Part of History

BEFORE GREENWOOD Cemetery existed, Hamilton’s earliest burials were found scattered throughout the city. Other burial sites could be found between the Third Ward Cemetery between Third, Fourth, and Sycamore streets (Ludlow Park), the Rossville Cemetery at Park and D Street (Sutherland Park). With the community needs in mind, Hamilton leaders established the Greenwood Cemetery Association in 1848 with land purchased from David Bigham. The cemetery contains more than 1,800 remains from the two pioneer cemeteries.

Greenwood Cemetery was modeled after the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was designed by landscape architect Adolph Strauch. Most of the work laying out the cemetery was done by prominent Hamilton citizens like John W. Erwin, John M. Millikin, and Governor William Bebb.

Greenwood Cemetery has been around for a long time and the general manager Dan Peters was able to walk me through some of the history. On July 22, 1994, Greenwood Cemetery became a registered historic district,

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listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The cemetery contains 5 contributing buildings and is designed in the style of a landscaped park and garden with mortuary art and statues among the graves.

Greenwood Cemetery is proof that when a person dies, their history and stories do not die with them. For 170 years, Greenwood Cemetery has been the final resting place for over 60,000 people. Deceased veterans from the American Revolution and the Civil War are buried at Greenwood

Cemetery. You might recognize the names of just some of the people that happen to be buried at Greenwood Cemetery including Matthew Hueston, whose land was the basis for forming Hueston Woods State Park; Clark Lane, an industrialist who donated the library to the City of Hamilton;

Homer Gard who in 1926 donated a camp to the YMCA in honor of their late son, Campbell Gard; Ray Combs, a Hamilton native and host of “Family Feud” from 1988–1994; and John Reily, a Revolutionary War soldier and teacher who helped write the Ohio

Constitution before holding numerous positions in Butler County.

It’s not just those who have made major contributions to Hamilton, Butler County, the State of Ohio, and the nation that are buried at Greenwood Cemetery. On July 14, 1872, there was a circus parade in Hamilton. This procession, featuring performers and animals from the P. T. Barnum Circus, wasn’t to encourage Hamilton residents to attend the circus, but a march of remembrance for a fallen comrade. The troupe was escorting the body of Charles Carter, a 32-year-old circus employee who had drown the previous morning. Every season after that, when the circus visited Hamilton, the grave of the showman was visited and decorated by the show people as a tribute of remembrance and respect.

Walking through the cemetery, you can see how Hamilton changed as did the cemetery. From the initial days of Fort Hamilton, until its days as a manufacturing hub. Despite its 170-year existence, the cemetery still has the capacity to be around for 100 more.

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