Established 1838 Country USA Owned by City of Rochester Area 79 ha Phone +1 585-428-7999 | Location Rochester, New York Type public Size 196 acres (79 ha) Founded 1838 | |
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Address 1133 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester, NY 14620, USA Hours Closed now Sunday7:30AM–8PMMonday7:30AM–8PMTuesday7:30AM–8PMWednesday7:30AM–8PMThursday7:30AM–8PMFriday7:30AM–8PMSaturday7:30AM–8PM Burials Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass Similar Susan B Anthony House, Highland Park, Seabreeze Amusement Park, Seneca Park Zoo, Frontier Field | ||
Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, founded in 1838, is one of the United States' first municipal rural cemeteries. Situated on 196 acres (793,000 m²) (0.3 square miles) of land adjacent to the University of Rochester on Mount Hope Avenue, the cemetery is the permanent resting place of over 350,000 people. The annual growth rate of this cemetery is 500-600 burials per year.
Contents
Mount Hope also contains the ruins of a now outdated catacomb system, most notably with its sealed entrance on the east-facing drumlin upon entering the cemetery from the north. Its alternative entrance (also sealed) can be found in the Sunken Garden of Warner Castle across Mt. Hope Avenue. In 2010, G. Gotham Smith shot a segment of the feature film 3.14.. around the pond and catacombs.
The cemetery hosts the sculpture Defenders of the Flag, a Civil War monument made in 1908 by the American sculptor Sally James Farnham.
Geology of Mount Hope
About 12,000 to 14,000 years ago, Mount Hope was covered with ice one to two miles thick. As the glacier receded, cracks appeared in the ice, and these crevasses became rivers of water and gravel. When the miles-high ice sheets finally melted, these river beds were left as ridges created from all the rock and rubble that had been deposited by the flowing river. In geological terms, these ridges are called eskers. One such esker snakes its way through much of Mount Hope Cemetery.
The Seneca Indians used the Mount Hope esker as a trail from the Bristol Hills south of Rochester to Lake Ontario on the city's northern border. For the Senecas, it provided a continuous high path through the moraine and visibility of valleys around them. Today, this esker is a principal vehicular lane through the cemetery and is called Indian Trail Avenue.
Notable burials
General Elwell Stephen Otis was originally interred at Mount Hope before being removed to Arlington National Cemetery. Notable cremations at Mount Hope include Blanche Stuart Scott and George Eastman.
Friends of Mount Hope
The Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery is a non-profit organization of volunteers founded in 1980 to restore, preserve, and encourage public use and enjoyment of this unique historical treasure.