Crown Hill Cemetery: Difference between revisions

==Special sections==▼

===National Cemetery===▼

{{Main|Crown Hill National Cemetery}}▼

In 1866 the U.S. government authorized a [[United States National Cemetery|U.S. National Cemetery]] for Indianapolis as a burial site for [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] soldiers who died in military camps and hospitals near the city during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. The National Cemetery is located on {{convert|1.4|acre}} within the grounds of Crown Hill in Section 10 The federal government purchased the site from Crown Hill's board for $5,000. On October 19, 1866, the remains of the first Union soldier were removed from Greenlawn Cemetery and interred at the National Cemetery at Crown Hill. By November 1866, the bodies of 707 soldiers had been moved from Greenlawn to the National Cemetery. As of December 31, 1998, the National Cemetery is filled. It encompasses 795 burial sites.<ref name=NatCemRegister/><ref>Wissing, pp. 33, 35.</ref>▼

===Confederate soldiers' burials===▼

Crown Hill is also a burial site for Confederate soldiers who died at [[Camp Morton]], a prison camp located north of Indianapolis. In 1931, when industrial development around Greenlawn Cemetery required the bodies of the Confederate prisoners to be moved, their remains were interred in a mass grave known as the Confederate Mound in Section 32 at Crown Hill. In 1993 a memorial with ten bronze plaques listing the names of the 1,616 Confederate soldiers and sailors who died at Camp Morton was dedicated at the site.<ref name=Conn81 /><ref>Wissing, pp. 1–2, 164.</ref><ref>Sanford, p. 8.</ref>▼

===Field of Valor===▼

Wars in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Iraq]] prompted expansion of Crown Hill's military sections to include the Field of Valor on {{convert|4|acre}} of the north grounds. It was dedicated on [[Veterans Day]], November 11, 2004. The Eternal Flame and Eagle Plaza installed in front of the memorial were dedicated on Veterans Day in 2005.<ref>Wissing, p. 293.</ref>▼

==Nature==▼

Wildlife abounds in Crown Hill Cemetery, which serves as a large refuge for birds, white-tailed deer, and small animals. More than 100 species of trees have been identified on the grounds.<ref name=Sanford19>Sanford, p. 19.</ref>▼

==Artworks==▼

{{Main|List of public art in Crown Hill Cemetery}}▼

There are many works of art on the property, some of which are freestanding, but most of which are associated with a gravesite. Notable examples include:▼

* [[James Whitcomb Riley's Tomb]]: Following Riley's death on July 22, 1916, Crown Hill's board offered his family the prestigious site at "The Crown", the summit of Crown Hill that overlooks Indianapolis, as his final resting place. His was buried there on October 6, 1917. Riley's gravesite is marked with a large, open-canopied monument.<ref>Wissing, p. 113.</ref>▼

* Forrest Memorial: This is the gravesite of Albertina Allen Forrest, wife of [[Butler University]] professor and Citizens Gas general manager Jacob Dorrsey Forrest. She died on April 27, 1904. To mark the grave, her husband commissioned Viennese sculptor [[Rudolph Schwarz (sculptor)|Rudolf Schwarz]], whose work adorns numerous monuments and memorials including the [[Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Indianapolis)|Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument]] in Indianapolis, to create "Statue in Repose", a kneeling woman in mourning beneath a couplet from [[Alfred Lord Tennyson]]'s "In Memoriam". Albertina's husband, who died in 1930, is buried in an unmarked grave beside the memorial.<ref>Wissing, pp. 130, 136–38.</ref>▼

* Three limestone statues depicting the Greek goddesses [[Themis]], [[Demeter]], and [[Persephone]] from the old Marion County Courthouse. The courthouse was demolished in 1962.<ref name=Sanford20>Sanford, p. 20.</ref>▼

* Equatorial Sundial:David L. Rodgers was commissioned to create the functional [[sundial]] in 1985. It was fabricated of Indiana limestone in [[Bloomington, Indiana]], and installed in front of the Community Mausoleum in 1987.<ref name=Wissing228>Wissing, p. 228.</ref>▼

