West Laurel Hill Cemetery
West Laurel Hill Cemetery | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
U.S. Historic district | |
 West Laurel Hill Cemetery | |
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| Location | 227 Belmont Ave., Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, US |
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| Coordinates | 40°0′53″N 75°13′23″W / 40.01472°N 75.22306°WCoordinates: 40°0′53″N 75°13′23″W / 40.01472°N 75.22306°W |
| Built | 1869 |
| Architect | Trumbauer, Horace; Cope & Stewardson |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival, Beaux Arts, Gothic |
| NRHP reference No. | 92000991[1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 14, 1992 |
West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1869 and is the site of many notable burials. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 (#92000991).[2] West Laurel Hill was designed as a rural cemetery and is a "sister" institution to the Laurel Hill Cemetery nearby in Philadelphia.
Technology[]
West Laurel Hill was the first cemetery to ever map its entire grounds on a smart phone device, enabling visitors to search and navigate to grave locations, and "access photos, video, text and other information."[3] Visitors can also use the app to navigate through tours of the cemetery and visit the grave sites of interesting and famous persons.
Jewish Sections and Services[]
The cemetery opened a designated Jewish section called Chesed Shel Emet in 2011.[4] It is building another Jewish section, Makom Shalom, which is slated to debut in 2022.[5] Its funeral home offers services consistent with Jewish burial and mourning traditions.[5]
Notable burials[]
- Timothee Adamowski (1858–1943), composer, violinist and first conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra
- Green Adams (1812–1884), represented Kentucky's 6th congressional district from 1847 to 1849 and from 1859 to 1861.[6]
- David Hayes Agnew (1818–1892), noted surgeon. Attended President James Garfield's gunshot wound.
- Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898–1989), first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States.[7]
- Samuel Howell Ashbridge (1848–1906), "Stars and Stripes Sam," Philadelphia mayor 1899–1903.
- Hobey Baker (1892–1918), namesake of U.S. college hockey's outstanding player award and only member of both the College Football and Hockey Halls of Fame.
- Cecilia Beaux (1855–1942), painter
- Frank Bettger (1888–1981), Major League baseball infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Richard Binder (1839–1912) US Marine Corps sergeant on the USS Ticonderoga during the Civil War and recipient of the Medal of Honor.[8]
- Jervis Burdick, (1869–1962), track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.
- Edward Bushnell (1876–1951), distance runner in 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, founder and editor of Franklin Field Illustrated.
- Alexander Milne Calder (1846–1923), famed sculptor of all statues on and in Philadelphia City Hall, including William Penn on top of the north tower
- Alexander Stirling Calder (1870–1945), sculptor, son of Alexander Milne Calder, known for Swann Fountain on Logan Circle
- Charlotte Wardle Cardeza (née Drake) (1854–1939), wealthy socialite and survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking.[9]
- Caroline G. Boughton (1854–1905), educator and philanthropist.
- Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973), biographer.
- Benjamin Markley Boyer (1823–1887), represented Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district from 1865 to 1869.[10]
- Anna Robeson Brown (1873–1941), prolific author of fiction and nonfiction, daughter of Henry Armitt Brown
- Edward G. Budd (1870–1946), founder of the Budd Company.
- Alan Calvert (1875–1944), weightlifter, bodybuilder, founder Milo Bar-bell Company
- William Clothier (1881–1962), Men's Singles Winner, 1906 U.S. National Championships (tennis)
- Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis (1850–1933), founder of the Curtis Publishing Company, publisher of the Ladies' Home Journal and the Saturday Evening Post.
- Loren Eiseley (1907–1977), anthropologist.
Cemetery in the Fall
Sphinx on the Drake tomb
- Otto Eisenlohr (1852–1914), cigar manufacturer (see Eisenlohr–Bayuk Tobacco Historic District)
- Frank H. Fleer (1857–1921), inventor of bubble gum and pioneer of the baseball card
- Dave Garroway (1913–1982) American television personality, founding host and anchor of NBC's "Today" from 1952 to 1961
- Jacob Augustus Geissenhainer (1839–1917), represented New Jersey's 3rd congressional district from 1889 to 1895.[11]
- Nelson Z. Graves (1849–1930), businessman
- Nelson Z. Graves Jr. (1880–1918), cricket player
- Robert Cooper Grier (1794–1870) Associate Justice of The United States Supreme Court (1846–1870).
- Alfred C. Harmer (1825–1900), represented Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district from 1871 to 1875, and from 1877 until his death in 1900.[12]
- Herman Haupt (1817–1905), Union Army General and engineer.
- Constantine Hering (1800–1880), early pioneer of homeopathy in the United States
- Edie Huggins (1935–2008), long-time television personality in Philadelphia
- Chevalier Jackson (1865–1958), famed physician, teacher, and "father of endoscopy"
- Anna Jarvis (1864–1948), originator of Mother's Day who then spent most of her life fighting its commercialization.
- Eldridge R. Johnson (1867–1945), Founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company.
- John Ernst Worrell Keely (1837–1898), fraudulent inventor who claimed to have discovered a new mode of power.
- Martha Kimball (1839–1894), philanthropist associated with founding of Memorial Day
- Irena Koprowska (1917–2012), cytopathology pioneer, co-developer of the Pap smear
- Hilary Koprowski (1916–2013), virology expert, developer of first oral polio vaccine, developer of first H.D.C.V. rabies vaccine
- William J. Kirkpatrick (1838–1921), musician
- John Lawrence LeConte (1825–1883), 19th century American naturalist and entomologist after whom two birds are named.
- Donald Lippincott, (1893–1962), world class sprinter, medal winner at 1912 Summer Olympics
- Hy Lit (Hyman Aaron Lit) (1934–2007), legendary Philadelphia radio & TV broadcaster.
