Harrisburg Cemetery

Harrisburg Cemetery. . Here is established Harrisburg's oldest and largest Cemetery and final resting place of many noted individuals of national, state and local importance in all walks of life. Chartered in 1845, the Cemetery was created just outside the limits of the then-Borough of Harrisburg on the rural bluff of what would be later known as Allison Hill. It became evident that a new cemetery, properly situated as a tribute to Harrisburg's by-gone generations, was required to fulfill the need to relocate graves from the older churchyard cemeteries downtown that were being replaced by the increased demand for new building construction. In 1845, the Carpenter Gothic-styled caretaker's house was completed and remains to this day in its original form with floor plan in the sign of a cross. Dead from all American Wars, including the Revolutionary War and Civil War, as well as Confederate prisoners from the Battle of Gettysburg who died in Harrisburg hospitals, are reposed here. The Cemetery is also the final resting place of four Pennsylvania Governors, most of the Mayors of Harrisburg, a number of United States Senators and U.S. Congressmen and many of Harrisburg's famous merchants, business leaders, bankers, lawyers and judges. Well known names such as Cameron, Olmsted, Kunkel, McCormick, Kelker, Muench, Verbeke, Reily and McFarland are all interred here. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the 30-acre Harrisburg Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Pennsylvania to hold such a distinction. This site is literally an outdoor museum of obelisks, statuary, monuments and mausoleums commemorating those who have contributed to building the Nation's and Harrisburg's distinguished legacies. Space remains for additional burials in the future. , Top Photo , Circa 1910 postcard view of Cemetery's main entrance at N. 13th and Liberty Streets. , Middle Photo , Circa 1910 view of Caretaker's House looking south. , Bottom Photo , Circa 1910 view looking north from second floor of Caretaker's House.