Forest Hills Cemetery - History

History

On March 28, 1848, Roxbury City Council (the municipal board in charge of the area at that time) gave an order for the purchase of the farms of the Seaverns family to establish a rural municipal park cemetery. Inspired by the Mount Auburn Cemetery, Forest Hills Cemetery was designed by Alexander Dearborn to provide a park-like setting to bury and remember family and friends. In the year the cemetery was established, another 14½ acres were purchased from John Parkinson. This made for a little more than 71 acres (290,000 m2) at a cost of $27,894. The area was later increased to 225 acres (0.9 km2). In 1893, a crematorium was added to the cemetery, along with other features like a scattering garden, an indoor columbarium and an outdoor columbarium. In 1927, anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were cremated here after their execution; their ashes were later returned to Italy.

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