Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Waldheim

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, January 27, 2025

1. Waldheim Marker

Inscription. Incorporated March 13, A.D. 1873
Incorporators: F. Maas, B.L. Roos. H.v.Langen, C.A. Blaurock, A. Podolsky

The Waldheim Cemetery Comp'y
Re-organized and incorporated March 25, A.D. 1881
Incorporators:
Jos. Fischer, Philip Maas, John Buehler

Rebuilt A.D. 1905
Building Committee: Fred. J. Zuttermeister, Pres., Philip Maas, Sec'y, August Pfaff, H.N. Lafrentz, Frank Troost

Directors:
Fred. J. Zuttermeister, Philip Maas, W.C. Seipp, August Pfaff, H.N. Lafrentz, Herm Fischer, C.F. Geist, Adam Doerr, Frank Troost, Wm H. Feindt Jr., Frederick Maas

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1873.

Location. 41° 52.216′ N, 87° 49.05′ W. Marker is in Forest Park, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Forest Home Cemetery. It is on Des Plaines Avenue 0.2 miles south of Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290), on the right when traveling south. The marker is on the side of the headquarters building at Forest Home Cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 863 Des Plaines Avenue, Forest Park IL 60130, United States

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of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Chicago.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); a different marker also named Haymarket Martyrs' Monument (about 600 feet away); Ancient Indian Trail (approx. ¼ mile away); Forest Park War Memorial (approx. 0.3 miles away); George Washington 200th Anniversary (approx. 0.3 miles away); Ginkgo Tree (approx. 0.3 miles away); Joseph Carter Corbin (approx. 0.3 miles away); Veterans Stadium (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Forest Park.

Regarding Waldheim. German native Ferdinand Haase acquired this land in 1851 as a farm and soon thereafter converted the land into a public picnic grove

Forest Park Cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, August 25, 2023

2. Forest Park Cemetery

The marker is embedded into the office building that sits off Des Plaines Avenue.

called Haase's Park, accessible via a newly created train spur. However, the 1872 opening of Lincoln Park in Chicago negatively impacted attendance at Haase's Park, the park closed, and some of the land was sold to create new cemeteries. Concordia Cemetery, today found on the opposite side of the Eisenhower Expressway, opened in 1872. A year later, German Waldheim Cemetery — Waldheim is the German word for Forest Home — opened just south of Concordia for use by a number of German fraternal organizations; this Waldheim plaque is about that cemetery. In 1876, the Haase family opened Forest Home Cemetery, just south of German Waldheim; the resting place was targeted at middle- and upper-class English-speaking families in the surrounding area. Forest Home and Waldheim merged in 1969. The historically Waldheim part of the cemetery has sections divided into letters, while the Forest Home part uses numbers.

Also see . . .
1. Oak Park River Forest Museum: Forest Home Cemetery. (Submitted on January 29, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
2. Forest Park Historical Society: Haase Family. (Submitted on January 29, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 29, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 262 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 29, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.