Loudon Park Cemetery
{{Short description|Historic privately owned cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland}}
{{Distinguish|Loudon Park National Cemetery}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name = Loudon Park Funeral Home and Cemetery
| image = Loudon Park Cemetery Baltimore MD1.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = The central portion of the cemetery
| map_type =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| established = 1853
| country = United States
| location = 3620 Wilkens Ave., Baltimore, Maryland
| coordinates = {{Coord|39|16|54|N|76|40|47|W|region:US-MD|display=it}}
| type = Public
| style =
| owner = Privately owned
| size = {{convert|500|acre|ha|0|adj=on}}
| graves =
| interments = ~130,000
| cremations =
| leases =
| website = {{URL|www.loudonparkcemetery.net}}
| findagraveid= 1973902
}}
Loudon Park Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. It was incorporated on January 27, 1853, on {{convert|100|acre|-1}} of the site of the "Loudon" estate, previously owned by James Carey, a local merchant and politician.{{cite book|title=Maryland History in Prints 1743–1900|page=189|author=Laura Rice}}{{cite book|title=Baltimore Neighborhoods|author=Marsha Wight Wise|date=2009|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|page=92|isbn=978-0-7385-5290-3}}{{cite web|title=Baltimore Neighborhoods{{snd}}Irvington|publisher=City of Baltimore|url=http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/neighborhoods/southwest/irvington.html|accessdate=December 6, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819215414/http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/neighborhoods/southwest/irvington.html|archive-date=August 19, 2007|url-status=dead}} The entrance to the cemetery is located at 3620 Wilkens Avenue.
The cemetery and Loudon Park Funeral Home, Inc. are locally owned and operated. Both the cemetery and the funeral home became privately owned in 2014 when they were acquired from Service Corporation International (SCI).{{Cite web|url = http://www.sci-corp.com/en-us/index.page|title = Home – Service Corporation International|website = www.sci-corp.com|access-date = 2016-03-02}} Loudon Park Funeral Home was built on the grounds of the historic cemetery by Stewart Enterprises in 1995.{{Cite web|url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/1992/06/26/chain-buying-loudon-park-cemetery-local-owners-also-selling-druid-ridge/|title = Chain buying Loudon Park Cemetery Local owners also selling Druid Ridge|website = tribunedigital-baltimoresun|access-date = 2016-03-02}} SCI acquired Stewart Enterprises in 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://www.funerals.org/newsandblogsmenu/blogdailydirge/3037-scistewart122013|title=SCI Buys Stewart Enterprises|website=|access-date=2016-03-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307124814/https://www.funerals.org/newsandblogsmenu/blogdailydirge/3037-scistewart122013|archive-date=2016-03-07|url-status=dead}}
Loudon National Cemetery
A portion of the eastern section is owned by the federal government as Loudon Park National Cemetery, acquired in 1861, and holds the remains of 2,300 Union soldiers killed during the Civil War. There is also a Confederate section where about 650 Confederate soldiers are buried, marked by a statue of a Confederate soldier. Since 2003, nearly all of the Confederates in this section have had new markers put on their graves under an "Adopt-a-Confederate" program.{{cite web|title=Adopt a Confederate|url=http://www.mdscv.org/1388/adopt-a-confederate/|accessdate=12 June 2012|archive-date=26 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626233851/http://www.mdscv.org/1388/adopt-a-confederate/|url-status=dead}} The entrance to the National Cemetery portion of Loudon Park is located along Frederick Avenue in the neighborhood of Irvington.
The Confederate Memorial was designed by Frederick Volck in 1870, paid for by Loudon Park Confederate Memorial Association and inaugurated on June 17, 1873.{{cite news |title=Confederate Memorial Observances |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=June 17, 1873}} The statue originally features a Confederate soldier (sometimes mistakenly thought to be Stonewall Jackson) standing above a pair of young children; but the children were removed from the statue sometime between 1924 and 1980.{{cite web |title=Confederate Monument at Loudon Park Cemetery |url=https://www.mdhistory.org/resources/confederate-monument-at-loudon-park-cemetery/ |access-date=10 September 2024}}{{cite news |title=Memorial Offering to the Confederate Dead |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=3 June 1870}}{{cite news |title=Confederate Memorial Ceremonies |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=18 June 1873}}
Notable persons
Notable persons interred here include:
- Charles J. Baker (1821–1894), ex officio Mayor of Baltimore{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108899415/charles-j-baker-26-sep-1894-the/ |title=Charles J. Baker |date=1894-09-26 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2022-09-04}}{{Open access}}
- Thomas Beck (1909–1995), actor
- Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851–1921), former United States Attorney General, former United States Secretary of the Navy, founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte (1805–1870), son of Jérôme Bonaparte, nephew of Emperor Napoleon I, father of Charles Joseph Bonaparte.
- William Samuel Booze (1862–1933, U.S. Congressman from Maryland's 3rd District, 1897–1899
- Abel G. Cadwallader (1841–1907), Civil War Medal of Honor recipient.
- Jack L. Chalker (1944–2005), author
- Clarence Lemuel "Cupid" Childs (1867–1912), Major League Baseball Player.
- Barnes Compton (1830–1898), former Congressman and Maryland state Treasurer.
- Frederick Nicholls Crouch (1808–1896), composer.
- Elijah Cummings (1951–2019), U.S Congressman from Maryland's 7th district, 1996–2019.
