These burial landscapes became a cultural phenomenon attracting not only mourners seeking solace, but also urbanites seeking relief from the frenetic confines of the city. They named it Mount Auburn and officially dedicated it as a rural cemetery.This groundbreaking endeavor set a powerful precedent that prompted the creation of similarly landscaped rural cemeteries outside of growing cities first in the Northeast, then in the Midwest and South, and later in the West. Inspired by the naturalistic garden style and melancholy-infused commemorative landscapes that had emerged in Europe, the group established a burial ground outside of Boston on an expansive tract of undulating, wooded land and added meandering roadways, picturesque ponds, ornamental trees and shrubs, and consoling memorials. Cothran and Erica Danylchak in Grave Landscapes: The Nineteenth-Century Rural Cemetery Movement.The movement began in Boston, where a group of reformers that included members of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society were grappling with the city's mounting burial crisis.

This rural cemetery movement, which featured beautifully landscaped grounds and sculptural monuments, is documented by James R. The solution was a revolutionary new type of American burial ground located in the countryside just beyond the city. Overcrowding in these areas led to packed urban graveyards that were not only unsightly, but were also a source of public health fears. Growing urban populations prompted major changes in graveyard location, design, and useDuring the Industrial Revolution people flocked to American cities.

Grave Landscapes by James R. Cothran