Eastern Cemetery is a 28-acre cemetery located at 641 Baxter Avenue in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, United States, abutting

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buri ...

. It contains about 16,000 graves, though documentation for about 138,000 bodies. This imbalance is due to the cemetery formerly being a site for mass

paupers' grave A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. "Potter's field" is of Biblical origin, referring to Akeldama (meaning ''field of blood'' in Aramaic), stated to have been pur ...

s and from the reuse of grave sites.

History

Originally known as The Methodist, the 28-acre Eastern Cemetery is located at 641 Baxter Avenue in

, United States, abutting

. The grounds were purchased by two Methodist Episcopal churches and used for burials by 1844. It hosted Louisville's first crematoriums. Louisville Crematories and Cemetery Corporation owned the cemetery by the late 1980s. By the mid 19th century, mass

s were used for burial in Eastern Cemetery. , the site has about 16,000 graves, and documentation for about 138,000 bodies. The pauper's graves contribute to the imbalance, but the public learned in 1989 that owners also had been reusing purchased grave sites. The property has fallen into disrepair since this news was brought to light, with neither Kentucky nor the original owners accepting ownership and financial responsibility for restorations. Louisville Crematories and Cemetery Corporation was dissolved, and its perpetual care fund lacks functional

interest In finance and economics, interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distin ...

. Maintenance is currently provided by veterans, volunteer groups like the Friends of Eastern Cemetery, and Dismas Charities.

Mismanagement

In 1989, a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

working for Louisville Crematories and Cemetery Company made the public aware that graves purchased by families had been reused. Bodies were buried atop other bodies, graves were carelessly excavated for reuse, and medical cadaver body parts from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

were buried in-mass rather than intact (as is legally required for donated bodies). Human bones were found in inappropriate areas, including in a tool box, a glove compartment, a fast food bag, and shallow graves. Some of the behavior had been practiced since the 1920s, and records indicate reuse began in 1858. Officials resigned and were charged with 60 counts of charges that included reuse of graves and abuse of corpses, but there were no legal consequences. The behavior is the subject of the 2017 documentary ''Facing East'', referring to Eastern as "the most over-buried cemetery in America".

People interred at Eastern Cemetery

* Henry Bidleman Bascom, (1796–1850), minister and former President of

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

Hercules Burnett Hercules H. Burnett (August 13, 1865 – October 4, 1936), was a Major League Baseball player who was mainly a center fielder for the Louisville Colonels. He played briefly for the Colonels in while the team was in the American Associatio ...

, (1865–1936), Baseball player * Daniel Abraham Gaddie, (1836–1911), Baptist minister * Valentine "Wall" Hatfield (1834-1890), participant in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud * Arthur Samuel "Art" Payne, (1900–1965), Bandleader, jazz musician and Gennett Records recording artist of the 1920s and 1930s *

Felton Snow Felton "Skipper" Snow (October 23, 1905 – March 16, 1974) was a Negro leagues professional baseball player who played for the Nashville Elite Giants that later became the Columbus Elite Giants, the Washington Elite Giants, and the Baltimore El ...

, (1905-1974), Negro League Baseball player, buried in an unmarked grave * William Henry Steward, (1847–1935), journalist * Bartlett Taylor, (1815–1901), African Methodist Episcopal minister *

Philip Tomppert Philip Tomppert (June 21, 1808 – October 29, 1873) was the sixteenth and eighteenth Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky in 1865 and 1867 to 1868. Early life Philip Tomppert was born on June 21, 1808, in Württemberg, Germany and immigrated to Wheelin ...

, (1808–1873), Louisville mayor

References

External links

"Louisville's Crumbling Eastern Cemetery Desperate for Attention, Care"

* ttp://www.wlky.com/news/eastern-cemetery-on-baxter-more-a-party-site-than-resting-place/35535610 "Eastern Cemetery more a party site than resting place, says group"
"Troubles continue at Louisville's Eastern Cemetery

Facing East @ IMDb

"Friends of Eastern Cemetery"
{{Coord, 38.2465, -85.7246, type:landmark_region:US-KY, display=title Cemeteries in Kentucky Buildings and structures in Louisville, Kentucky 1840s establishments in Kentucky History of Louisville, Kentucky