Photo credit:
Nancy Kurtz, 05/1997
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Green Mount Cemetery
Inventory No.:
B-80, B-150
Date Listed:
4/2/1980
Location:
1501 Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore, Baltimore City
Category:
Site
Period/Date of Construction:
1836 - cemetery; 1847, 1855 - gates; 1851-1856 - chapels
Architect/Builder:
Architects: Robert Cary Long, Jr., Niernsee & Nielson, and Buckler & Fenhagen
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Description:
The 68-acre Green Mount Cemetery is bounded by North Avenue, Greenmount Avenue, Hoffman Street, and Ensor Street. A stone wall surrounds the entire cemetery, varying in height according to the topography of the area. Access to the cemetery is from the massive gates, designed by Robert Cary Long, Jr., located near the southwest corner of the cemetery at Oliver Street. Just beyond the gates on top of a hillside is the chapel designed by Niernsee & Nielson. Three other buildings lie within the cemetery walls. The cemetery is divided into irregularly shaped curved areas for burial plots by curving asphalt avenues and cobblestoned walkways. The cemetery is well landscaped with large trees and well manicured lawns. The topography features gently sloping curves and small hillsides. Grave markers of every size, shape, style, and material cover the grounds. Many are simple crosses or semicircular stones; however, magnificent bronze and stone statues are numerous. Some burial vaults are of brownstone construction in harmony with the chapel’s building material. A variety of architectural styles adorn the larger tombs, from Classical to Gothic. The 110-foot long symmetrical gates are located near the southwest corner of the cemetery in front of a cobblestone path. The Tudor Gothic gates feature crenellated towers, large entrance archways, cast-iron fencing, and stained glass windows. Towers rise to a height of 40 feet, and are constructed of broken course cut stone. The central entrance arch is flanked by two crenellated towers with buttressing. This arch, which is large enough for a carriage or today’s automobile, is Gothic in shape with a stone surround. A simple stone cornice above the arch is surmounted by a crenellated parapet wall displaying a pentagonal stone dated 1838. Flanking the central carriage arch are two smaller archways for pedestrians, also Gothic in style, which have folding ornamented cast-iron fences. To either side of these are small square towers housing the offices of the cemetery. The north tower has a stained glass window with simple tracery. The south tower has no stained glass, but in its place is a window of 4/4 panes within a Gothic arch. Both towers have buttresses, stone window hoods, and surrounds identical to the pedestrian archways, a simple cornice, and crenellated parapets.
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Significance:
Green Mount Cemetery is significant for its beautiful architecture, magnificent statues, and lovely landscaping. Inside its walls are Robert Cary Long, Jr.’s gatehouse, Niernsee and Nielson’s mortuary chapel, a mausoleum, and two cottages. In some respects, the cemetery is a sculpture garden with some of the city’s finest outdoor art. Among the best examples are some by Hans Schuler, Rinehart, and Edward Berge. The gatehouse and chapel are excellent examples of the Gothic style of architecture. The tree other buildings are compatable, also built of stone. The magnificent architecture and artwork in the cemetery are fitting tributes to those buried here, who include many famous Marylanders. Included among them are industrialists and business leaders, philanthropists, engineers and inventors, important Maryland women, military leaders, and politicians. In particular eight governors of Maryland, 20 military generals (most from the Civil War), and a number of well-known Marylanders, including John Wilkes Booth, A. Aubrey Bodine, Elizabeth Patterson, Bonaparte, Johns Hopkins, and Enoch Pratt. From William Winder, a general in the War of 1812, to Theodore McKeldin, under whose leadership the Charles Center and Inner Harbor projects were planned, Baltimore’s greatest citizens and Marylanders of National, as well as international reknown are buried at Green Mount.
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