Oak Hill Cemetery (Pontiac, Michigan)
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The Oak Hill Cemetery is a
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
located at 216 University Drive in
Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...
. It was 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 ...
in 1989.


History

Pontiac was first settled in 1818 and 1819 by the Pontiac Company, and in 1822 the company set aside a parcel of land just east of town for use as a cemetery, church, and parsonage. In 1839 the village of Pontiac hired Captain Hervey Parke to survey the parcel and lay out a lot as a cemetery. This became the first portion of the present Oak Hill Cemetery, and the grounds were plotted for use by 1841. Over time, more land was allocated to the cemetery until it reached its present size by about the turn of the century. Various improvements were made over the years, including replacing the original cemetery office, which burned, and adding the gate and fencing. The cemetery contains the remains of six veterans of the Revolutionary War and well over 27 veterans of the
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 ...
, including General Israel B. Richardson, Michigan governor Moses Wisner, and General Joseph T. Copeland.


Description

The Oak Hill Cemetery is located on a section of high, sloping ground east of downtown Pontiac. Groves of large, old trees, primarily hardwoods, cover the grounds. The cemetery is separated by University Avenue, with 15.6 acres north of University and 7.3 acres south. In the northern section, roadways and plots are laid out in a rectangular array, while south of University the roadways are laid out in a curvilinear form. A simple, wrought iron picket fence lines the road. The cemetery office, a single story, front-gable structure of rock-face fieldstone, is located on the south side of University. Nearby is the Buckland Memorial Chapel, dating from 1898. The chapel is a sandstone structure built in an old English style. A number of mausoleums also dot the grounds.


Gallery

File:Oak Hill Cemetery Pontiac MI B.JPG File:Oak Hill Cemetery Pontiac MI C.JPG


References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Oakland County, Michigan Gothic Revival architecture in Michigan Romanesque Revival architecture in Michigan Neoclassical architecture in Michigan Buildings and structures completed in 1822