Forest Lawn Cemetery - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Forest Lawn is located on land acquired from the Seneca Nation of Indians circa 1797 by William Johnston, a retired British Army captain. In 1806 title passed to Erastus Granger, agent to the Six Indian Nations, and it was on this land that Granger met with the Great Council of Nations and persuaded the Council to refuse an alliance with the British in the war of 1812. 30 years later, the people of Buffalo felt a need for a large park-like burial ground. As a result, local entrepreneur Charles E. Clarke purchased approximately 80 acres of the Granger estate at $150 per acre and begun the following spring to grade and survey the land as a park/cemetery.

The first burial was made in the afternoon of July 12, 1850, for John Lay, Jr., an old and greatly esteemed member of the community. The purchase of lots of other early Buffalonians soon followed. In 1855 Clarke conveyed the unsold cemetery grounds to a group of lot owners known as Forest Lawn Cemetery Association. The Association acquired more land from the surrounding farms and incorporated in 1864 under the name of the Buffalo city cemetery known commonly as Forest Lawn. By 1866 the cemetery had been improved and enlarged to 203 acres, and was dedicated September 28.

The most prominent person laid to rest within Forest Lawn is Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States. His burial is marked by a hillside monument surrounded by a black fence. Other famous people in the cemetery are R&B singer Rick James, Seneca Indian Chief Red Jacket, Willis Carrier who invented air conditioning, and Alfred Southwich who was a dentist in Buffalo that invented the electric chair. A recently constructed mausoluem designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is also located within the cemetery.

Many many locally prominent people are laid to rest here as well. They include:
- Seymour H. Knox, co-founder of the Woolworth Company and grandfather of Northrop and Seymour H. Knox III, former co-owners of the Buffalo Sabres,
- Edward L. Kleinhans, co-founder of Kleinhans men's clothing store and husband of Mary Seaton Kleinhans, from which Kleinhan's Music Hall was named after,
- John D. Larkin, founder of the Larkin Soap Company and who brought Frank Lloyd Wright to Buffalo to design an office building for his company.
- John J. Albright, owner of Lackawanna Steel Co., and was instrumental in the distribution of hydroelectric power through the state. Also founded the Albright Art Gallery, later known as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery,
- Jacob F. Schoellkopf, known as the "king of electricity, was the first to use Niagara Falls to generate power,
- Mary B. Talbert, a civil rights activist who lived most of her life in Buffalo.

Street address: 1411 Delaware Ave Buffalo, NY United States 14209 County / Borough / Parish: Erie Year listed: 1990 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1850-1874, 1875-1899, 1900-1924, 1925-1949 Historic function: Cemetery Current function: Cemetery Privately owned?: yes Hours of operation: From: 8:00 AM To: 7:00 PM Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/21/2008 Med14Ross visited it

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