Forest Lawn Cemetery Mausoleums

Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York is the final resting place for over 152,000 souls. This historic cemetery was founded in 1849 by Charles Clarke, and covers more than 269 acres. Forest Lawn Cemetery is known for its monuments, mausoleums, and sculptures, as this 19th century style garden cemetery serves as a combination of outdoor museum, arboretum, park, and cemetery.

History of Forest Lawn Cemetery

By the mid-19th century, Buffalo had become the busiest grain-transfer port in the world, and lawyer Charles E. Clarke recognized the need for a sizable cemetery to serve the city’s growing population. In 1849, Clarke purchased some rural land a little over two miles outside of Buffalo. He intended to create a cemetery modeled after Pére-Lachais, a famous Parisian cemetery that overlooked the city, and represented a delicate balance of nature and art.

The first burial was made in the cemetery in 1850. The following year, Clarke commissioned the design of a statue of the Seneca Indian chief Red Jacket. This was the beginning of Clarke’s policy of intermingling sculpture and the natural setting of Forest Lawn; a continuing policy that has made the cemetery a noted outdoor sculpture museum today. It was these sculptures, mausoleums, and the natural beauty of Forest Lawn that garnered the cemetery inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

Interment in Forest Lawn Cemetery

Forest Lawn Cemetery is still an active cemetery, serving families with a wide variety of interment options. Individuals or families who wish to inter remains at Forest Lawn can choose from:

• Cremation
• Above-ground burial
• In-ground burial
• Memorial options
• Veteran areas

For eco-conscious families and individuals, Forest Lawn offers “green” burials, which may consist of hand-digging and filling the grave, and using a biodegradable casket or urn.

Families who prefer above-ground burial can choose from a variety of options, including exterior crypts, interior crypts, and private, family, or community mausoleums. Serenity Mausoleum, a community mausoleum in Forest Lawn Cemetery, provides a variety of crypts, niches, and private family rooms. You may also choose a private mausoleum or family mausoleum; Forest Lawn is home to hundreds of individual family mausolea.

Notable Private Mausoleums and Family Mausoleums

In addition to its noteworthy sculpture, Forest Lawn Cemetery’s status as a historic outdoor museum owes a lot to its notable private mausoleums and family mausoleums. A few of the mausolea you’ll find at Forest Lawn include:

• Letchworth Mausoleum: The Letchworth Mausoleum has been called “the most elegant mausoleum in the country.” This Classical Revival mausoleum is made with outside walls of Medina and Connecticut brown sandstone, and interior walls and ceiling of Italian and Egyptian marble. A centerpiece statue of Letchworth’s bride stands inside this ornate mausoleum, which cost close to $100,000 in 1872.
• Pratt Tomb: The Pratt Tomb is a canopy tomb modeled to resemble a Gothic cathedral, complete with a towering central spire ringed with gargoyles. Gothic arches rest on Corinthian columns, with four classically-draped female figures standing vigil around the tomb, a nod to Classical Revival.
• Birge Memorial: The Birge Memorial features an impressive open air design, with 12 Doric columns standing around Birge’s sarcophagus. This simple, dignified memorial represents a good example of the 1920s and 30s trend toward less surface ornamentation.

Forest Lawn Cemetery features a wide array of significant sculptures, mausoleums, and natural beauty that captures the imagination and makes this national historic site a dignified and beautiful final resting place.