In one of Chicago’s most exclusive neighborhoods, the architecture is world-class, the landscaping is impeccable and convenient access to the El is less than a block away.
And all the residents are dead.
To be sure, the residents of Graceland Cemetery aren’t going anywhere soon, but crisp winds and the crunch of colored leaves underfoot make fall as good a time as any to pay your respects.
Graceland Cemetery — otherwise known as the cemetery right next to Red Line in Lakeview — is Chicago’s best-known burial ground, and the final resting place for rich, famous and not-so-rich-and-famous Chicagoans alike.
Established in 1860 by city charter, the property took its name from Grace Street and Waveland Avenue, the roads forming its earliest boundaries. City officials chose the location because it was on high ground, away from the lake, and because there wasn’t anything already there: In 1860, Graceland was two miles outside the city limits.
The cemetery never used all of the land it was originally deeded, and today it sits on a smaller site of 119 acres.
Graceland has long been popular with the living as well. Intended to be natural and parklike, the cemetery was designed and landscaped by Ossian Simonds, who also helped plan another Chicago favorite: Lincoln Park.
The cemetery features dozens of different kinds of trees and shrubs, which make it popular among garden club types, if not college students. Graceland also contains the work of several well-known sculptors. Loredo Taft’s statue “Eternal Silence,” a cloaked figure cast in bronze but weathered green, stands solemnly in front of a black granite face. “The Crusader,” another Taft staTuesday, depicts a noble knight looking upward and holding a shield. And Daniel Chester French, the man who would later design the Lincoln Memorial, created the statue “Memory” for the Marshall Field family plot. It’s not Lincoln, but it sure looks a lot like him.
“I don’t think of (Graceland) in terms of death. It’s just a beautiful place,” says Barbara Lanctot, author of the book “A Walk Through Graceland Cemetery.” Lancot also volunteers as a Chicago Architecture Foundation docent and has been giving tours of Graceland since 1975. “There’s such serenity here,” she says.
The cemetery, like the city it represents, has its comparative high- and low-rent districts. In Graceland, plots near the el tracks, which bring CTA trains rumbling through the cemetery’s backyard about every ten minutes, are less desirable.
In death, as in life, waterfront property is the most-coveted location, so it should come as little surprise that the graves of many rich and famous Chicagoans surround Graceland’s lake.
“Everybody wants a lake view no matter what,” says CAF docent Sylvia Dunbeck, who has been giving tours of Graceland for 12 years. “The rich do stick together,” she adds.
Marshall Field and his family, Chicago real estate magnate Potter Palmer, sleeping car tycoon George Pullman and the Crane family of toilet bowl fame all made the Lakeview property their final resting place.
So did many names familiar to Northwestern students. Tombstones and markers reading Medill, McCormick, Deering, Swift and Noyes are positioned next to and around the lake, more often than not in spectacular tombs and mausoleums
“People are generally buried as they lived,” Dunbeck says. “How people are buried says a lot about them.”
Unlike many cemeteries, Graceland is famous not only for the people buried there, but also for its renowned architecture and design. Legendary American architect Louis Sullivan designed two Graceland mausoleums including the Getty tomb, an intricately ornamented masterwork across from the lake. Sullivan is buried under a modest headstone a short walk away.
An incredible variety of architectural styles are represented, from elaborate Gothic and Victorian works to sparse Modernism. Several mausoleums sport sphinxes and vaguely pyramidal shapes, suggesting Egyptian influence. Some buildings contain elaborate stained glass windows, though others have been stolen and replaced by plain glass. Greek and Roman tombs are especially popular among Graceland’s richest residents.
Palmer and his wife, Bertha, own a commanding view of the lake, and rest in splendor underneath rows of imposing Doric columns. Pullman opted for eternal security to protect his body from employees bitter over an 1894 strike, and is buried in a huge vault underneath a Corinthian pillar and layers of tar and railroad ties. The Field family practically has a park of its own.
Size isn’t everything, though. Many of the smaller graves are one-of-a-kind novelties. The grave of William Hulbert, the first president of the National League, is shaped like a baseball.
In addition to Sullivan, many architects who made their name in Chicago are now permanent residents. Fisk Hall architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham is buried on his own island in the center of the lake. Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe lies under a simple rectangular stone, evoking his maxim that “less is more.”
Graceland is ringed by a brick wall topped with barbed wire, but inside lies what Dunbeck calls “an oasis.” Its winding, tree-lined roads and parklike atmosphere make it ideal for exploration.
“It’s always been one of my favorite places. Everybody loves Graceland,” Lanctot says, noting that Graceland consistently ranks as the CAF’s most popular tour. “The docents had always walked through the cemetery at Halloween. someone suggested we give a tour,” she says.
“The first tour was on a Sunday in August (1975),” Lanctot reminisces. “Five hundred people showed up. The second Sunday, 900 people showed up.” After that, she says, the CAF decided to give tours on a regular basis, and has been doing it ever since.
“It’s fun. The mood of the place makes people want to stroll,” Dunbeck says. “It’s a treasure chest of Chicago history,” she added. “When I leave here, I feel uplifted.” nyou
