Woodlands Cemetery

Neighborhood:West

Address:
4000 Woodland Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Significance:
Although Woodlands Cemetery was segregated until the 1950s, two important abolitionists are buried there, Alice Fisher and Mary Grew. Another permanent resident is Elliot Cresson, who was a leader in the American Colonization Society.

Type of Historic Resource:cemetery

Date Built / Architect:ca. 1843; house ca. 1770-1790

Extant: yes

Philadelphia Register of Historic Places:Philadelphia Register (6/26/1956; 3900 Woodland; alternate address: 4000-98 Woodland)

National Register of Historic Places:National Historic Landmark (12/24/1967), National Register (12/24/1967)

Listed in PHMC Cultural Resources Database:yes

Other surveys, if applicable:HABS (PA-1125)

Historical Marker:PA Historical Marker (1996)

Text of Historical Marker:
Here, William Hamilton (1745-1813) created one of the finest landscape gardens of its day and introduced many exotic plants. His mansion and stable, built 1787-92, are early examples of the neoclassical Adamsque-Federal style. In 1840 the estate became one of the first large rural cemeteries in America. The writer S. Weir Mitchell, artist Thomas Eakins, nurse-reformer Alice Fisher, and architect Wilson Eyre are buried here.