Mount Hope Cemetery in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

, is the second oldest garden cemetery in the United States. It was designed by architect Charles G. Bryant in 1834 and built by the

Bangor Horticultural Society Bangor may refer to: Places Australia * Bangor, New South Wales * Bangor, Tasmania Canada * Bangor, Nova Scotia * Bangor, Saskatchewan * Bangor, Prince Edward Island United Kingdom Northern Ireland * Bangor, County Down ** Bangor railway sta ...

soon after, the same year that Bangor was incorporated as a city. The cemetery was modeled after

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

(1831) in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Bangor was at that time a frontier boom-town, and much of its architecture and landscaping was modeled after that of Boston. The site has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

Purchased in July 1834, the land consisted of of Lot 27, which was set along State Street – at the time known as County Road and later the "Road to Orono" – and the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's W ...

. It did not include all of the cemetery's central hill; instead, it cut across the crest of the hill and met up with what would later be Mount Hope Avenue. The land was approximately with the longer side extending north–south along State Street. Approximately was to be set aside for horticultural activities, and the rest of the land was to be used as a cemetery. This was the preferred resting ground for Bangor's 19th- and early-20th-century elite. The cemetery includes the gravesites of

Hannibal Hamlin Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American politician and diplomat who was the 15th vice president of the United States, serving from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republi ...

, a

U.S. Vice President The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office 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. Th ...

who had also held office as Congressman, US Senator and Governor of Maine, a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

, Arthur R. Gould ten U.S. Congressmen,Including John A. Peters, Samuel F. Hersey,

George W. Ladd George Washington Ladd (September 28, 1818 – January 30, 1892) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Maine. Life history Ladd was born on September 28, 1818 to Joseph and Sarah (Hamlin) Ladd in Augusta, Main ...

, Charles Stetson, Francis Carr, Charles A. Boutelle, Harris M. Plaisted, John G. Utterback, and Samuel Thatcher two U.S. Ambassadors, four Governors of Maine, William D. Williamson, Harris M. Plaisted,

Frederick W. Plaisted Frederick William Plaisted (July 26, 1865 – March 4, 1943) was an American politician and the 48th governor of Maine. Early life Plaisted was born in Bangor, Maine, on July 26, 1865, the son of Sarah J. (Mason) Plaisted and Harris Plaisted, wh ...

, and Israel Washburn Jr. eight

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

Generals, John F. Appleton, Charles Hamlin,

Cyrus Hamlin Cyrus Hamlin (January 5, 1811 – August 8, 1900) was an American Congregational missionary, co-founder of Robert College, and the father of A. D. F. Hamlin. Biography Hamlin was born in Waterford, Maine and grew up on his family's far ...

, Daniel Chaplin, Harris M. Plaisted, Charles W. Roberts, George Varney, and Daniel White and numerous "lumber barons" and other local businessmen and politicians. Actors Richard Golden and

Ralph Sipperly Ralph Wilson Sipperly (1890–1928) was a comic and character actor who appeared in ten films (mostly silents) between 1923 and 1927. His most notable portrayal was as the barber in the Academy Award-winning film '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'' ...

are also buried there.

Representation in other media

The movie ''

Pet Sematary ''Pet Sematary'' is a 1983 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. The novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and adapted into two films: one in 1989 and another in 2019. Background In 1979, King was wr ...

'' was filmed in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Notable burials

* Franklin Muzzy (1806–1873), 32nd President of the

Maine Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the st ...

(1809–1891), 15th

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

, 26th

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

* Ellen Hamlin (1835-1925), 2nd wife of

Second Lady of the United States The second lady of the United States or second gentleman (SLOTUS or SGOTUS) is the informal title held by the spouse of the vice president of the United States, concurrent with the vice president's term of office. Coined in contrast to " first la ...

* Al Brady (1910–1937), Bank robber * Doris Pike White (1896–1987), 24th President General of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

Notes

References

External links