West Laurel Hill Cemetery

West Laurel Hill Cemetery. Cynwyd Heritage Trail. Established in 1869 as a non-profit, non-denominational cemetery, West Laurel Hill has long been a landmark of the Philadelphia region. Visiting beautifully landscaped cemeteries was a popular activity for Victorians. Designed as a civic institutions for public use, rural cemeteries provided a place for the general public to enjoy refined outdoor recreation amidst art and sculpture previously available only to the wealthy. Today, West Laurel Hill encompasses 187 acres, including 10 miles of paved roadway winding through gently rolling hills., It is also an arboretum and an outdoor sculpture garden rich in cultural and social history. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains an active cemetery and park. Many notable nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century luminaries are interred at West Hill Cemetery, such as: Herman Haupt, civil engineer and Brigadier General of the Union Army; Dr. John Thompson Dorrance, inventor of condensed soup who eventually became sole owner of the Campbell Soup Company; Anna Marie Jarvis, founder of Mother's Day; John B. Stetsen, hatmaker; and Constantine Papadakis, President of Drexel University from 1995-2009.