The Grove Cemetery & Yale Environs

Just a few blocks from our 1929 apartment and on the edge of the Yale campus is the Grove Cemetery.   The cemetery was organized in 1797 and was the first private, non-profit cemetery in the world.  It incorporated the new idea of a planned lay-out, permanently owned family plots, structured plantings, and paved, named streets.  There are 14 former Yale presidents buried here including Bart Giamatti, better known to us as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball who permanently banned Pete Rose from professional baseball.  The entrance on Grove Street is through an Egyptian Revival stone gateway designed by Henry Austin

and built in 1845.  The quote on the lintel ("The Dead Shall be Raised") is from 1 Corinthians 15:52, and wags claim numerous Yale Presidents have said, "They certainly will be if Yale needs the property."

Just inside the gate is the 'office' which was once a Victorian Chapel.

This was a beautiful cemetery with a park like atmosphere.  It was a balmy summer day with rain washed bright blue sky - a really lovely day to be out for a stroll.  There are several famous people buried here, the most recognizable being Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin.  The cemetery is the final home of many, many Yale notables. Drake commented that it's easy to see why these Yale people all feel a loyalty to this place with its long traditions.

Walking throughout the cemetery we were able to get glimpses of some of the Yale architecture.  There were also flowering dogwood trees.  One of the reasons this cemetery is on the National Historic Register is because of the variety of gravestones and monuments that dot the cemetery.  Here's one of my favorites, the female sphinx.

We found veterans of all the American wars as well as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.  We found someone who died during the California Gold Rush.  We found a student of Yale who died in 1725.  We found a family who changed the spelling of their name.  We found a woman born in 1687 in Waterton, New England - this would be prior to the organization of Connecticut. We found lots of interesting gravestones and monuments.  

Then we strolled back to our apartment through a portion of the Yale campus with me snapping pix of some of that fascinating architecture.

Enjoy the pictures:  https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2013ConnecticutTourOneNewHavenYale?authkey=Gv1sRgCImG-7OvorH-kQE

P.S.  Can you tell we're traveling again?  Two blogs in two days!