The Eastside Historic Cemetery District is a historic district bounded by Elmwood Avenue, Mt. Elliott Avenue, Lafayette Street, and Waterloo Street in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. The district consists of three separate cemeteries: Mount Elliott Cemetery (Catholic, established 1841), Elmwood Cemetery (Protestant, established 1846), and the Lafayette Street Cemetery (Jewish, established 1850).
["Eastside Historic Cemetery District"](_blank)
''Detroit1701.org''. The district 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 ...
in 1982.
Mount Elliott Cemetery
Mount Elliott Cemetery is the oldest extant cemetery in the city of Detroit,
and contains .
It is located on Mount Elliott Avenue just north of Lafayette Street.
History
Detroit's Catholic community was originally heavily French in character. However, near the beginning of the 19th century, waves of immigration added other nationalities into the mix, notably Irish Catholics.
[Fern Freeman](_blank)
''Mt. Elliott Cemetery: A history, 1981''. In time, these Irish Catholics departed from the French-speaking
Ste. Anne's and established their own parish. By 1840, they decided they wanted their own cemetery. In 1841, the parish purchased of farmland
from the Leib farm for $400.
The first burial in the cemetery occurred only twelve days after its establishment when Robert Elliott, an architect, judge, and founding member of the committee that created the cemetery, was laid to rest. He had been killed in a construction accident.
The cemetery was christened "Mount Elliott" in his honor.
A second parcel of land was purchased for the cemetery in 1865, and a third in 1881; this brought the size of the cemetery to its current .
A stone gateway into the cemetery was completed the same year.
In 1869,
remains from Detroit's Ste. Anne Cemetery were moved and re-interred at Mount Elliott.
Among the remains moved was Colonel
Jean François Hamtramck
Jean-François Hamtramck (sometimes called John Francis Hamtramck) (1756–1803) was a Canadian who served as an officer in the US Army during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. In the Revolution, he participated in the ...
.
Description
Roads winding through the cemetery carry the names of religious leaders (Pope Pius Avenue, Bishop LeFevere Avenue and Place, and Bishop Borgess Avenue) or biblical themes (Calvary Avenue, Holy Cross Place, Trinity Avenue, and Resurrection Avenue).
The entrance to Mt. Elliott Cemetery is through a stone gateway designed and built by
Walter Schweikart in 1882 at a cost of $6,000.
Schweikart also built the entrance to the nearby Elmwood cemetery.
In 1872,
Fireman's Fund
Fireman's Fund Insurance Company was an insurance company based in Petaluma, California which provided personal and commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States.
The company was a principal U.S. subsidiary of Allianz, ...
bought large lots for $500 apiece in both Mt. Elliott and Elmwood Cemeteries for the purpose of burying firefighters. In 1889, the Fund erected a marker at the site for a cost of $2,965.
Gravesites
The following are some people buried in Mt. Elliott:
*
Orestes Brownson
Orestes Augustus Brownson (September 16, 1803 – April 17, 1876) was an American intellectual and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer.
Brownson was a publicist, a career which spanned his affiliation with ...
(1803–1876) Prolific Catholic writer
*
Jerome Cavanagh
Jerome Patrick Cavanagh (June 16, 1928 – November 27, 1979) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 1962 to 1970. Initially seen as another John F. Kennedy, his reputation was doomed by the 1967 riots. He w ...
(1928–1979) Mayor of Detroit
*
Francis Palms
Francis Palms (1809–1886) was the largest landholder in Michigan during the mid-1850s. He had major business interests as well and was given the nickname "Croesus" because of his wealth.
Life and career
He was born in Antwerp, Belgium December ...
(1809–1886),
Lumber baron
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
,
Rail baron
''Rail Baron'' is a railroad board game for 3 to 6 players.
''Rail Baron'' was initially published in the 1970s under the name ''Boxcars'' by the original designers R.S. Erickson and T.F. Erickson, Jr. It was soon acquired, renamed and reissued b ...
and
Real estate tycoon, in family
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 ...
Elmwood Cemetery
Elmwood Cemetery, established in 1846, is in size
["About Us"](_blank)
'' Elmwood Cemetery''. and contains over 51,000 graves.
. ''State of Michigan''. It is located on Lafayette Street, just east of Mt. Elliott Avenue. It is the oldest continuously operating, non-denominational cemetery in Michigan.
History
Elmwood Cemetery was originally planned in 1846.
[Silas Farmer](_blank)
''The History of Detroit and Michigan''. S. Farmer & Co. 1884. p. 56. The first were purchased from the George Hunt farm
''Historic Elmwood Cemetery''. using money from subscriptions in 1850.
Over the years, additional land was purchased from the Hunt Farm and the neighboring D.C. Whitwood farm to increase the grounds to the current .
A
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
chapel, designed by Albert and Octavius Jordan, was added in 1856. The limestone chapel blends into the natural ravine and landscaping.
