Laurel Hill Cemetery

Laurel Hill Cemetery remained a popular burial place until it could no longer expand, and as financial prospects dimmed its managers established West Laurel Hill Cemetery across the river in 1869. Covering nearly 200 acres and including the historic Bringhurst Funeral Home on its grounds, West Laurel Hill remains an active burial site. In 1978, Philadelphia scholar John Francis Marion shared his passion for Laurel Hill with Jane Drayton Smith, a descendant of the cemetery's original founder, and from their vision came the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Laurel Hill's past while ensuring its present and future. In 1998, Laurel Hill became one of the few cemeteries in the United States honored as a National Historic Landmark. Today the Friends welcome local and international visitors and promote the site as an educational, historical, cultural, natural, recreational, and aesthetic resource. More than 100,000 people rest at Laurel Hill, whose history has long extended beyond burial alone to include reflection for the living.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States