Mount Auburn Cemetery

For other places with the same name, see Mount Auburn Cemetery (disambiguation).

Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery in June 2005
Mount Auburn Cemetery is located in Massachusetts
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery is located in the United States
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Map
Interactive map showing the location for Mount Auburn Cemetery
Location580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Coordinates42°22′16″N 71°08′41″W / 42.37111°N 71.14472°W / 42.37111; -71.14472
Built1831
ArchitectAlexander Wadsworth and Jacob Bigelow
Architectural styleExotic Revival, Other, Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.75000254[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 21, 1975
Designated NHLDMay 27, 2003

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 and set with classical monuments in a rolling landscaped terrain,[2] it marked a distinct break with Colonial-era burying grounds and church-affiliated graveyards. The appearance of this type of landscape coincides with the rising popularity of the term "cemetery," derived from the Greek for "a sleeping place," instead of graveyard. This language and outlook eclipsed the previous harsh view of death and the afterlife embodied by old graveyards and church burial plots.[3]

The 174-acre (70 ha) cemetery is important both for its historical aspects and for its role as an arboretum. It is Watertown's largest contiguous open space and extends into Cambridge to the east, adjacent to the Cambridge City Cemetery and Sand Banks Cemetery. It was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2003 for its pioneering role in 19th-century cemetery development.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nris was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bunting was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ McDannell, Colleen; Lang, Bernhard (2001). Heaven: A history (2nd ed.). New Haven, CN: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300091076. OCLC 783036782.
  4. ^ "Mount Auburn Cemetery". National Park Service. Retrieved December 22, 2020.