Cathedral Cemetery

The cemetery is located at 1032 N. 48th Street,{{cite web |title=Cathedral Cemetery |url=https://www.philadelphiacatholiccemeteries.com/cemeteries/cathedral-cemetery |website=philadelphiacatholiccemeteries.com |publisher=Philadelphia Catholic Cemeteries |access-date=3 November 2024}} near the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Girard Avenue, in the Mill Creek neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The cemetery is {{convert|45|acre}} in size and is adjacent to the former Our Mother of Sorrows church.{{cite book |last1=Vieira |first1=M. Laffitte |title=West Philadelphia Illustrated |date=1903 |publisher=Avil Printing Company |location=Philadelphia |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNMwAQAAMAAJ |access-date=4 November 2024}} It is managed by StoneMor partners.{{cite web |title=Cathedral Cemetery - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |url=https://www.localcemeteries.net/philadelphia/2018/1/4/cathedral-cemetery |website=localcemeteries.net |date=January 7, 2018 |publisher=Local Ascension LLC |access-date=3 November 2024}}

Prior to Cathedral Cemetery, the burial options for Catholics were limited in Philadelphia. From 1733 to 1759, St. Joseph's was the only Catholic cemetery in Philadelphia. Before that, Catholics were buried in the Strangers' Burial Ground, a potter's field now used as Washington Square park.{{sfn|Keels|2003|p=17}} Eventually other parish churchyards at St. Mary's, Holy Trinity, and St. Augustine were used for the burials of Catholics.{{sfn|Keels|2003|p=91}}

Cathedral Cemetery was founded in 1849 by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and was the first of 12 diocesan cemeteries in the Philadelphia area.{{sfn|Keels|2003|p=97}} It was established to support burials due to the influx of Catholic immigrants to Philadelphia from Ireland and Germany.{{cite web |last1=Longwell |first1=Lance |title=Old Cathedral Cemetery: Philadelphia Immigration Story |url=https://guidetophilly.com/old-cathedral-cemetery-philadelphia/ |website=guidetophilly.com |date=September 20, 2021 |publisher=LL-Squared LLC |access-date=3 November 2024}} Bishop Francis Kenrick purchased a farm for usage as a cemetery and an orphanage.{{cite web |last1=Baldwin |first1=Lou |title=After a glorious history, twin spires of West Phila. church will go silent |url=https://catholicphilly.com/2017/09/news/local-news/west-philadelphia-church-set-to-close-on-october-9/ |website=catholicphilly.com |publisher=CatholicPhilly |access-date=4 November 2024}} It was named Cathedral Cemetery{{cite book |title=Philadelphia and Its Environs |date=1876 |publisher=J.B. Lippincott & Co. |location=Philadelphia |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jlZnSPC4_0C |access-date=3 November 2024}} since funds raised by the sale of burial lots were intended for the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.{{sfn|Keels|2003|p=91}}

In 1852, church services were held in a tool shed on the cemetery property. The tool shed chapel was named St. Gregory's. In 1853, the chapel was doubled in size and two wings were added in 1856.{{cite book |last1=Kirlin |first1=Joseph L. J. |title=Catholicity in Philadelphia |date=1909 |publisher=John Jos. McVey |location=Philadelphia |pages=363–364 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfTPAAAAMAAJ |access-date=4 November 2024}} As attendance increased, the congregation name was changed and the Our Mother of Sorrows church was built in 1870. The church closed in 2017 due to low attendance and the high cost of maintenance.{{cite web |last1=Holmes |first1=Kristen E. |title=A shuttered West Philly church and the mystery of Father Sharkey |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/archdiocese-mother-of-sorrows-catholic-church-tomb-exhume-priest-west-philly-20180227.html |website=www.inquirer.com |date=February 27, 2018 |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |access-date=4 November 2024}}

In 1861, the New Cathedral Cemetery was established by the archdiocese in the Francisville neighborhood of Philadelphia.{{sfn|Keels|2003|p=97}}

Cathedral Cemetery contains the burials of over 50 members of the 69th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, a volunteer regiment of Irish immigrants that fought at the Battle of Gettysburg and other major battles of the American Civil War. Many were too poor to afford headstones and were buried in unmarked graves. On Veterans Day in 2002, a memorial to the members of the regiment was installed by an American Civil War reenactment group from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Keels|2003|p=97}}

• Edmund English (1841–1912), Medal of Honor recipient
• William Harnett (1848–1892), painter
• Mark McGrillis (1872–1935), Major League Baseball player
• St. Clair Augustine Mulholland (1839–1910), brevet major general in the Union army
• James Thayer (c. 1853–1886), Medal of Honor recipient

Citations

{{reflist}}

Sources

• {{cite book

| last = Keels

| first = Thomas H.

| year = 2003

| title = Philadelphia Graveyards & Cemeteries

| publisher = Arcadia Publishing

| isbn = 9780738512297

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rzNvCR4_-2YC

}}

Category:1849 establishments in Pennsylvania

Category:Cemeteries established in the 1840s

Category:Cemeteries in Philadelphia

Category:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Category:Roman Catholic cemeteries in Pennsylvania

Cathedral Cemetery