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Welcome to
the Spring Hill Cemetery Park
  
Listed on the National Register
of Historic Places
SpringHill
Cemetery Park Rules & Regulations (coming
soon)
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Street Names
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Partial
Cemetery Map |
Full Cemetery Map
TreeKeeper System
(username: public password: public)
"Cemeteries provide their
communities with continuity. They furnish us with a link to the
past while providing a frame of reference for understanding the
mystery of life. Unfortunately, when a cemetery falls into
disrepair or is abandoned, memories are damaged-some only
bruised, others lost forever. This fading or disappearance of
cherished memories is a tragedy.
In a world of change and turmoil, cemeteries give us a place to
pause and reflect and a place where we feel connected not only
with our pasts but also with the pasts of others. Even though
some were famous and some just ordinary, they all, like us,
lived on this earth at some point and time.
However, cemeteries are not just a place to reflect on the past.
They remind us to keep the present in perspective. As we seek
meaning in our lives, cemeteries are an appropriate place for
contemplation. They can reinforce religious beliefs, stimulate a
sense of the spiritual, or be a place to discover new visions of
the meaning of life.
To be all of these things, a cemetery should be forever." by
John F. Llewellyn
Contact Information:
Spring Hill Cemetery Park
1555 Farnsworth Drive
Charleston, WV 25301
Phone 304-348-8010
Fax 304-348-6406
Perry Cox, Cemetery Superintendent
Hours of Operation:
Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Gates are open dawn to dusk 7 days a week.
Spring Hill Cemetery Park: A Brief History
Charleston was
authorized as a town in 1794 and until 1869 the municipal
cemetery was a small plot next to the Kanawha River on the James
River and Kanawha Turnpike.
By 1869 the old burial ground had run out of space and the city
began Spring Hill Cemetery on a hill overlooking Charleston.
A.J. Vosburg, a civil engineer, designed the Old Circle section of
Spring Hill Cemetery which incorporated beautiful geometric
patterns for the walkways typical of the Victorian era.
After more than 130 years Spring Hill Cemetery has grown to more than
150 acres and the complex is now West Virginia's largest
cemetery. With its remarkably beautiful location overlooking the
gold domed Capitol it is one of the Kanawha Valley's most scenic
sites. In 1998, the name was officially changed to Spring Hill
Cemetery Park.
Although Spring Hill Cemetery Park is still an active cemetery
with a new section opened recently it is also a wonderful place
to walk, enjoy nature's beauty and an awesome view of the valley.
Bird watching is a very popular activity and the trees and
flowers provide an outdoor classroom for the many school classes
who visit often.
Historians find Spring Hill Cemetery Park especially interesting
since many key figures in the development of West Virginia and
Charleston rest there.
Civil War notables abound from both the Blue and Grey including
Gen. Appleton who was an officer of a famous black regiment, The
52nd Massachusetts. Thomas Brown was the Confederate officer who
sold the beloved horse "Traveler" to Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Spring Hill Cemetery Park can be reached from the North end of
Morris Street by going right on Piedmont Road and up the ramp over the interstate, then on up to the
top of the hill on Farnsworth Drive.
Open Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Gates are open
dawn to dusk 7 days a week.
The Monuments
Monument Diversity:
Within the expansive
grounds are numerous high quality monuments carved in bas and
sunken relief, with rock-faced or polished surfaces.
Neo-Egyptian Revival style marble monuments may be seen in the
Mountain View Section. The Littlepage memorial, a colossal
sandstone acorn, adorns the family plot in the section 47 area
of Spring Hill Cemetery. One of the finest expressions of stone
carving art is seen in the Stump family plot, Scruggs Addition,
where markers are fashioned in the form of tree stumps. Poems,
in epitaph form, are inscribed upon the flat limestone monuments
covering the graves of Walter E. Clark and wife, in the private Mountain View
section, attesting to the richness and variety of subjects of
artistic merit found in the cemetery. Also note the stately
grace of the Thayer Bowl, the unique quality of the metal work
in the Fife monument and the poignant imagery of the Chaddock
marker with its sharp relief and distinct details.
Mausoluem: The single most architecturally significant
feature on the cemetery grounds is the mausoleum. It was built
in 1910 and sold to the city in 1969. With its stone facade and
tiled roof, the Moorish type architecture of the mausoleum is
distinguished from other architectural styles in the area. It is
centrally loacted at the crossroads, and visually dominant.
