of 2011 more than one thousand medical donors have been recognized at the memorial.
* Indiana AIDS Memorial, dedicated on October 29, 2000, is the first permanent AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
memorial located in a cemetery.
* The Heroes of Public Safety monument, dedicated on September 11, 2002, is inscribed with the names of police, firefighters, and other public safety personnel who died in the line of duty.
* The Hearts Remembered Memorial, dedicated on June 4, 2006, remembers the city's orphaned and abandoned children, many of whom were buried in unmarked graves.
Structures
* Gothic chapel – Indianapolis architect Diedrich A. Bohlen designed the High Victorian Gothic-style chapel and vault, which were built east of the National Cemetery in 1875 at an initial cost of $38,922. They replaced an earlier vault that was used as temporary storage for bodies awaiting burial. In 1917 D.A. Bolen and Son designed an addition to the structure designed by D. A. Bohlen, the architectural firm's founder. The chapel and vaults were restored in the early 1970s at a cost of $120,000. CSO Architects began a major renovation and expansion in 2001. The project cost $3.2 million and received an excellence in Architecture Award from the American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
, Indiana chapter, in 2007.[Sanford, p. 18.]
* East gate, Waiting Station, and Porter's Lodge – Adolf Scherrer, an Indianapolis architect of Swiss origins, designed the High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right.
Promo ...
gateway and Waiting Station for the cemetery's main entrance at 34th Street and Boulevard Place. Construction began in May 1885. The three-arched gateway was completed in November 1885, in time for the funeral of vice-president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
and former Indiana governor
The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government ...
Thomas A. Hendricks
Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his ...
. The gate was built of Bedford limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
. The Waiting Station exterior is brick and limestone. A gatehouse house that became known as Porter's Lodge at the gate's south side was designed by the Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut and Bohn
Vonnegut & Bohn was an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States.
Founded in 1888 by Bernard Vonnegut Sr., FAIA (1855–1908) and Arthur Bohn (b. 1861), all the partners were German Americans and were trained in both Am ...
and built in 1904. The Crown Hill board leased the Waiting Station to Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana
Indiana Landmarks is America's largest private statewide historic preservation organization. Founded in 1960 as Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana by a volunteer group of civic and business leaders led by Indianapolis pharmaceutical execu ...
in 1970 for one dollar per year, provided the preservation organization agreed to restore the historic structure. The restoration was completed by February 1971. HLFI moved to offices on Michigan Street in 1990 and the Waiting Station was leased until the mid-1990s, when Crown Hill began using it for office space. Crown Hill spent an additional $500,000 to restore the Waiting Station in the late 1990s. It was restored again in 2001 and serves as a meeting place for cemetery tours and programs.[Sanford, p. 17.]
* Subway bridge/underpass – The underpass beneath 38th Street that connects the north and south grounds is also known as the Subway. Construction began in 1925 and was completed in 1927 at cost of $170,000. It was restored in the 1980s.[
* West gate and gatehouse – In 1901 the original west entrance to the cemetery was demolished and an arched Romanesque gate and a gatehouse designed by Indianapolis architect Herbert Foltz was erected at its southwest corner. The west gate was closed in 1965 and demolished the following year.
* Masonry fence – In 1914 ]George Kessler
George Edward Kessler (July 16, 1862 – March 20, 1923) was an American pioneer city planner and landscape architect.
Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 comm ...
designed a brick and wrought-iron fence to replace the cemetery's wood and wire fencing. The masonry fence surrounded three quarters of the south grounds and the southern end of the north grounds along 38th Street. It cost nearly $138,000. The fence has a thick concrete base, brick supports in height, and sections of wrought iron measuring in length that rest on brick support walls. Brick pillars at the entrances are more than tall. Construction of the fence, which is approximately long, was completed in 1920. A multi-year restoration costing $600,000 began in 1985.[Wissing, pp. 124, 228.]
