An 18th-Century Burying Ground

Westminster began in 1786 when local Scots-Irish Presbyterians acquired land for a new burial ground outside the center of Baltimore, and First Presbyterian Church used it for many of the city’s affluent and influential business, military, political, and cultural leaders. The first burial took place in 1788 and the last in 1943, and the surviving gravestones and vaults offer a direct view of changing American attitudes toward death. Nearly all of the gravestones are local marble and include decorated tables and slabs, while the three dozen granite vaults are especially unusual. Over its 155 years, the burying ground passed through three broad phases: from 1788 to 1800, simple scalloped and square-topped gravestones reflected Presbyterian austerity and often carried long prose epitaphs; from 1800 to 1840, elaborate vaults, carriage gates added in 1815, and short poetic epitaphs reflected members’ wealth, taste, and public display; and from the 1840s to the 1940s, monumental burial displays declined as wealthier members turned to new rural cemeteries such as Greenmount and Loudon Park, sometimes moving remains there, and simpler ground slabs and raised tablets became more common. The original plan contained 180 family lots measuring 16 1/2 by 8 feet, arranged along two 10-foot avenues and five narrower north-south alleys.

Baltimore, Maryland · United States