Hartford’s Rural Cemetery: Cedar Hill

Last year in episode 186, we talked about Grove Street Cemetery’s pioneering role as the first planned cemetery in the country. The design of Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven in the 1790s used several of the features that became standard, like family plots and established walkways.

Today, we’re going to move the clock forward and discuss the rural cemetery movement of the 19^th century with Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford as a signature example.

Established in 1864, Cedar Hill Cemetery encompasses 270 acres of landscaped woodlands, waterways, and memorial grounds. The urban oasis serves as a sanctuary for Connecticut history, impressive funerary art, and natural beauty. In this episode, Host Mary Donohue interviews Beverly Lucas, Director of the Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation. The Foundation is the non-profit that raises money for the restoration of the monuments and also hosts many events and guided tours.  Be sure to follow the Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation on Facebook and Instagram to find out about upcoming programs.

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Wesleyan Press book offer!

Grating the Nutmeg has an exciting offer from Wesleyan University Press. Order the beautiful coffee table book Joseph Weidenmann, pioneer landscape architect by Rudi Favretti from their website and use the code Q301 to receive a 30% discount! 

  https://www.weslpress.org/9780819568472/jacob-weidenmann/

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Want to find out more about Connecticut’s historic cemeteries? Listen to these Grating the Nutmeg episodes:

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/186-new-havens-pioneering-grove-street-cemetery

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/135-zinc-gravestones-bridgeports-monumental-bronze-company

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/154-numbers-to-names-restoring-humanity-to-ct-valley-hospital-cemetery

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/78-uncovering-african-and-native-american-lives-in-17th-18th-century-hartford

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Thanks to the Connecticut Museum of Culture & History for their financial sponsorship of Grating the Nutmeg, helping us bring you a new episode every two weeks.

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/   Follow GTN on our socials-Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky.

Follow executive producer Mary Donohue on Facebook and Instagram at WeHa Sidewalk Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history. Thank you for listening!