* Mausoleums – Crown Hill contains several family and communal mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
s: Community Mausoleum, designed by D. A. Bohlen and Company, was completed in the early 1950s. Its exterior is made of Indiana Bedford limestone; the interior is marble. Abbey Mausoleum, which was planned in 1993, is designed by Patrick L. Fly and cost $1.3 million. It is built of Indiana limestone and Carnelian granite.[
* Superintendent's residence – A home for the superintendent remained on cemetery grounds until 1950. D. A. Bohlen designed a three-story ]Victorian house
In Great Britain and former British colonies, a Victorian house generally means any house built during the reign of Queen Victoria. During the Industrial Revolution, successive housing booms resulted in the building of many millions of Victorian ...
to replace a log cabin structure in the late 1860s. Fire destroyed the Victorian residence in 1913, but a new three-story brick home was already under construction as its replacement. The brick residence was removed from Crown Hill in 1950.[
* Administrative offices – A building erected at 38th and Clarenden Streets in 1969 serves as Crown Hill's business offices.][Sanford, p. 17.]
* Mortuary and crematorium – Groundbreaking for a $1.5 million mortuary took place in May 1992. Architect J. Stuart Todd drew up the plans. The funeral home opened on March 1, 1993. Gibralter Remembrance Services, LLC, who purchased the mortuary in 2006, built a 9,500 square foot expansion. A new crematorium was added in 1990.
Notable interments
Political and civil rights figures
* Vice Presidents of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
Charles W. Fairbanks
Charles Warren Fairbanks (May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918) was an American politician who served as a senator from Indiana from 1897 to 1905 and the 26th vice president of the United States from 1905 to 1909. He was also the Republican vice pre ...
, Thomas A. Hendricks
Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his ...
, and Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas Riley Marshall (March 14, 1854 – June 1, 1925) was an American politician who served as the 28th vice president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson. A prominent lawyer in Indiana, he became an acti ...
.[Sanford, p. 22.]
* Vice Presidential nominees George Washington Julian
George Washington Julian (May 5, 1817 – July 7, 1899) was a politician, lawyer, and writer from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives during the 19th century. A leading opponent of slavery, Julian was the Free Soi ...
, William Hayden English
William Hayden English (August 27, 1822 – February 7, 1896) was an American politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1853 to 1861 and was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in ...
, and John W. Kern.[
* Indiana Governors ]Noah Noble
Noah Noble (January 15, 1794 – February 8, 1844) was the fifth governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1831 to 1837. His two terms focused largely on internal improvements, culminating in the passage of the Mammoth Internal Improvemen ...
, David Wallace, James Whitcomb
James Whitcomb (December 1, 1795 – October 4, 1852) was a Democratic United States senator and the eighth governor of Indiana. As governor during the Mexican–American War, he oversaw the formation and deployment of the state's levies. He l ...
, Abram A. Hammond, Oliver P. Morton
Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton (August 4, 1823 – November 1, 1877), commonly known as Oliver P. Morton, was a U.S. Republican Party politician from Indiana. He served as the 14th governor (the first native-born) of Indiana during the Amer ...
, Thomas A. Hendricks, Albert G. Porter
Albert Gallatin Porter (April 20, 1824 – May 3, 1897) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Indiana from 1881 to 1885 and as a United States Congressman from 1859 to 1863. Originally a Democrat, he joined the Republica ...
, Ira Joy Chase
Ira Joy Chase (December 7, 1834May 11, 1895) was a veteran of the American Civil War, a leading member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a prominent Church of Christ evangelist, and the 22nd governor of Indiana between November 23, 1891, and ...
, Winfield T. Durbin, Thomas R. Marshall, and Robert D. Orr.[
* ]United States Senators
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Oliver H. Smith, Thomas A. Hendricks, Benjamin Harrison, Charles W. Fairbanks, Albert J. Beveridge
Albert Jeremiah Beveridge (October 6, 1862 – April 27, 1927) was an American historian and US senator from Indiana. He was an intellectual leader of the Progressive Era and a biographer of Chief Justice John Marshall and President Abraham Linco ...
, John W. Kern, Joseph E. McDonald, Thomas Taggart
Thomas Taggart (November 17, 1856March 6, 1929) was an Irish-American politician who was the political boss of the Democratic Party in Indiana for the first quarter of the twentieth century and remained an influential political figure in loca ...
