The Garden Cemetery

Designed as an early American example of the garden cemetery, Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophies as well as Sir Christopher Wren's earlier idea of designing landscaped burial grounds located outside of churchyards and city centers.

In fact, it was Emerson who gave the speech at the dedication of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in 1855.

Paris's Père Lachaise Cemetery, opened in 1804, was the first full example of Wren's ideas, and is still a model for the best. The first garden cemetery in the USA, and one of the finest, was Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge MA.

Getting There

The cemetery is only a few minutes' walk northeast from Monument Square (follow "Route 62" signs; map), but it's a 13-minute walk from the square to Authors Ridge, which rises at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery's northeast edge.

If you're following my Concord Walking Tour, on your way back from the Old Manse and Old North Bridge, along Monument Street, turn left on Court Lane before you reach Monument Square, to get to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (PO Box 1245, Concord MA 01742) have published a map of the cemetery for sale at several locations in Concord which are listed on their website. More...

Authors Ridge

Authors Ridge holds the graves of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Daniel Chester French, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and their families.

Authors Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery...

On the side of Authors Ridge is the grave of Ephraim Wales Bull, inventor of the Concord grape, from which the Welch's company made a fortune in grape jelly and juice. Bull, who died without profiting greatly from his useful agricultural development, has a tombstone inscribed He sowed, others reaped.

Melvin Memorial

Also worth seeing are the grave of Daniel Chester French and, nearby, his Melvin Memorial, a large, fine funerary monument featuring his Mourning Victory, executed by French in honor of three brothers of the Melvin family who died in the Civil War.

Concord's Other Old Cemeteries

You might also want to visit Concord's two earliest colonial-era cemeteries, the Old Hill Burying Ground and South Burying Ground. More...

—by Tom Brosnahan

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Sightseeing Map of Concord Authors Ridge Louisa May Alcott's Grave Ralph Waldo Emerson's Grave Daniel Chester French's Grave Nathaniel Hawthorne's Grave Henry David Thoreau's Grave What to See & Do in Concord About Concord MA West of Boston