Cemeteries in Greater Cleveland

There is no Historic spot that grips our Hearts and stirs our sympathies as does a Burial Ground. It is not only because it is in itself a land-mark, set apart with established boundaries for a fixed purpose, but that it is the tie that links us to those who have gone before us, and a symbol of the immortality that is our hope. -- Estella Bradburn Fisher, Memorial Day May 30, 1930 address given at Erie Street Cemetery for the National Society New England Women, Cleveland Colony.

The purpose of this web site is to spotlight cemeteries in the Greater Cleveland (Ohio) area, including some of the 12 cemeteries owned, operated and managed by the City of Cleveland: Alger Cemetery, Brookmere Cemetery, Denison Cemetery, Erie Street Cemetery, Harvard Grove Cemetery, Monroe Street Cemetery, Scranton Road Cemetery, West Park Cemetery, and Woodland Cemetery. Other cemeteries they own, operate and manage are Cleveland Memorial Gardens (CMG), Potters Field and Highland Park Cemetery.

Disclaimer by the City of Cleveland

My long-standing interest in Cemeteries began when I was, with some difficulty, researching my own family tree. In order to help other genealogy researchers, I subsequently spoke with the City of Cleveland officials and volunteered to create a database for the above-mentioned cemeteries. There are approximately 200,000 records for nine cemeteries, which is a very large work in progress.

The information is being extracted from the interment records which may/may not include the following: date of death, date of burial, full name of the deceased, address at time of death, age, race, sex, native of, cause of death, location in cemetery, ie, section, lot, tier, grave, remarks and undertaker. The City of Cleveland Cemeteries do not contain birth, next of kin, death certificates or cemetery inscription information.

Suggestions for Visiting or Inquiring about Gravesites in any Cemetery:

Before writing to the cemetery, make sure you have the following information: Full name of deceased, date of death, cemetery where buried. Do not send general requests such as, "Please send me a list of all Smiths buried in your cemeteries." At this time, many cemetery records are not computerized.

You can write to each cemetery to obtain maps. For maps of the City of Cleveland (owned) Cemeteries, you can obtain them from the headquarters at Highland Park Cemetery, 21400 Chagrin Boulevard, Cleveland, OH. Some maps from other Northeast Ohio Cemeteries and the City of Cleveland (owned) Cemeteries can be download from my web site.

Obtain the grave location and a cemetery map before visiting any cemetery. Have the person's full name and possible alternative spellings, date of birth, and their approximate date of death. Bring a camera or paper and a graphite or chalk to make headstone rubbings. Also bring a whisk broom, drinking water, and pencil and paper for taking notes. Also, look at surrounding stones as many families purchased lots next to each other.

I welcome suggestions for additions to this web site and any of the following: Histories of Greater Cleveland Cemeteries; Old photographs; Biographies on anyone buried in the Greater Cleveland Cemeteries.

Other cemeteries in the Greater Cleveland area that are online include: St. Adelbert's Catholic Cemetery, East Cleveland Township Cemetery, Lake View Cemetery, Lutheran Cemetery, Lutheran Memorial Park Cemetery, Maple Ridge Cemetery, and Strongsville Cemetery.

Please contact me with any questions or information. Michelle