, David Turpie
David Battle Turpie (July 8, 1828 – April 21, 1909) was an American politician who served as a Senator from Indiana from 1887 until 1899; he also served as Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus from 1898 to 1899 during the last year of his ...
, Homer E. Capehart
Homer Earl Capehart (June 6, 1897 – September 3, 1979) was an American businessman and politician from Indiana. After serving in the United States Army during World War I, he became involved in the manufacture of record players and other produc ...
, Robert Hanna
Robert Hanna Jr. (April 6, 1786November 16, 1858) is best known as one of the forty-three delegates to the 1816 Indiana Constitutional Convention and Indiana's third U.S. Senator after it achieved statehood in 1816. A native of Laurens Distric ...
, and Harry S. New
Harry Stewart New (December 31, 1858 – May 9, 1937) was a U.S. politician, journalist, and Spanish–American War veteran. He served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, a United States senator from Indiana, and United States P ...
.[
* ]U.S. Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
George W. Julian
George Washington Julian (May 5, 1817 – July 7, 1899) was a politician, lawyer, and writer from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives during the 19th century. A leading opponent of slavery, Julian was the Free Soi ...
, General Ebenezer Dumont
Ebenezer Dumont (November 23, 1814 – April 16, 1871) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana, serving two terms from 1863 to 1867. Prior to his service in Congress, he was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Early life ...
, Albert Porter, John H. Farquhar
John Hanson Farquhar (December 20, 1818 – October 1, 1873) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1865 to 1867.
Early years
Born in Union ...
, Ralph Hill, Franklin Landers, Samuel M. Moores, William E. Niblack, and Julia Carson
Julia May Carson (née Porter; July 8, 1938 – December 15, 2007) was a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1997 until her death in 2007 (numbered as the 10th District from 1997 to 2003). .[
* ]Mayors of Indianapolis
The Mayor of Indianapolis is the head of the executive branch of the consolidated city-county government of Indianapolis and Marion County. As the chief executive, the mayor has the duty to oversee city-county government's various departments, ...
including Caleb Scudder, James McCready, Henry F. West, Samuel D. Maxwell, John Caven, Daniel W. Grubbs
Daniel Webster Grubbs (May 19, 1835 – February 5, 1917) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician who served as the 13th mayor of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Born in Henry County, Indiana, Grubbs moved to Indianapolis in 1857 to ...
, Caleb S. Denny, Thomas L. Sullivan, Thomas Taggart
Thomas Taggart (November 17, 1856March 6, 1929) was an Irish-American politician who was the political boss of the Democratic Party in Indiana for the first quarter of the twentieth century and remained an influential political figure in loca ...
, Charles A. Bookwalter, John W. Holtzman, Samuel L. Shank, Joseph E. Bell, Charles W. Jewett, John L. Duvall, Claude E. Negley, Reginald H. Sullivan
Reginald H. Sullivan (March 10, 1876 – January 30, 1980) was the 30th and 33rd mayor of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is among the longest-lived Americans to ever be a mayor of any city. He came from a political family with his fathe ...
, Walter C. Boetcher, Robert Tyndall
Robert Henry Tyndall (2 May 1877 – 9 July 1947) was a United States artillery officer in World War I, a major general, and mayor of Indianapolis during World War II.
Early career
Robert Tyndall was born in Indianapolis, the son of William Ed ...
, George L. Denny, and Christian J. Emhardt.[Sanford, p. 14.]
* Allen M. Fletcher, Governor of Vermont
The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...
* Addison C. Harris, U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (ambassador) to Austria-Hungary.[
* ]Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
, 23rd president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
, along with his first wife, Caroline Harrison
Caroline Lavinia Harrison (; October 10, 1832 – October 25, 1892) was an American music teacher and the first lady of the United States from 1889 until her death. She was married to President Benjamin Harrison, and she was the second first la ...
; his second wife, Mary Dimmick Harrison
Mary Dimmick Harrison ( Mary Scott Lord; April 30, 1858 – January 5, 1948) was the second wife of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States. She was nearly 25 years younger than Harrison, and was the niece of his first wif ...
