Bellefontaine
Bellefontaine Cemetery at 4947 W Florissant, St. Louis, is the burial ground for prominent pioneers to the West. It was founded in 1849 by a group of prominent men in the city, led by banker and former mayor William McPherson. He realized the cemeteries on Jefferson Street would have to be abandoned to allow for the city's westward growth. They purchased 138 acres (0.56 km2) of the Hempstead Farm on the former military road to Fort Bellefontaine; the cemetery was named after it. The founders hired Almerin Hotchkiss as landscape architect from Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York to design and maintain the grounds. He designed most of the roadways and landscaping, and directed cemetery operation as Superintendent for decades. Before 1900, additional purchases of land were made, to total 314 acres (1.27 km2), so the cemetery would have room for growth.
In June 1849 the city was hit by a cholera epidemic, and by August about 10 percent of the population had perished - 4500 people. Many were buried at Bellefontaine in its early state.
The cemetery was the resting place for several victims of the 1855 railway accident known as the Gasconade Bridge train disaster. Also buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery are a number of the famous Busch and Lemp family of brewers.
The cemetery contains over 14 miles of paved roads, a section with several dozen mausolea ("mausoleum city"), and a row of very tall obelisk monuments, most with elaborate bases.
Read more about this topic: Bellefontaine And Calvary Cemeteries