A cemetery plot could be considered one’s last, best piece of real estate so an impressive address was in demand. Set along a slope overlooking London proper, Highgate Cemetery was a quiet but imposing reminder of mortality.
31 Days of Halloween – October 13
This past weekend, I visited Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe and other local luminaries, including James McHenry (signer of the US Constitution and namesake of Fort McHenry), Philip Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key), and Robert Smith (Secretary of the Navy, Secretary Of State, and Attorney…
31 Days of Halloween – October 12
Hollywood has made cemeteries seem scary, but really, they are lovely, peaceful places. It’s usually quiet and there are some fantastic pieces of art in the older ones. If they’re not too weathered, you can also read the epitaphs engraved on the stones. Sometimes it is only a name and a date, but often there…
31 Days of Halloween – October 9
Edgar Allan Poe is a figure often association with the dark and the macabre. This week is the anniversary of his strange death and subsequent burial. While his death was noted in several regional newspapers, his funeral was barely attended. His cousin-in-law Reverend Clemm presided over the rainy ceremony, cut short by the weather and…
31 Days of Halloween – October 8
As early as we can tell in human history, people have been denoted the final resting place of loved ones with markers. From ornate pyramids to the simplest family plots, symbolism in the art has become a hallmark of cemeteries. Atlas Obscura put together a fantastic infographic on some of the common images seen on…