Rosehill Cemetery: A Stroll Through Chicago History

To learn about Chicago’s history one might do better than visit a library or museum, and instead take a stroll through one of our cemeteries. Rosehill Cemetery, for instance. Wandering through Rosehill’s sedate and wooded 350 acres one encounters names familiar to most Chicagoans. Rosehill is the final resting place of titans of industry (Montgomery Ward, Julius Rosenwald, Oscar Mayer, Leo Burnett) and politics (governor Richard B. Ogilvie and Nobel Peace Prize winner and Vice-President Charles G. Dawes). People who gave their names to Chicago streets (Laflin, Ogden, Wentworth, Kedzie) are plentiful.

Established in 1859, the non-sectarian Rosehill is Chicago’s oldest and largest. Its original and most prominent entrance is on the eastern side at the intersection of Ravenswood and Rosehill Avenues. Located just to the west of the elevated Metra train tracks, the entry is dominated by a William W. Boyington-designed Gothic chapel and administrative building. Boyington, who also built Chicago’s famed Water Tower, created the entry to look like a castle or fort. While out of place compared to its current environs, it makes sense when one remembers that when first established, Rosehill was seven miles outside the city limits and pretty much the middle of nowhere. The train made the graveyard possible and Rosehill even had its own stop. An elevator that was used to transport caskets from the elevated train to ground level is still extant.

A walk through Rosehill Cemetery is not just a lesson in history, but also a lesson in cultural attitudes toward grief and mourning. Symbolism is everywhere in the thousands of monuments, mausoleums, statues, and stones. Limestone trees are plentiful, exemplifying life developing from death. Shrouded objects (artillery and urns) have meaning, as do each obelisk, orb, lamb, and dog.

One is also struck by the vast range of memorials, from “Long John” Wentworth’s mammoth obelisk (the tallest structure at Rosehill and set on its largest plot) to the simple granite slab of Julius Rosenwald, once the richest man on the planet.

To learn more about Rosehill’s history, design, and symbolism, the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers frequent walking tours during the warm weather months. CAF docents provide tremendous detail and nuance during the two-hour tour.

Tips for Visiting Rosehill Cemetery

• Please remember the Rosehill is still an active cemetery and visitors should conduct themselves as such. While Rosehill offers a wonderful, park-like setting, it is not a park!

Tips For Families

• See above. Not recommended for children.

Data and Direction
Rosehill Cemetery

• Address: 5800 North Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago
• Directions: Entrances on both Ravenswood Avenue(1800 West) and Western Avenue (2400 West). Ravenswood entrance is 1/4 mile south of Peterson Avenue (6000 North). Western Avenue entrance is at Bryn Mawr (5600 North).
• Phone: (773) 561-5940
• Price: Free (small fee for Chicago Architecture Foundation tours).
• Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am to 5pm, Sat-Sun 8am to 4pm.
• Website: www.dignitymemorial.com

Chicago Architecture Foundation

• Address: 224 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago (Note: the walking tours usually meet at the location of the tour and not at the CAF offices.)
• Phone: (312) 922-3432 x241
• Price: Varies. Visit website for details.
• Hours: Corporate offices Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm. Gift shop and tour center daily 9am to 6:30pm.
• Website: www.architecture.org