Historic Boston: Forest Hills Cemetery

By Kate Danckert

If you’re looking for a fun, relaxing way to spend an afternoon, chances are you’re not going to head for a cemetery. In fact, a cemetery is probably one of the last places you’d think of because, well, the reasons we generally go to cemeteries are not often happy ones. Unles you’re one of the thousands of people who go to Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris to shower Oscar Wilde’s grave marker with kisses or to do, um, questionable things at Jim Morrison’s grave. But let’s face it: Boston cemeteries just don’t provide that same allure. Who needs to rub up on Sam Adams like that?

Boston being the historic city that it is, we have a number of historic burying grounds. The oldest, dating to the 17th century, are located in the downtown area, and they’re a stop for the many people walking the Freedom Trail. They contain the graves of a number of significant Bostonians and are located near lots of significant historical structures, but in terms of atmosphere … there’s not much else going on.

In the early 19th century, a shift occurred in cemetery planning, which made landscaping a central aspect of cemetery design. Out went the cramped rows of graves and in came the flowering trees and statues. What’s known as the rural cemetery movement took hold in Boston—and in the entire United States—with the establishment of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge in 1831. This movement placed an emphasis on the aesthetic value of burying grounds, and cemeteries were designed as space to be enjoyed by the public—and they were, often with picnic lunches.

Fast forward to present-day Boston. How many people do you know hanging around cemeteries? Probably not too many. Because cemeteries are for, you know … dead people. Well, the staff at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain begs to differ. As do we.