* The Hoosier Artists Contemporary Sculpture Walk: Established to mark Crown Hill's 140th anniversary, the walk includes works by ten artists, including Michael B. Wilson's "Social Attachments" and Eric Nordgulen's "Antenna Man".<ref>Wissing, pp. 286, 293.</ref>▼

* [[Holcomb Mausoleum Door]]: Part of a memorial for James Irving Holcomb, an Indianapolis industrialist and a Vice President of the Butler University board of trustees▼

==Notable memorials==▼

* Medical Science Donor Memorial, installed in 1991. In 1978 the Anatomical Education Board of the [[Indiana University School of Medicine]] purchased Section 41-A to inter the cremated remains of bodies that had been studied. As of 2011 more than one thousand medical donors have been recognized at the memorial.<ref>Wissing, p. 255.</ref>▼

* Indiana AIDS Memorial, dedicated on October 29, 2000, is the first permanent [[AIDS]] memorial located in a cemetery.<ref>Wissing, p. 271.</ref>▼

* The Heroes of Public Safety monument, dedicated on September 11, 2002, is inscribed with the names of police, firefighters, and other public safety personnel who died in the line of duty.<ref>Wissing, p. 274.</ref>▼

* The Hearts Remembered Memorial, dedicated on June 4, 2006, remembers the city's orphaned and abandoned children, many of whom were buried in unmarked graves.<ref>Wissing, p. 295.</ref>▼

==Structures==▼

* Gothic chapel&nbsp;– Indianapolis architect [[Diedrich A. Bohlen]] designed the High Victorian Gothic-style chapel and vault, which were built east of the National Cemetery in 1875 at an initial cost of $38,922. They replaced an earlier vault that was used as temporary storage for bodies awaiting burial. In 1917 [[Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates|D.A. Bolen and Son]] designed an addition to the structure designed by D. A. Bohlen, the architectural firm's founder. The chapel and vaults were restored in the early 1970s at a cost of $120,000. CSO Architects began a major renovation and expansion in 2001. The project cost $3.2 million and received an excellence in Architecture Award from the [[American Institute of Architects]], Indiana chapter, in 2007.<ref>{{cite web| title =Crown Hill Cemetery, Chapel and Vault, Thirty-fourth Street, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN | work =Historic American Buildings Survey | publisher =Library of Congress | url =https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/in0048/ | access-date =2014-06-20}}</ref><ref>Wissing, pp. 42, 124, 188, 286.</ref><ref name=Sanford18>Sanford, p. 18.</ref>▼

* East gate, Waiting Station, and Porter's Lodge&nbsp;– Adolf Scherrer, an Indianapolis architect of Swiss origins, designed the [[High Victorian Gothic]] gateway and Waiting Station for the cemetery's main entrance at Thirty-fourth Street and Boulevard Place. Construction began in May 1885. The three-arched gateway was completed in November 1885, in time for the funeral of [[Vice-President of the United States|vice-president]] and former [[Governor of Indiana|Indiana governor]] [[Thomas A. Hendricks]]. The gate was built of Bedford [[limestone]]. The Waiting Station exterior is brick and limestone. A gatehouse house that became known as Porter's Lodge at the gate's south side was designed by the Indianapolis architectural firm of [[Vonnegut & Bohn|Vonnegut and Bohn]] and built in 1904. The Crown Hill board leased the Waiting Station to [[Indiana Landmarks|Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana]] in 1970 for one dollar per year, provided the preservation organization agreed to restore the historic structure. The restoration was completed by February 1971. HLFI moved to offices on Michigan Street in 1990 and the Waiting Station was leased until the mid-1990s, when Crown Hill began using it for office space. Crown Hill spent an additional $500,000 to restore the Waiting Station in the late 1990s. It was restored again in 2001 and serves as a meeting place for cemetery tours and programs.<ref name="HABS-gateway">{{cite web | title =Crown Hill Cemetery, Gateway, 3402 Boulevard Place, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN | work = Historic American Buildings Survey | publisher =Library of Congress | url =https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/in0049/| access-date =2014-06-20}}</ref><ref name=Sanford17>Sanford, p. 17.</ref><ref name="HABS-Obldg-PDF">{{cite web | title =Crown Hill Cemetery, Office Building, 3402 Boulevard Place, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN | work =Historic American Buildings Survey | publisher =Library of Congress | url =http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/in/in0000/in0050/data/in0050data.pdf | access-date =2014-06-20 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140726234624/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/in/in0000/in0050/data/in0050data.pdf | archive-date =2014-07-26 | url-status =dead }}</ref><ref name="HABS-Obldg-S">{{cite web | title =Crown Hill Cemetery, Office Building, 3402 Boulevard Place, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN: Supplement | work =Historic American Buildings Survey | publisher =Library of Congress | url =http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/in/in0000/in0050/supp/in0050supp.pdf | access-date =2014-06-20 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140726212206/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/in/in0000/in0050/supp/in0050supp.pdf | archive-date =2014-07-26 | url-status =dead }}</ref><ref>Wissing, pp. 80, 83, 123, 188, 230, 286.</ref>▼