; his son Russell Benjamin Harrison; and his daughter Mary Harrison McKee
Mary Scott McKee ( Harrison; April 3, 1858 – October 28, 1930) was the only daughter of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, and his wife Caroline Scott Harrison
outside of her infant sister who died shortly after birt ...
.
* William Henry Harrison Miller
William Henry Harrison Miller (September 6, 1840 – May 25, 1917) was an American lawyer and Attorney General of the United States.
Early life, education, and military service
Born in Augusta, New York, one of the ten children born to Curtis ...
, U.S. Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
.[
* William D. McCoy, ]United States Ambassador to Liberia
This is a record of ambassadors of the United States to Liberia.
Liberia, as a nation, had its beginnings in 1821 when groups of free blacks from the United States emigrated from the U.S. and began establishing colonies on the coast under the d ...
[Sandford, p. 9]
* Meredith Nicholson
Meredith Nicholson (December 9, 1866 – December 21, 1947) was a best-selling author from Indiana, United States, a politician, and a diplomat.
Biography
Nicholson was born on December 9, 1866, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, to Edward Willis Nic ...
, author and U.S. Minister to Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
, Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, and Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
[Sanford, p. 4.]
* May Wright Sewall
May Wright Sewall (May 27, 1844 – July 22, 1920) was an American reformer, who was known for her service to the causes of education, women's rights, and world peace. She was born in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Sewall served as cha ...
, women's rights advocate.
* William S. Taylor, Governor of Kentucky
The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-el ...
* William F. Turner, first Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.
* Henry Lane Wilson
Henry Lane Wilson (November 3, 1857 – December 22, 1932) was an American attorney who was appointed by President William Howard Taft to the post of United States Ambassador to Mexico in 1910. He brought together opponents of Mexico's democra ...
, Ambassador to Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and U.S. Minister to Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and to Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
.[
* ]Zerelda G. Wallace
Zerelda Gray Sanders Wallace (August 6, 1817 – March 19, 1901) was the First Lady of Indiana from 1837 to 1840, and a Temperance movement#United States, temperance activist, Women's suffrage in the United States, women's suffrage leader, and ...
, temperance advocate and suffragette, second wife of governor and congressman David Wallace, Lew Wallace
Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is ...
's stepmother, and sister-in-law of James Gatling.
* Christopher T. Gonzalez
Christopher T. Gonzalez, also known as Chris Gonzalez, was an activist who succumbed to AIDS on May 5, 1994, in Indianapolis. He left a legacy for gay and lesbian youth in and around the Indianapolis area that continues through the non-profit ...
, LGBT and AIDs activist, along with his life partner Jeff Werner.
Military figures
* American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
generals for the Union army: Thomas Armstrong Morris, Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (November 9, 1817 – April 11, 1873) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War.
In 1861–1862, Canby commanded the Department of New Mexico, defeating the Confederate Gen ...
, Jefferson C. Davis
Jefferson Columbus Davis (March 2, 1828 – November 30, 1879) was a regular officer of the United States Army during the American Civil War, known for the similarity of his name to that of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and for his kil ...
, Abel Streight, George Francis McGinnis, John Parker Hawkins
John Parker Hawkins (September 29, 1830 – February 7, 1914) was a career officer of the United States Army who served as brigadier general during the American Civil War, in which he served as a commissary officer and as a commander of colored tro ...
, Robert Sanford Foster, John Coburn, Frederick Knefler
Frederick Knefler (April 12, 1833 – June 14, 1901) served in the Union Army in the U.S. Civil War, joining as a first lieutenant in May 1861. He served as a staff officer and as colonel of the 79th Indiana Infantry Regiment and an acting brigad ...
, and George Henry Chapman.
* The remains of 1,616 Confederate soldiers who died during their confinement at Camp Morton, a Union prison camp in Indianapolis. Their remains were transferred to Crown Hill in 1931.
* Two British Commonwealth service personnel are buried in this cemetery, one from each World War: Captain Joseph Hammond of the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, killed in 1918, and Warrant Officer Thomas Taggart Young, Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
, who died in 1942.