- William H. Luden (1859–1949), developer of the menthol throat lozenge
- Harry Lyons (1866–1912), professional baseball player
- Frank M. Mayo (1839–1896) famed 19th century stage actor
- Katharine Elizabeth McBride (1904–1976) neuropsychology researcher, President Bryn Mawr College from 1942 to 1970
- Robert M. McBride (1879–1970) publisher and defendant in the obscenity prosecution of novelist James Branch Cabell
- Samuel K. McConnell Jr. (1901–1985), represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives from 1944 to 1957.[13]
- Wedgwood Nowell (1878–1957) American stage and film actor
- Charles O'Neill (1821–1893), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district, Pennsylvania State Representative, Pennsylvania State Senator
- Daniel Pabst (1826–1910), cabinetmaker
- Billy Paul (1934–2016), born Paul Williams, singer Me and Mrs. Jones
- Teddy Pendergrass (1950–2010), soul and R&B singer
Figure on Soulas tomb
- Al Reach (1840–1928), professional baseball player, sporting good manufacturer; his name was on American League baseballs until 1976
- John Reilly (1836–1904), represented Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district from 1875 to 1877.[14]
- Lawson Robertson, (1883–1951), medal winner at 1904 Summer Olympics, renowned track and field coach
- Jack Rose (1971–2009), American musician noted for his exploration of experimental and traditional acoustic guitar styles.[15]
- Dennis Sandole (1913–2000), jazz guitarist, composer and music educator
- William I. Schaffer (1867–1953), Pennsylvania State Supreme Court Justice
- Coleman Sellers II (1827–1907), prominent engineer and inventor.[16]
- Ben Shibe (1838–1922), sportsman, sporting goods salesman, namesake of Shibe Park at 21st & Lehigh
- Rachel H. Shoemaker (1838–1915), founder of the National School of Elocution and Oratory in Philadelphia.[17]
- Matthew Simpson (1811–1884), a notable Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
- David Smyrl (1935–2016), actor and writer, known for his role of Mr. Handford (Hooper's Store) on Sesame Street[18]
- Alice Barber Stephens (1858–1932), engraver and magazine illustrator, home and studio at Thunderbird Lodge in utopian community of Rose Valley, Pennsylvania
- John Batterson Stetson (1830–1906), American hat manufacturer and founder of the John B. Stetson Company; namesake of Stetson University in Florida.[19]
- Edwin Sydney Stuart (1853–1937), Mayor of Philadelphia from 1891 to 1895 and Governor of Pennsylvania from 1907 to 1911.[20]
- Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915), golfer at 1900 Summer Olympics, mechanical and industrial engineer, management consultant, and "father of scientific management".
Entrance to the Widener tomb
- Dorothy Burr Thompson (1900–2001), aka "DBT," classical archaeologist and art historian at Bryn Mawr College
- Joseph Earlston Thropp (1847–1927), member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.[21]
- Horace Trumbauer (1868–1938), prominent Philadelphia architect of the Gilded Age
- Ellwood J. Turner (1886–1948), Pennsylvania State Representative for Delaware County (1925–1948), Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1939–1941)
- Flora M. Vare (1874–1962), Pennsylvania State Senator from 1925 to 1928
- William Scott Vare (1867–1934), U.S. Senator-elect, U.S. Congressman, Pennsylvania State Senator, Republican political boss and construction contractor
- William Wagner (1796–1885), founder of the Wagner Free Institute of Science
- Charles F. Warwick, (1852–1913) mayor of Philadelphia.
- Grover Washington Jr. (1943–1999), musician
- George Austin Welsh (1878–1970), represented Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district from 1923 to 1932.[22]
- Elwood N. Williams (1842–1921), soldier during the Civil War and recipient of the Medal of Honor.
- Harry Wright (1835–1895), pioneer of professional baseball, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
References[]
Figure on the doorway of the Spink tomb
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ PENNSYLVANIA - Montgomery County, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ Flying Kite Philadelphia News, West Laurel Hill News. Accessed July 21, 2011.
- ^ "West Laurel Hill Cemetery to Open New Jewish Section". West Laurel Hill Cemetery. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Jewish Services". West Laurel Hill Cemetery. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ^ Green Adams, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ "Sadie T. M. Alexander". Washington Post. November 5, 1989
- ^ Richard Binder, Home of Heroes. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ Charlotte Wardle Cardeza:Titanic Survivor Accessed February 14, 2017.
- ^ Benjamin Markley Boyer, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ Jacob Augustus Geissenhainer, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ Alfred Crout Harmer, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ Samuel Kerns McConnell, Jr., Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ John Reilly, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ Condolences for Jack P. Rose, West Laurel Hill Cemetery. Accessed December 15, 2009.
- ^ History for Coleman Sellers, West Laurel Hill Cemetery. Accessed December 14, 2009.
- ^ Willard, Frances Elizabeth, 1839–1898; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice, 1820–1905 (1893). A woman of the century; fourteen hundred-seventy biographical sketches accompanied by portraits of leading American women in all walks of life. Buffalo, N.Y., Moulton. p. 655. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Cook, Bonnie L. (2016-03-26). "David L. Smyrl, Mr. Handford on 'Sesame Street'". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
- ^ Tradition, Heritage, and Character at Stetson University, Stetson University. Accessed March 17, 2009.
- ^ Edwin Sydney Stuart, The Political Graveyard. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ Joseph Earlston Thropp, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
- ^ George Austin Welsh, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 29, 2007.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the External links[]
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Categories:
- Cemeteries in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
- Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
- Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania
- 1869 establishments in Pennsylvania
- Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
- National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
- Rural cemeteries