1820-1840: Non-sectarian Mutual and Municipal Burial Grounds

Beginning around 1810, urban communities began to re-examine the handling of burials, especially in association with epidemics. Concerns of over-crowding and heath hazards led to a campaign for a new type of burial place. The answer became a mutual, non-sectarian cemetery, or a municipal cemetery, located on the fringes of a town or urban area and separate from a religious setting. An early precedent for this was Connecticut's New Haven New Burial Ground, founded in 1796 with these same intents. The change also represented a new attitude towards order and beautification of burial grounds. The cemeteries were designed on a geometric grid plan with wide pathways, suitable plantings, and enclosed by a stonewall or cast iron fence. Lots were sold to families at prices affordable to the lower to middle classes. Underground brick vaults were part of a more sanitary design.

These cemeteries were independently owned and controlled by a company or association, usually for profit-making purposes. Some municipalities followed the lead and developed similar formal garden cemeteries on the edge of town, but they were usually less successful than the private ones. Between 1826 and 1830 at least four such cemeteries were founded in Philadelphia on the southwest edges of the city and gained popularity for their security against grave robbers. They all excluded African Americans, although each usually had a section for "Strangers." As cities grew, most of these cemeteries were dismantled and the bodies reinterred to new cemeteries so the land could be used for real estate development.

Monuments reflected the standardized memorials of the evolving monument industry and could be larger and more sculptural than earlier decades. Marble or local stones prevailed.

Pine Grove Cemetery Postcard
Pine Grove Cemetery Postcard

Cressonia Cemetery Postcard
Cressonia Cemetery Postcard

Easton Cemetery

Easton Cemetery