* Charles W. Brouse, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient
* James H. Kasler
Colonel James Helms Kasler (May 2, 1926 – April 24, 2014) was a senior officer in the United States Air Force and the only person to be awarded the Air Force Cross three times.Frisbee, John L.(1986). ''AIR FORCE Magazine'', November 1986, Vol. ...
, Korean and Vietnam War fighter pilot and POW; only recipient of three Air Force Crosses
* John Swanson Congressional Medal of Honor recipient
* Roscoe Turner
Roscoe Turner (September 29, 1895 – June 23, 1970) was a record-breaking American aviator who was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and widely recognized by his flamboyant style and his pet, Gilmore the Lion.
Early life ...
, aviator, winner of a Distinguished Flying Cross, and transcontinental speed recordholder.
Sports figures
* James A. Allison, Frank Wheeler, Arthur Newby, and Carl Fisher Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
, founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...
.
* Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
winners Floyd Davis, Louis Schneider
Louis Frank Schneider (December 19, 1901 – September 22, 1942) was an American racecar driver. He won the 1931 Indianapolis 500.
Biography
"Louie" Schneider was born in Indianapolis on December 19, 1901. He graduated from School No. 49, an ...
, Howdy Wilcox
Howard Samuel Wilcox (June 24, 1889 – September 4, 1923) was an American racecar driver active in the formative years of auto racing.
Biography
He was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana on June 24, 1889.
Wilcox won the 1919 Indianapolis 500 ...
, and Jim Hurtubise
James Hurtubise (December 5, 1932 – January 6, 1989) was an American race car driver who raced in USAC Champ Cars (including the Indianapolis 500), as well as sprint cars and stock cars (USAC and NASCAR). He was from the Buffalo suburb of No ...
* Erwin "Cannon Ball" Baker, record setting motorcycle racer.[
* William L. "Bill" Garrett, the first African American to play in the ]Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
.
* Robert Irsay
Robert Irsay (March 5, 1923 – January 14, 1997) was an American professional football team owner. He owned the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise from 1972 until his death in 1997.
Early life and education
Irsay ...
, former owner of the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
.
* Frank McKinney
Frank Edward McKinney Jr. (November 3, 1938 – September 11, 1992) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. He later became a prominent executive in the American banking industry, but died in a mi ...
, Olympic gold medalist in swimming, later president of Bank One
Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, ...
of Indiana and civic booster.
* Toad Ramsey
Thomas H. "Toad" Ramsey (August 8, 1864 – March 27, 1906) was an American Major League Baseball player who pitched in the majors from to . Ramsey spent his entire career in the American Association, split between two different teams. H ...
, Major League Baseball player from 1885 through 1890.
* Stacey Toran, Football defensive back for the Los Angeles Raiders
The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...
.
* John Woodruff, Olympic gold medalist in track, 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
Founders and inventors
* Lyman S. Ayres
Lyman Skinner Ayres I (September 4, 1824 – May 7, 1896) was the founder of L. S. Ayres and Company, a regional department store chain whose flagship store and headquarters were located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The L. S. Ayres and Company na ...
, founder of L. S. Ayres department stores.
* Charles H. Black[
* ]Ovid Butler
Ovid Butler (February 7, 1801 – July 12, 1881) was an American attorney, newspaper publisher, abolitionist, and university founder from the state of Indiana. Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, is named after him.
Personal life
Butler ...
, founder of Butler University
Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...
.
* August Duesenberg
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
and Frederick S. Duesenberg, automotive industrialists[
* Frank P. Fox, Indianapolis 500 driver and owner of the Pope Motor Car Company][
* ]Howard Garns
Howard Garns (March 2, 1905 – October 6, 1989) was an American architect who gained fame only after his death as the creator of Number Place, the number puzzle that became a worldwide phenomenon under the name Sudoku.Zivan, David, ''Indianapol ...
, inventor of Sudoku
Sudoku (; ja, 数独, sūdoku, digit-single; originally called Number Place) is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row ...