Crypts: We call attention to the Watkins crypt in the Old
Circle with its beautiful door in the Art Deco Style. Other
stone crypts were built in similar styles fashionable in the
late 1800s and early twentieth century, notably the
Neo-Classical Revival, Romanesque Revival, and Gothic Revival.
Obelisks: While the grounds of the cemetery are filled with
a wide variety of monuments reflective of mortuary and funereal
art popular during the period 1869-1935, there are only a few
polished granite, marble and limestone monolithic obelisks. They
mark the graves of such prominent West Virginians as Governor
Atkinson, immediately west of Spring Hill Section 26; black
leader Sam Starks, immediately west of the Confederate Cemetery;
businessman Arnold Midelburg, (Hebrew) B' Nai Israel
Cemetery; Judge James H. Brown, Spring Hill Old Circle section;
and Senator John Kenna, Mt. Olivet (Roman Catholic) Cemetery. Although few in
number, they still constitute the largest display of granite,
limestone and marble obelisks in West Virginia. Rising to a
height of 30 feet or more, these shafts represent an ancient
Egyptian form sacred to the solar religion and popular with
19th-century Americans searching for an appropriate historic
style among the classical and Near Eastern civilizations.
The Old Circle
The oldest section of
Spring Hill Cemetery is known as the Old Circle. It is artfully
laid out, being situated on a promontory overlooking Farnsworth
Drive. The monuments, curbs, walls and the landscaping create a
strong sense of dignity and serenity. Other sections of the
cemetery historic district encompass a part of the Old Circle; a
Confederate Soldiers' plot, located between the Capito and
Wehrle additions; a field for the American Legion; a potter's
field and Mt. Olivet Cemetery, a Roman Catholic cemetery.
In the Old Circle and through Section 26, be watchful for the
historically important family names of Miller, Ruffner, Quarrier,
Dickinson, Dryden, Laidley, Clarkson, Reynolds and Summers
families The layout of the lots is intricate with its
intersecting curves and circles and is very high quality design
and notable for its period. Certain funerary symbolism of grief
and hope and a diversity of stone building material will be
evident throughout the cemetery.
Bird
Viewing
Founded in 1944, the
Handlan Chapter of the Brooks Bird Club is the Charleston-area
chapter of the Brooks Bird Club, headquartered in
Wheeling. This organization is dedicated to studying birds in the
Kanawha Valley. For more information contact: Russell Young at
(304) 925-5668
Bird walks are held at Spring Hill Cemetery Park on Sunday
mornings during peak migration seasons. Participants gather at
the parking lot on Middleton Drive, below the Mausoleum at 8:00
am.
Spring Outings
April 15th, 22nd, and 29th.
May 6th, and 13th.
Fall Outings
September 2nd, and 23rd.
October 14th.
A list of species, resident or transient at Spring Hill Cemetery
Park, has been compiled by members of the Handlan Chapter,
Brooks Bird Club. Their brochure is available at the Spring Hill
Cemetery Park office.
Link to
Handlan Chapter of Brooks Bird Club
Birds
of Spring Hill Cemetery & Arboretum
The Friends
of Spring Hill Cemetery Inc.
A short history:
The Friends of Spring
Hill Cemetery Inc., was formed as a non-profit volunteer group
in June 2001. The Friends of Spring Hill Cemetery Inc.
co-operate with the City of Charleston to promote, enhance and
develop Spring Hill Cemetery Park for the use and enjoyment of
the public.
The Friends include members of the Spring Hill Cemetery
Commission, organizations, individuals and volunteers interested
in the preservation and development expressed in our mission.
Meetings:
Are held monthly at the Cemetery office and are open to the
public.
Contact Information:
Friends of Spring Hill Cemetery Inc.
P.O. Box 453
Charleston, WV 25322-0453
Board of Directors:
Officers
President Paul F. Francke, III, MD
Vice President Allen Carter Giltinan
Treasurer Angus M. Peyton
Secretary Henry Battle
Board Members:
Richard André
Bonnie Fidler
Lynn Goldsmith
Betsy Johnson
Charlie Lewis
Robert O'Conner
Angus E. Peyton
Mary Price Ratrie
Barbara Rose
Andy Sheetz
John Smith
Mike Smith
Ruffner Woody
Russell Young
Membership:
Dues are for one calendar year starting in January and
ending in December.
Individual $10.00; Family $15.00; Group $25.00;
Non-profit Group $20.00; Corporate $100.00; Life $200.00;
Checks should be made payable to Friends of Spring Hill Cemetery
Park, Inc.
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