Over Memorial Day weekend, we visited Lake View Cemetery. My husband and daughter had never been there. I visited some years back with friends and blogged about it, so a few of these photos may be repeats. It's a beautiful setting on nearly 300 acres. Here are some scenic photos to start:
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| Gently rolling hills cover the landscape. We missed it, but in April you can see hundreds of daffodils on Daffodil Hill. |
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| Wade Chapel overlooks this lake. Due to Covid, the chapel was closed. Jeptha Wade founded the Western Union Telegraph Company. Louis Comfort Tiffany designed the beautiful interior of the chapel. |
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The Haserot Angel is the most photographed monument at Lake View for its gothic appeal. Some claim to have witnessed the angel crying. Or maybe it was raining?
Also closed was President Garfield's monument. The area was fenced off and the outside was covered in scaffolding, so I couldn't get a good shot from close up. The president and his wife have above ground caskets on the bottom floor of the monument. If you climb the stairs to the top of the monument, you have a magnificent view of Cleveland and Lake Erie.
Onto some other famous Clevelanders buried here:
Many families have a large monument with the burial plots surrounding it in a circle.
Henry Sherwin, founder of the Sherwin-Williams Paint Company lies here.
Edwin Higbee, founder of the Higbee department store chain. It was the department store filmed in three scenes of A Christmas Story. Sadly, all the downtown department stores are closed. Higbee's is now a casino :(
John D. Rockefeller's gravesite. Founder of Standard Oil and considered the wealthiest American of all time.
Eliot Ness, leader of The Untouchables who brought down Al Capone. People leave behind items such as toy police badges and police cars on top of his grave.
Harvey Pekar, famous for his American Splendor comic book series. Visitors leave pens stuck into the ground.
Alan Freed, Cleveland DJ, believed to have coined the term 'rock and roll.'
The back is a jukebox.
Ray Chapman, the only MLB player to have died from an injury suffered during a game. He spent his career with the Cleveland Indians. Baseballs and caps surround his grave.
Just some interesting monuments:
It was a nice time to visit, as many people had left flowers for Memorial Day.
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What a gorgeous cemetery! I really love old cemeteries - I could stroll through them for hours. And that one has some astounding gravestones. But you know, my favorite might be the bench with the curled up cat.
ReplyDeleteIt was easy to spend hours there. And so interesting to have your phone handy and look up some of the larger stones of unfamiliar names.
DeleteWow, that cemetery is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt's really quite grand and a popular destination.
DeleteWhile the cemetery is both beautiful and clearly filled with history, it still creeps me out to visit one without purpose. While we were in Savannah, GA I made a similar statement on a ghost tour. The tour guide busted my bubble by telling me we are walking over a grave once every three feet!!
ReplyDeleteI don't get creeped out by it, but we were also there on a sunny day. I have been to other old graveyards on overcast days and had that creepy feeling.
DeleteI am weird but I do like cemeteries too. That had a lot of interesting graves in there. My daughter and I just went and put flowers this week on my mom's and brother's grave.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and her family visited the veteran's cemetery and took some photos of my grandson saluting my dad and FIL's tombstones this week.
DeleteYour photos are absolutely wonderful, and each has an interesting story to tell. The pens on Harvey Pekar's grave are so unique. Most impressive of all, however, is the Haserot Angel. She is magnificent! I vaguely remember hearing a story about her long ago. It's probably only rain, but I prefer the imaginative and mystical belief that she's crying.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved wandering through old cemeteries - especially when I used to live in the Missouri Ozarks. There were numerous Civil War graveyards there - - and I had a haunting experience in one of them.
BTW - that jukebox headstone is really funny. I love it!
Also, I never knew where President Garfield was buried. I used to have an old document with his signature, but (unfortunately) sold it when I needed money.
Pekar was quite a character, infamous for being banned on Letterman. I think he would appreciate the irreverence of the pens being stuck in the ground by his fans. The Haserot Angel is stunning in person and I was glad no one else was around when I took the photos.
DeleteI'd enjoy a post about your experience at the Civil War graveyard!
Lots of "famous" people buried there. Recognized a lot of the names you listed. Beautiful cemetery. The guy with the guitar on the bench reminded me of hubby playing guitar. Would be interesting the story behind it. I " enjoy" walking around cemeteries but hubby doesn't so much. It amazes me sometimes the short lives some lived. You wonder how long they are remembered. Are people still buried there or is it closed to new graves?
ReplyDeleteBetty
It would be interesting to hear the stories behind so many of the interesting monuments. And yes, there are plenty of burial plots left.
DeleteBeautiful photographs! I especially love the Haserot Angel, it's stunning! So I can certain see why it's the most photograph monument.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I have such a fondness for visiting cemeteries. I find them to be very peaceful and calming.
I particularly enjoy the older cemeteries with the older headstones and monuments.
" Eliot Ness, leader of The Untouchables who brought down Al Capone. People leave behind items such as toy police badges and police cars on top of his grave."
OMG..that is so interesting. I had no idea about that. You know, there is a prison here in Philly (Eastern State Penitentiary) where Capon was sentenced to 1 year, which was his first of many prison sentences.
LOVE that jukebox headstone!