* Richard Jordan Gatling
Richard Jordan Gatling (September 12, 1818 – February 26, 1903) was an American inventor best known for his invention of the Gatling gun, which is considered to be the first successful machine gun.
Life
Gatling was born in Hertford County, Nort ...
, American inventor, best known for his invention of the Gatling gun.[
* ]John F. Geisse
John Francis Geisse (September 1, 1920 – February 21, 1992) was an American businessman. He founded three successful retail chains: Target Discount Stores, Venture Stores, and The Wholesale Club (which merged in 1991 with Sam's Club).
Early ...
, founder of Target Stores
Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...
, Venture Stores
Venture Stores, Inc. was a chain of retail stores aimed at the discount department-store market. John Geisse, formerly of Target Stores, and May Department Stores' executive vice president, Dave Babcock, founded the chain in 1968. Venture Store ...
, and The Wholesale Club.
* Colonel Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was an American soldier, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and r ...
, founder of Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by, and named after, Colonel ...
,[ and several of his descendants, including ]Josiah K. Lilly Sr.
Josiah Kirby Lilly Sr. (November 18, 1861 – February 8, 1948), nicknamed "J. K.," was an American businessman, pharmaceutical industrialist, and philanthropist who became president and chairman of the board of Eli Lilly and Company, the pharm ...
, Josiah K. Lilly Jr., Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was an American soldier, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and r ...
, and Ruth Lilly
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Ar ...
.
* Daniel Marmon, Early Indianapolis-based automotive manufacturers and a principal of Nordyke Marmon and Company
* Thomas A. Morris, Indiana railroad executive and civil engineer
* David M. Parry
David MacLean Parry (26 March 1852—12 May 1915) was an American industrialist and writer.
Biography
David MacLean Parry was born on a farm near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He worked briefly as a clerk, a traveling salesman, a reporter on ''The Ne ...
, founder of the Parry Auto Company
The Parry (1910) and New Parry (1911–1912) were both Brass Era cars built in Indianapolis, Indiana by the Parry Auto Company. During that time, they produced 3500 vehicles. Two cars are known to exist. A Model 40 from 1910 and a Model 41 fro ...
[
* Hiram P. Wasson, founder of H. P. Wasson and Company department stores][Sanford, p. 14.]
Arts and media
* James Baskett
James Franklin Baskett (February 16, 1904 – July 9, 1948) was an American actor who portrayed Uncle Remus, singing the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" in the 1946 Disney feature film ''Song of the South''.
In recognition of his portrayal of Remus, he ...
, the first African American man to win an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
and best known for his role as Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, a ...
in Disney's '' Song of the South'' (1946).[
* Sarah T. Bolton, poet.
* ]Jacob Cox
Jacob Cox (November 9, 1810 – January 2, 1892) was an American landscape and portrait painter in Indianapolis, Indiana. Several of his paintings are in the Morris-Butler House. He is also known for his paintings of Indiana Governors James B. ...
, portrait and landscape painter.[
* ]Cecil Duane Crabb
Cecil Duane Crabb (May 23, 1890 – April 27, 1953) was an American composer of ragtime music and a member of Indianapolis group of ragtime composers.
He was born in Centerville, Indiana to James and Sarah E. Crabb. He moved to Indianapolis ...
, ragtime composer.[Wissing, p. 158.]
* William Forsyth, Hoosier Group
The Hoosier Group was a group of Indiana Impressionist painters working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Artists considered members of the Group include T. C. Steele, Richard Gruelle, William Forsyth, J. Ottis Adams, and Otto Stark. To ...
artist
* Richard Gruelle
Richard Buckner Gruelle (February 22, 1851 – November 8, 1914) was an American Impressionist painter, illustrator, and author, who is best known as one of the five Hoosier Group artists. Gruelle's masterwork is ''The Canal—Morning Effect'' ( ...
, Hoosier Group artist
* John Wesley Hardrick
John Wesley Hardrick (September 21, 1891 – October 18, 1968) was an American artist. He painted landscapes, still lifes and portraits.
Early life and family origins
Hardrick's grandfather, Shephard Hardrick, was a land-owning farmer in Kentuck ...