* Subway bridge/underpass&nbsp;– The underpass beneath Thirty-eight Street that connects the north and south grounds is also known as the Subway. Construction began in 1925 and was completed in 1927 at cost of $170,000. It was restored in the 1980s.<ref name=Sanford19/><ref name=Wissing228/>▼

* West gate and gatehouse&nbsp;– In 1901 the original west entrance to the cemetery was demolished and an arched Romanesque gate and a gatehouse designed by Indianapolis architect Herbert Foltz was erected at its southwest corner. The west gate was closed in 1965 and demolished the following year.<ref>Wissing, pp. 123, 187.</ref><ref>Nicholas, p. 111.</ref>▼

* Masonry fence&nbsp;– In 1914 [[George Kessler]] designed a brick and wrought-iron fence to replace the cemetery's wood and wire fencing. The masonry fence surrounded three quarters of the south grounds and the southern end of the north grounds along Thirty-eighth Street. It cost nearly $138,000. The fence has a {{convert|4|ft|adj=on}} thick concrete base, brick supports {{convert|8.5|ft}} in height, and sections of wrought iron measuring {{convert|25|ft}} in length that rest on brick support walls. Brick pillars at the entrances are more than {{convert|12|ft}} tall. Construction of the fence, which is approximately {{convert|3|mi}} long, was completed in 1920. A multi-year restoration costing $600,000 began in 1985.<ref name=Sanford20/><ref name=Wissing224>Wissing, pp. 124, 228.</ref>▼

* Mausoleums&nbsp;– Crown Hill contains several family and communal [[mausoleum]]s: Community Mausoleum, designed by [[Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates|D. A. Bohlen and Company]], was completed in the early 1950s. Its exterior is made of Indiana Bedford limestone; the interior is marble. Abbey Mausoleum, which was planned in 1993, is designed by Patrick L. Fly and cost $1.3 million. It is built of Indiana limestone and Carnelian granite.<ref name=Sanford10/><ref>Wissing, pp. 182, 188, 228.</ref>▼

* Superintendent's residence&nbsp;– A home for the superintendent remained on cemetery grounds until 1950. [[Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates|D. A. Bohlen]] designed a three-story [[Victorian house]] to replace a log cabin structure in the late 1860s. Fire destroyed the Victorian residence in 1913, but a new three-story brick home was already under construction as its replacement. The brick residence was removed from Crown Hill in 1950.<ref name=Sanford18/><ref>Wissing, pp. 42, 123.</ref>▼

* Administrative offices&nbsp;– A building erected at Thirty-eighth and Clarenden Streets in 1969 serves as Crown Hill's business offices.<ref name=Sanford17>Sanford, p. 17.</ref>▼

* Mortuary and crematorium&nbsp;– Groundbreaking for a $1.5 million mortuary took place in May 1992. Architect J. Stuart Todd drew up the plans. The funeral home opened on March 1, 1993. Gibralter Remembrance Services, LLC, who purchased the mortuary in 2006, built a 9,500 square foot expansion. A new crematorium was added in 1990.<ref>Wissing, pp. 233, 270–71.</ref>▼