Thanks so much for taking us on your visit. One of the most interesting and beautiful cemeteries I've seen. If you and your husband ever come to Philly for a visit, I will take you to several nice ones here. They're really old, which makes them so fascinating.
Have a superb weekend, my friend! X
Thank you, Ron. Yes, isn't it so peaceful to wander and read and admire the grave sites? This cemetery isn't that old (1869 is the oldest grave, I believe) but I love going to really old graveyards. I bet the Philly ones are super interesting with all that history. It's fun just to recognize local and building names in the cemetery that you never realized were named for people. Have a great weekend! Stay safe in the city with all this violence going on :(
DeleteGreat photos and I learned about folks I didn't know were from Cleveland
ReplyDeletewww.thepulpitandthepen.com
Glad you enjoyed the tour.
DeleteArtistic funerals like this are not scary. I was impressed with the mythical story of a crying angel statue ... maybe it's true.
ReplyDeleteThe crying angel is certainly a legend at this cemetery.
DeleteIn OurTown, we have RE Olds (founder of Oldsmobile), and several past governors of Michigan.
ReplyDeleteI knew that Alan Freed was the reason the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland. Did not realize that he died so young.
As an amateur genealogist, I've visited my share of cemeteries. It's just fascinating to find one of your ancestors' graves - sort of a marker that they were really here. When our kids were young, it was not unusual for us to plan our travel around cemeteries that we wanted to visit. To the point that, whenever we passed a random cemetery, our kids would ask us, "Are we going to stop at that cemetery?"
BTW, Jenn and I just bought our plot and stone last year; just around the corner from an MSU basketball coach. . .
I had no idea that there was a Mr. Olds. I love finding out where product names came from. (I remember doing a project around 6th grade and it was surprising how many products got their names from Greek mythology.)
DeleteI love researching my family tree and it's been so nice to see the graves of ancestors that kind folks take pictures of and post on websites like findagrave.
Wow. That's a great cemetery. I love all of those old headstones and grandiosity of some of those plots. It doesn't seem like people do that anymore. Those are cool. - And speaking of cool. Notice how cemeteries are always so much cooler than any other place in town? It's going to be triple digits here today and I told the kids they can find me in the Jewish memorial cemetery reading on a bench somewhere. -
ReplyDeleteThere's a lovely Jewish memorial park that I often drive by. You can see all the pebbles covering the top of the grave stones from the street. And yes, all those trees often make it a cool place to visit. It's actually cold here today (63 degrees)!
DeleteI love poking around old cemeteries as well. There's something very quiet and restful about them, and some of the graves are intriguing, especially of children who've died very young. I'm always amazed at the very elaborate graves some people go in for. I rather like the cat on the bench too!
ReplyDeleteWith what's currently going on in the world, I'm glad for the souls here that can rest in peace!
DeleteI love exploring cemeteries, and this one is impressive. Quite a few famous people buried there! And fitting that Alan Freed is there, as well. Cleveland is synonymous with rock 'n roll, after all. One more reason to visit!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that we call ourselves the Rock and Roll Capital of the World, but not many outside of Ohio know that. Lol!
DeleteI love visiting old cemeteries. Your pics are wonderful. Such interesting graves.
ReplyDeleteHello and thanks for visiting again. If you have a blog, please let me know.
DeleteThese photos are wonderful, Bijoux. Cemeteries are like open air museums with all the history they contain.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe all the famous names that are buried in Lake View, including Rockefeller, Alan Freed, and the Sherwin-Williams guy! I live near Green-Wood Cemetery, which has many famous historical figures.
The cemetery predates Central Park, so people would often have picnics at Green-Wood. A few years ago, my sister and I went to a production of "Our Town" that was performed at Green-Wood. It was a little funky...
Great post. Thanks for sharing these great photos!
That's so interesting about how people used Green-Wood before Central Park. Now I need to find out who's buried there! Have a good week, Rob.
DeleteHere you go!
DeleteThe "residents" include Leonard Bernstein, Horace Greeley, and Boss Tweed!
https://www.green-wood.com/2010/famous-residents/
I looked up right after commenting and also saw Louis Comfort Tiffany. Wow!
DeleteI love Alan Freed's jukebox. Very appropriate. I don't think I've ever visited a cemetery, but your photos are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The jukebox is quite large, isn't it?
DeleteYou captured some great shots! That Haserot Angel is impressive. Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Liberty. I hope your weekend is filled with love.
DeleteWhat an interesting cemetery with so many interesting people buried there. I think Alan Freed's is my favorite, but I think it's cool that visitors leave behind trinkets that symbolizes what the person represented when they were alive (the police badges and pens). So neat!
ReplyDeleteIt’s amazing what people leave behind!
DeleteAgain ... WOW. I have walked and photographed no fewer than fifty massive historic cemeteries east of the Mississippi and this would definitely rank among my top ten favorites. These monuments are fascinating. I'm going to tell my TG that we MUST visit in April to see Daffodil Hill in bloom. My sister mentioned it especially to me, being so taken with the idea as Baby Noah was laid to rest at Lake View this week. Thank you for the beautiful photos, B! xoxo
ReplyDeleteGlad I could give you a little taste of it. I believe you can get a map from the building at the main entrance. It’s easy to get lost!
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