Bohemian National Cemetery - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 58.664 W 087° 43.689
16T E 439675 N 4647561
The Bohemian National Cemetery of Chicago is a Fraternal not for profit cemetery founded in 1877 by Bohemian, Moravian and Slovak immigrants and their descendants to provide a dignified place for burials free of religious restraints.
Waymark Code: WMD8DF
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 12/04/2011
Views: 3
Continued from the cemetery website: (
visit link)
"The cemetery is located on the north side of Chicago. It is situated on 122 acres bounded by Pulaski Road on the West, Foster Avenue on the South, Bryn Mawr Avenue on the North and Central Park Avenue - Northeastern Illinois University - on the East."
From the May 30, 2006 "Illinois properties listed in National Register of Historic Places" newsrelease:
"The founding of the Bohemian National Cemetery in 1877 established a trend throughout Bohemian communities in the United States resulting in the formation of other ethnic cemeteries in Baltimore, Maryland; Omaha, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Chippewa County, Wisconsin. The initial 50-acre cemetery was designed by John V. Benes, a local building contractor and cemetery association delegate, who laid out the cemetery in a plan similar to the larger grid-plan of the Chicago area. In 1902, the purchase of an additional 60 acres resulted in an expansion of the cemetery. This expansion was designed by August Petrtyl, a classically trained artist and illustrator who owned a decorating firm in Chicago. Petrtyl's plan featured curving roads and organically shaped lots, while continuing the east/west road system of the original plan into the new area. In 1905, the association commissioned famed landscape architect Jens Jensen to prepare plans for additional acreage to the north. Incorporated into the evolving plan of the cemetery are a Late Gothic Revival Main Gatehouse, a Classical Revival Administration Building, a Renaissance Revival Crematorium and secondary support structures, along with numerous mausoleums, public monuments and grave markers representing a variety of architectural styles. The Bohemian National Cemetery brings together a remarkable blend of historical circumstances, immigrant American pride, and important art, architecture, and landscape design."
There are numerous artistic grave markers and monuments at Bohemian National. Bohemian National Cemetery is well represented on waymarking.com. For example, there are eight waymarked gravemarkers featuring soldier statues listed in the Smithsonian sculpture database. Other interesting memorials waymarked include the World War 1&2 Memorial, the mausoleum of the assassinated Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, the statue “The Mother” by Albin Polasek, the Civil War Veterans Memorial and the Spanish American War Memorial known as The Hiker.
Many victims of Chicago's tragic Eastland disaster on the Chicago River on July 24, 1915 are buried at Bohemian National. On a less serious note, fans of the Chicago Cubs can be buried at the "Beyond the Vines" outdoor columbarium (aka Eternal Luxury Skyboxes) that mimics Wrigley Field.
The Crematory Building, erected in 1913, includes a beautiful main chapel and Columbarium housing the cremains of hundreds in interesting niches. Scenes from the movie "US Marshalls" featuring Wesley Snipes and Tommy Lee Jones was filmed in the cemetery, primarily in and near the Columbarium. (The funny part of that was that the location was supposed be be in New York City.)
If you have a chance to take one of the tours offered, it is definitely worth it. See the Friends at (
visit link)