Cemetery Picnic
11 October 2011 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dime_novel_heroA series of devastating yellow fever and cholera epidemics in the United States in the early 19th Century changed the way cemeteries were built and managed. Previously, graveyards were set next to churches or were small, rural family plots but with the mounting death toll due to disease the burial of the dead became a civic rather than a mere private concern. The setting aside of sizable tracts of land and the concurrent rise of Romanticism combined to create a new kind of burial yard. One with wide, open spaces, groves of trees, winding roads, scenic vistas, fountains and Gothic architecture.
In a time when there weren't public parks, or art museums, or botanical gardens in American cities there were suddenly large pieces of ground, filled with beautiful sculptures and horticultural art and the garden cemeteries became places for recreation. In fact, it was the naturalistic landscape architecture of cemeteries that later influenced the modern urban parks such as Central Park in New York City. People would use these new and aesthetically pleasant public spaces to hunt or fish, have carriage races and picnics.
Thus, it was wholly appropriate for the Steel City Steam Society to schedule a picnic in Allegheny Cemetery this past weekend.
In a time when there weren't public parks, or art museums, or botanical gardens in American cities there were suddenly large pieces of ground, filled with beautiful sculptures and horticultural art and the garden cemeteries became places for recreation. In fact, it was the naturalistic landscape architecture of cemeteries that later influenced the modern urban parks such as Central Park in New York City. People would use these new and aesthetically pleasant public spaces to hunt or fish, have carriage races and picnics.
Thus, it was wholly appropriate for the Steel City Steam Society to schedule a picnic in Allegheny Cemetery this past weekend.
