Rosehill Cemetery

Rosehill Cemetery
Map
Details
Established1859; 165 years ago (1859)
Location
CountryUnited States
Size141 ha (350 acres)
No. of gravesover 100,000
WebsiteRosehill Cemetery
Find a GraveRosehill Cemetery
Rosehill Cemetery Administration Building and Entry Gate
Rosehill Cemetery Gatehouse
Rosehill Cemetery is located in Chicago metropolitan area
Rosehill Cemetery
Rosehill Cemetery is located in Illinois
Rosehill Cemetery
Rosehill Cemetery is located in the United States
Rosehill Cemetery
Location5800 N. Ravenswood Avenue,
Chicago
Coordinates41°59′13″N 87°40′45″W / 41.98694°N 87.67917°W / 41.98694; -87.67917
Built1864
ArchitectWilliam W. Boyington
NRHP reference No.75000651
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 24, 1975[1]
Designated CLOctober 16, 1980

Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is an American garden cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and at 350 acres (1.4 km2), is the largest cemetery in the City of Chicago. According to legend, the name "Rosehill" resulted from a City Clerk's error – the area was previously called "Roe's Hill", named after nearby farmer Hiram Roe. He refused to sell his land to the city until it was promised that the cemetery be named in his honor.[2] It is located in the north east section of the Lincoln Square community area.

Rosehill Cemetery Co. 1894 ad

Rosehill's Joliet-limestone entrance gate (added in 1864) was designed by William W. Boyington, the architect of the Chicago Water Tower and the Old University of Chicago, who is buried in Rosehill. The Rosehill Cemetery Administration Building and Entry Gate was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1]

Like its sister cemetery Graceland, Rosehill is the burial place of many well-known Chicagoans. The cemetery contains many monuments that are notable for their beauty and eccentricity, such as that of Lulu Fellows.[3]

The cemetery is also the final resting place of 61 victims of the Iroquois Theatre fire, in which over 600 people died.

Several graves, gravestones and monuments from the old City Cemetery, originally located in what is now Lincoln Park were relocated to Rosehill Cemetery.

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ "Revisiting Roe's Hill and Our Shoreline". edgewaterhistory.org.
  3. ^ Matt Hucke (2010). "Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum: Lulu Fellows". Graveyards.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.