User:Retired username/Cemeteries of Louisville

The Cemeteries of Louisville. Reflecting the early rural nature of Jefferson County, family lots were the most common place of burial from settlement of Louisville in 1778 through the mid-19th century. Hundreds of such places exist, some well-marked, others not. As the county became urbanized, public cemeteries became more common.

History
Louisville's first public cemetery was located between Eleventh and Twelfth streets on Jefferson Street and used as early as 1786. It came to be called the Upper Jefferson Cemetery, but was becoming full by 1820. This site became part of Louisville's first public park, Baxter Square, in 1880.

A site further down Jefferson Street was chosen in 1830. Initially called Lower Jefferson Cemetery, and was located at one was then the western fringe of the city, between Fifteenth and Eighteenth streets, in what became the Russell neighborhood. It would be in use until 1893 or 1894. The 13-acre cemetery came to be known as Western Cemetery, and fell into ruin in the 20th century, as markers crumbled or were eroded beyond readability. Sixteenth Street was extended through the cemetery in 1959. As of 2007, land ownership was ambiguous, but the property was mowed by the city's parks department.

Another early public cemetery was that of Portland, then an independent town west of Louisville. Graves date to 1828, but it may have been a private cemetery prior to the deeding of 4 acres to the city in 1847. Portland Cemetery would be in active use for longer than Louisville's first cemeteries.

Public cemeteries began out of necessity, to balance the desire for traditional burial and disposal of corpses with public sanitation. As trades related to the cemetery became more refined, sanitation was no longer a serious concern. As was common around America in the mid-19th century, the cemetery came to be popularly viewed as a tranquil final resting place, which should be landscaped creatively, a contrast to the utilitarian rectangular cemeteries of earlier times.

This trend lead to the creation of Cave Hill Cemetery, which was dedicated on July 25 1848 and became Louisville's largest and best known cemetery.