Green Mount Cemetery was one of the earliest rural or garden cemeteries in the United States. Samuel Walker, a Baltimore tobacco merchant, led the campaign to establish the Cemetery after visiting Mount Auburn Cemetery in 1834.
After a successful campaign, Walker, and a group of gentlemen drew up the plans for a public cemetery. The site they chose was the country estate of the late merchant Robert Oliver. Oliver’s estate, known as “Green Mount”, was a hilly location at the then northern boundary of the city of Baltimore. During his life, Mr. Oliver spared no expense in beautifying his estate, and aided by its natural advantages, he left it, at his death, a picturesque and highly ornamented locale.
The Proprietors of Green Mount Cemetery purchased about sixty acres from the heirs of Robert Oliver and Green Mount Cemetery was officially established by an act of the General Assembly of Maryland on March 15, 1838.
Benjamin Latrobe, a civil engineer with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, laid out the early design of the Cemetery. His efforts produced a place for reflection with shady avenues and beautiful gardens.
Green Mount Cemetery was officially dedicated on July 13, 1839. Those involved with the service included the Reverend William Wyatt, Congressman John Pendleton Kennedy, and the Reverend J.G. Hamner. Special hymns were written for the occasion by Frances H. Davidge, Esq. and J.H.B. Latrobe, Esq. The Musical Association of Baltimore sung a chorale from the Oratorio of St. Paul by Felix Mendelssohn.
The first person laid to rest in these hallowed grounds was two year old Olivia Cushing Whitridge. Since that time, Green Mount has become the final resting place of more than 65,000 individuals. Many have had a profound influence on our Nation’s History. Within the walls of the Cemetery you will find Statesmen, Captains of Industry, Philanthropists, Artists, Authors, Military Leaders, and even a Presidential Assassin and his Co-conspirators. The Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