, artist
* Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard, cartoonist and humorist.[
* ]Etheridge Knight
Etheridge Knight (April 19, 1931 – March 10, 1991) was an African-American poet who made his name in 1968 with his debut volume, '' Poems from Prison''. The book recalls in verse his eight-year-long sentence after his arrest for robbery in 1960. ...
, poet.
* James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...
, poet, best known for his poem "Little Orphant Annie
"Little Orphant Annie" is an 1885 poem written by James Whitcomb Riley and published by the Bowen-Merrill Company. First titled "The Elf Child", the name was changed by Riley to "Little Orphant Allie" at its third printing; however, a typesetti ...
"
* Otto Stark
Otto Stark (January 29, 1859 – April 14, 1926) was an American Impressionist painter muralist, commercial artist, printmaker, and illustrator from Indianapolis, Indiana,
who is best known as one of the five Hoosier Group artists. Stark's work ...
, Hoosier Group artist
* Booth Tarkington
Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels '' The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and '' Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitz ...
, author[ and winner of two ]Pulitzer Prizes
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made hi ...
Other
* Francis Costigan
Francis Costigan (March 4, 1810 – April 18, 1865) was an Indiana architect known primarily for his work in Madison, Indiana and Indianapolis. He worked primarily in the Greek Revival style.
Life and work
Born in 1810 in Washington, D.C., Costig ...
, pioneer Indiana architect
* John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times an ...
, notorious bank robber in the 1930s.
* G. T. Haywood, First Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World
The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. (P.A.W.) is one of the world's largest Oneness Pentecostal denominations, and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. While it began in 1906 with Trinitarian beliefs, it was re-organized in 1916 as ...
.
* Alexander Ralston
Alexander Ralston (1771 – January 5, 1827) was a Scottish surveyor who was one of two co-architects for the design of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He also helped to design Washington, D.C.
Life
Alexander Ralston was born in Scotlan ...
, surveyor who designed the original plan of Indianapolis in 1821.[Sanford, p. 23.]
Fictional interment
In the book ''The Fault in Our Stars
''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'', in which the noble ...
'', as well as the movie adaptation of the same name, the love interest Augustus Waters is buried at Crown Hill in a gravesite facing 38th Street.
Gallery
File:Benjamin Harrison grave 2.JPG, Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
's grave
File:Crown Hill Confederates.JPG, Graves of Confederate prisoners of war who died at Camp Morton
File:Indy Skyline Riley.JPG, Skyline of Indianapolis from Riley's grave
File:James Whitecomb Riley grave closeup.JPG, Closeup of James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...
's grave
File:John Dillinger grave Crown Hill.jpg, John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times an ...
's grave
File:Oliver Morton grave.JPG, Oliver P. Morton
Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton (August 4, 1823 – November 1, 1877), commonly known as Oliver P. Morton, was a U.S. Republican Party politician from Indiana. He served as the 14th governor (the first native-born) of Indiana during the Amer ...
's grave
File:MarshallGrave.jpg, Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas Riley Marshall (March 14, 1854 – June 1, 1925) was an American politician who served as the 28th vice president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson. A prominent lawyer in Indiana, he became an acti ...
's grave
File:Waiting Station at Crown Hill Cemetery.jpg, alt=, Waiting Station at Crown Hill Cemetery.jpg - April 2016
See also
* List of cemeteries in the United States
This is a list of cemeteries in the United States. The list includes both active and historic sites, and does not include pet cemeteries. At the end of the list by states, cemeteries in territories of the United States are included. The list is ...
* List of attractions and events in Indianapolis
The following is a list of important sites of interest and annual events in and around the city of Indianapolis.
__NOTOC__
A
* Athenæum (Das Deutsche Haus)
B
* Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre
* Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site
* Benton House ...
Notes
References
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External links
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Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
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* Historic American Landscapes Survey documentation:
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Cemeteries in Indiana
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana
Historic American Landscapes Survey in Indiana
National Register of Historic Places in Indianapolis
Geography of Indianapolis
Protected areas of Marion County, Indiana
Tourist attractions in Indianapolis
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana
Rural cemeteries
Tombs of presidents of the United States