Green Lawn Cemetery is the largest graveyard in Columbus and the second largest in Ohio. It encompasses more than 360 acres and contains more than 155,000 graves.
**Last Updated: 7/2/2024- Added a new date and photo.
Location
1000 Greenlawn Avenue
Years in Use
1848-Present
Timeline of Events
The timeline includes general history, reports, mentions in media and more.
August 2, 1848
Columbus civic leaders form the Green Lawn Cemetery Association.
March 23, 1849
The Green Lawn Cemetery Association secures a charter from the Ohio General Assembly to incorporate the Green Lawn Cemetery of Columbus.
Early Spring, 1849
83 acres of land are purchased to the southwest of Columbus across the Scioto River. The cost of the land is $3,750.
May 23, 1849
A public picnic is held to help clear a portion of the forested land for use.
July 7, 1849
The first burial takes place at Green Lawn- Leonora Perry, the young daughter of Aaron F. Perry. Perry is a trustee of the cemetery association.
July 9, 1849
Green Lawn Cemetery is formally dedicated.
Around July 12, 1849
The second burial occurs for that of Dr. B.F. Gard, who dies on July 11, 1849 of cholera.
August 26, 1849
The first board of directors is organized for the cemetery.
October, 1849
The first headstone is erected by William G. Deshler for his wife Olive, who had died at 19.
1856
Cemetery lot holders vote to ban non-Whites from being buried at Green Lawn. This action is spurred in part due to a North Graveyard ordinance that forbid new burials. North Graveyard was the only cemetery at the time to accept non-Whites.
June 10, 1862
Section M of the cemetery is set aside for military burials, particularly those of Civil War casualties.
February, 1864
Green Lawn trustees offer the owners of burial lots at North Graveyard to move to new lots at Green Lawn, in part because they had development plans for the North Graveyard site.
1872
Restrictions on non-White burials are lifted. A segregated section is set aside.
April 1, 1872
62 acres are bought from John and Samuel Stimmel to expand Green Lawn. The price of the land was $13,250. The size of the cemetery grows to 149 acres.
September 2, 1883
A George Wagner, 62, attempts suicide by gun near the grave of his daughter. He initially survives and is discovered on the morning of September 3rd by cemetery workers.
1887
Green Lawn expands to 275 acres. Green Lawn Avenue is also opened on the eastern side.
1891
The Soldiers and Sailors’ Memorial is erected at a cost of $8,900.
November 11, 1902
The Mortuary Chapel- now known as Huntington Chapel- is dedicated.
March 24-27, 1913
Sections of Green Lawn are damaged by floodwaters during the Great Flood of 1913.
Damage at Green Lawn on March 27, 1913.
1922
The number of graves numbers roughly 65,000, with maintenance expenditures about $300,000 per year.
2012
Scrap metal thieves damage several mausoleums when they remove decorative grates, doors and window frames.
Late 2014-Early 2016
A vandal damages more than 600 monuments. The vandal is later identified, but never charged.
Here is a good source for Green Lawn burials.