Gordon W. Lloyd
Gordon W. Lloyd was an architect of English origin, whose work was primarily in the American Midwest. After being taught by his uncle, Ewan Christian, at the Royal Academy, Lloyd moved to Detroit in 1858. There he established himself as a popul ...
designed the Gothic-inspired gatehouse in 1870.
The 1856 chapel, which had fallen into disuse, was refurbished in the 1950s and is still used today.
The chapel was extensively restored after a late 1900s fire.
Description
Elmwood Cemetery is one of the few places in modern Detroit where the "original" rolling terrain of the area can be seen. Parent Creek (renamed "Bloody Run" after the famous
Indian battle) runs through the cemetery,
serving as a focus of the landscape.
Noted landscape designer
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
, inspired by the
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...
in Massachusetts,
contributed to the redesign of the overall cemetery plan in 1891.
The cemetery is also famous for its multiple monuments, creating a city in miniature.
These include works by noted sculptors, including the marble "Veiled Lady" by
Randolph Rogers
Randolph Rogers (July 6, 1825 in Waterloo, New York – January 15, 1892 in Rome, Italy) was an American Neoclassical sculptor. An expatriate who lived most of his life in Italy, his works ranged from popular subjects to major commissions, includ ...
, and "Flying Geese" by
Marshall Fredericks
Marshall Maynard Fredericks (January 31, 1908 – April 4, 1998) was an American sculptor known for such works as ''Fountain of Eternal Life'', ''The Spirit of Detroit'', ''Man and the Expanding Universe Fountain'', and many others.
Early life a ...
.
["Eastside Cemeteries Historic District"](_blank)
. ''City of Detroit''.
Gravesites
Twenty-nine Detroit mayors, at least six governors, eleven senators, and a dozen cabinet members are buried on the grounds.
Those interred at Elmwood include:
''Elmwood Cemetery''.
*
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...
(1782–1866) Territorial governor, Senator, and Secretary of State
*
Douglass Houghton
Douglass Houghton (September 21, 1809 – October 13, 1845) was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. It was the site of a copper boom and extensive copper mining beginnin ...
(1809–1845) Detroit mayor and explorer
*
Bernhard Stroh
Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar
*Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 1946 ...
(1822–1882) Founder of the Stroh Brewery
*
Martha Jean Steinberg Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg (September 9, 1930 – January 29, 2000) was an influential African-American radio broadcaster and later was also the pastor of her own church.
She was born Martha Jean Jones in Memphis, Tennessee. Her first radio ...
(1930–2000) Radio personality
*
Coleman Young
Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American politician who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit.
Young had emerged from the far-left ele ...
(1918–1997) Detroit's first African-American mayor
*
Jacob Merritt Howard
Jacob Merritt Howard (July 10, 1805 – April 2, 1871) was an American attorney and politician. He was most notable for his service as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan, and his political career spanned the Ameri ...
(1805–1871) U.S. Senator and writer of the 13th amendment
*
Margaret Mather
Margaret Mather (1859–1898) was a Canadian actress.
Biography
She was born in poverty in Tilbury, Ontario, as Margaret Finlayson, daughter of John Finlayson, a farmer and mechanic, and Ann Mather. She was one of the most famous Shakespearean ac ...
(1859–1898) Canadian actress
*
Henry Billings Brown
Henry Billings Brown (March 2, 1836 – September 4, 1913) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1891 to 1906.
Although a respected lawyer and U.S. District Judge before ascending to the high court, Brown ...
(1836-1913) U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice
*
Edwin C. Denby
Edwin Denby (February 18, 1870 – February 8, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician who served as Secretary of the Navy in the administrations of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge from 1921 to 1924. He also played a notable role in th ...
(1879–1929) Secretary of the Navy
*
Zina Pitcher
Zina Pitcher (April 12, 1797, in Sandy Hill, New York – April 5, 1872, in Detroit) was an American physician, politician, educator, and academic administrator. He was a president of the American Medical Association, a two-time mayor of Detroi ...
(1797–1872) Detroit mayor
Lafayette Street Cemetery
The Lafayette Street Cemetery, established by the
Temple Beth El in 1850, is Michigan's oldest Jewish cemetery.
["Champlain Street Cemetery of Temple Beth El"](_blank)
. State of Michigan. It was originally named Champlain Street Cemetery of Temple Beth El because Lafayette was formerly known as Champlain Street.
With an area of , this cemetery is by far the smallest of the three in the district;
it is located at the southeast corner of Elmwood Cemetery, on Layfayette.
History
The first burial was in 1851, and in 1854 Samuel Marcus, the first rabbi of Beth El, was buried in the cemetery.
Although use slowed in the late 1880s,
the cemetery was in active use until the 1950s and is now part of the Elmwood Cemetery grounds.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Mt. Elliott CemeteryElmwood Cemetery
{{Architecture of metropolitan Detroit
Historic districts in Detroit
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Detroit
Tourist attractions in Detroit
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan