Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a rural nonprofit cemetery and arboretum located in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, and is recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Every year, Spring Grove welcomes tens of thousands of visitors to what is sometimes called a "museum without walls". Some visitors come to visit the gravesites, others to participate in a tour or event, and still others to enjoy the peaceful natural surroundings.
Since its opening in 1845, Spring Grove has become one of the world's most beautiful cemeteries.[1] The grounds include 750 acres, of which about 450 acres are developed. There are 45 miles of paved roads that curve among the hills and breathtaking mausoleums.
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History of Spring Grove Cemetery
In the 1830s and 1840s, Ohio residents experienced a cholera epidemic. Many deaths followed and the small church graveyards in the area became overcrowded and unkempt.
So in 1844, members of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society formed a cemetery association in response to community concerns. They traveled throughout the United States and Europe visiting beautiful cemeteries in hopes that they could create one in Ohio that would rival the famed Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
The Cincinnati Horticultural Society also tried to find land that would be suitable for creating a park-like environment, close to the city but remote enough that it would not be disturbed by urban expansion. In 1844, they purchased land for Spring Grove Cemetery and the first interment was made in September of 1845.
In 1987, Spring Grove Cemetery officially changed its name to "Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum" as native and exotic plants were added to the property. The cemetery boasted "State and National Champion Trees" and a "Centenarian Collection" of 100-year-old trees.
A rural cemetery
In 2007, Spring Grove Cemetery joined three other cemeteries — Laurel Hill Cemetery in Pennsylvania, Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts, and Green‐Wood Cemetery in New York — as one of America's “rural cemeteries” designated as National Historic Landmarks. These cemeteries all share essential landscape characteristics, such as:
- architectural tombstones, monuments, vaults, mausoleums
- artistic sculptures
- curving roads and pathways that follow topographic contours
- vegetation, including both exotic and indigenous trees (many identified as state champions for size and age)
- abundant and diverse shrubbery and plants
- lakes and ponds
- sweeping lawns
A National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmarks are "buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects that have been determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be nationally significant in American history and culture." [2] Cemeteries do not typically qualify to be National Historic Landmarks. However, a cemetery may qualify if it “derives its primary national significance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, or from an exceptionally distinctive design or an exceptionally significant event.” [2]
Even though many notable people are buried at Spring Grove Cemetery, the recognition as a National Historic Landmark is attributed to its "distinctive design and the profound influence this had on future cemetery design and management, social attitudes toward death and cemetery usage, funerary architecture, and urban park design and planning."[2]
Spring Grove's Lawn Plan
One of the things that Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is famous for is its lawn plan. In 1845, the designer of Laurel Hill Cemetery, John Notman, drew up plans for Spring Grove to be developed as a rural cemetery. The plans were carried out by Howard Daniels. But over the next ten years, the cemetery grounds began to veer away from its original intent, due to an accumulation of excessive clutter placed by individual plot owners.[2]
In 1855, Austrian-born landscape gardener Adolph Strauch was chosen to be the superintendent of Spring Grove Cemetery. He established guidelines for the placement, size, and style of gravestones and mausoleums. He oversaw the planting schemes, grading of the land, and building construction. Stroud even had rules about gaudy grave markers, headstones, embellishments, plants, and iron fences in privately-held family plots. He put limits on sightseers. He banned dogs, food, firearms, and unattended children.
Strauch's lawn plan was unusual for its time but eventually his guidelines became a model for other cemeteries. He brought in hundreds of trees and plants from around the world. He built ponds, lakes with islands, and streams. He re-routed walking paths and roads so that they would follow the natural shapes of Spring Grove Cemetery's hills and valleys. Strauch's policies met with some resistance at first, but the community gradually accepted his ideas. The result was an amazing success. Spring Grove attracts thousands of visitors annually and has set a pattern for subsequent cemetery designs. Renown landscape architect O.C. Simonds, said, “perhaps no man in the United States since A.J. Downing’s time has done more for the correction and cultivation of public taste in landscape gardening than Adolph Strauch.” [3]
Spring Grove Arboretum Honors
Spring Grove's Arboretum is a Level III Accredited site on the Morton Arboretum Register. Spring Grove is only one of two historic cemeteries to achieve the Level III designation for arboretum standards. This is due in part to the fact that Spring Grove's Arboretum is home to more than 500 species of woody plants and thousands of varieties of trees, shrubs, annuals, and perennials.
Events at Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum
Cemeteries are typically focused on the deceased but Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum makes an effort to welcome the living with all kinds of events. Some of the events hosted by Spring Grove include:
- Edible plant identification classes
- Segway electric scooter nights for adults, once a week in the summer
- Dog Day; dogs are not typically allowed but once a year they are welcomed during "Luau Picnic with Your Pooch"
- Public Tram Tour
- Summer concert series in the Rose Garden Gazebo
- Student volunteer days
- "Grief to Peace" gatherings
- Twilight Tours and Full Moon Tours
- Shakepeare plays
- Live music and food truck events
- Weekend Walkabout Tours
- Lantern lighting and launching over the lake
- Cruise-in car show
Notable Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum
Here are some of the notable people buried at Spring Grove Cemetery:
- Major General Joseph Hooker (1814-1879), American Civil War general. Click HERE to see Major Hooker's gravestone and more photos.
- Henry Heimlich (1920 - 2016), thoracic surgeon and medical researcher credited with discovering the Heimlich maneuver for choking. Click HERE to see Henry Heimlich's gravestone.
- Bernard Henry Kroger, founded the Kroger chain of grocery stores. Click HERE to see Bernard Kroger's obelisk gravestone.
Explore more about famous cemeteries
- Documenting Cemeteries with BillionGraves, Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Cemetery Records Worldwide, BillionGraves, MyHeritage Catalog Collection
- The Seven Largest Cemeteries in the World, BillionGraves Blog
- Three Amazing Cemeteries, BillionGraves Blog
- London's Magnificent Seven Cemeteries, BillionGraves Blog
- 10 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, BillionGraves Blog
- 10 of the World's Most Beautiful Cemeteries, BillionGraves Blog
- Stories in Stone – Cemetery Research, Legacy Family Tree Webinars