History
Prior to the establishment of Crown Hill Cemetery, the primary cemetery in Indianapolis was the 25-acre (10 ha) Greenlawn Cemetery on the southwest side of the city. The demand placed on it by the normal demands of a growing city, along with the burials of both Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners of war resulting from the American Civil War prompted the creation of a private board in 1863 to develop a new and larger cemetery. The board bought a farm outside the city limits and hired John Chislett, who was a landscape architect and cemetery superintendent of Pittsburgh, to design the grounds. Chislett retained many of the natural features and laid out winding roads to create a landscape in the Victorian Romantic style.
Crown Hill Cemetery was dedicated on June 1, 1864. The first burial took place the next day, on June 2, for a young mother named Lucy Ann Seaton, who had died of consumption.
Previously a private farm outside the city limits, Crown Hill Cemetery is a popular picnic location and today is well known for the stunning view of downtown Indianapolis from "The Crown."
Read more about this topic: Crown Hill Cemetery
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)