- Frederick George D'Utassy (1827–1892), Civil War Union Army officer
- David Danforth (1890–1970), Major League Baseball player
- James William Denny (1838–1923), Civil War Confederate Army officer and U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 3rd District, 1899–1901 and 1903–1905
- Lewis Pessano "Buttercup" Dickerson (1858–1920), Major League Baseball player
- Charles W. Field (1828–1892), military officer in the United States, Confederate and Egyptian armies
- John T. Ford (1829–1894), operator of Ford's Theater
- James Albert Gary (1833–1920), 38th United States Postmaster General{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122120898/james-a-gary-funeral-marked-by/ |title=James A. Gary Funeral Marked By Simplicity |date=1920-11-03 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-04-02}}{{Open access}}
- Harry Gilmor (1838–1883), Confederate cavalry officer and Baltimore City Police Commissioner.
- William Henry Gorman (1843–1915), cofounder of Citizens Bank of Maryland
- Bradley T. Johnson (1829–1903), Writer, Confederate Brigadier General, commanded the 1st Maryland Regiment (C.S.A.).
- William Kimmel (1812–1886), U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 3rd District, 1877–1881.
- Frederic Arnold Kummer (1873–1943), American author, playwright and screenwriter{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116713667/kummer-24-nov-1943-the-baltimore-sun/ |title=Kummer |date=1943-11-24 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |page=20 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-01-18}}{{Open access}}
- William W. McIntire (1850–1912), U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 3rd District, 1897–1899.
- H. L. Mencken (1880–1956), journalist, critic, author, and essayist.
- Ottmar Mergenthaler (1854–1899), inventor of the Linotype.
- Howard S. O'Neill (1883–1966), state senator and lawyer{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115087156/oneill-3-jun-1966-the-baltimore-sun/ |title=O'Neill |date=1966-06-03 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |page=C16 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2022-12-23}}{{Open access}}
- J. Smith Orrick (died 1930), American politician{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121722360/j-smith-orrick-rites-to-be-conducted/ |title=J. Smith Orrick Rites To Be Conducted |date=1930-02-28 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-03-26}}{{Open access}}
- Mary Young Pickersgill (1776–1857), seamstress who made the flag flying over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".{{cite web|url = http://dutchman-cemetary-management.easton.pa.amfibi.directory/us/c/16768170-dutchman-cemetary-management|title = Who we are|publisher = Loudon Park Cemetery|accessdate = December 6, 2008}}
- Robert John Reynolds (1838–1909), former governor of Delaware.
- Samuel J. Seymour (1860–1956), possible last surviving witness to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
- Frank S. Strobridge (1857–1918), American politician and insurance businessman{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114280575/prominent-men-at-funeral-25-jul-1918/ |title=Prominent Men at Funeral |date=1918-07-25 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2022-12-07}}{{Open access}}
- Alpheus Waters Wilson (1834–1916), bishop of the American Methodist Episcopal Church, South{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114073660/bishop-a-w-wilson-dies-after-journey/ |title=Bishop A. W. Wilson Dies After Journey |date=1916-11-21 |newspaper=The Evening Sun |page=16 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2022-12-03}}{{Open access}}
The Weiskittel-Roehle Burial Vault, faced with cast iron, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.{{NRISref|2008a}}
Images
File:LoudonParkCem.FuneralHome&Office.20120611.jpg|Funeral home, Wilkens Avenue
File:LoudonParkCem.OldGate.20120611.jpg|Original main gate and office, Frederick Avenue
File:LoudonParkCem.FirefighterMonument.20120611.jpg|Firefighters memorial
File:MaryPickersgill.Tombstone&plaque.LoudonParkCem.20120612.jpg|Mary Pickersgill tombstone and plaque
File:LoudonParkCem.WeiskittelMausoleum.NRHP.plaque.20120611.jpg|NRHP plaque for Weiskittel Mausoleum
File:LoudonParkCem.WeiskittelVault.20120611.jpg|Weiskittel Mausoleum, made of cast iron to look like masonry
File:LoudonParkCem.WiessnerMonument.20120611.jpg|Wiessner Monument, more than three stories high, the tallest monument in the cemetery
File:LoudonParkCem.Johnson.BT.CSA.20120611.jpg|Monument for General Bradley T. Johnson, Confederate States Army
File:LoudonParkCem.ConfHillSign.20120602.jpg|Confederate Hill during Confederate Memorial Day, 2012
File:LoudonParkCem.ConfedMemDay.2012.flags.20120602.jpg|Confederate memorial and graves, Confederate Memorial Day, 2 June 2012
File:LoudonParkCem.ConfedMemDay.2012.NichJonesNewMarker.20120602.jpg|One of nearly 600 Confederate soldiers to receive a new marker
File:BonaparteMonument.LoudonParkCem.20120612.jpg|Bonaparte Monument
File:AbelCadwallader.MedalofHonor.LoudonParkCem.20120612.jpg|Abel Cadwallader, Union soldier and Medal of Honor recipient
File:JohnTFord.LoudonParkCem.20120612.jpg|John T. Ford monument
{{Commons category|Loudon_Park_Cemetery|Loudon Park Cemetery}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- {{Find a Grave cemetery}}
- [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MD/ba5.html#R9T0XKE1Q "Loudon Park" Political Graveyard]
- [http://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/521 Loudon Park – Explore Baltimore Heritage]
{{Maryland in the Civil War}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1853 establishments in Maryland
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1853
Category:Cemeteries established in the 1850s
Category:Cemeteries in Baltimore
Category:Confederate States of America cemeteries
Category:Maryland in the American Civil War