Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Road to Dead

It is not Arlington, but Cleveland has a pretty impressive cemetery all its own.

Right down the street from us is Lakeview Cemetery - and I suppose like most, it's rich in history. You can say that of all, since where there are dead, there is bound to be some history - whether it is boring or not.

Except for riding my bike through Lakeview (which is actually prohibited), I have never really been there. Supposedly, it is quite a tourist attraction. I will say, the grounds are beautiful.
Not only are they fairly expansive but they have a few prominent folk taking the big dirt nap, including Eliot Ness, Jeptha Wade (founder of Western Union), John D. Rockefeller (founder of Standard Oil) and one president, James Garfield.

Garfield was only in office six months before he was assassinated. Actually, he was shot two months prior to his death - so I don't know how history views those last 60 days or so of his 'serving'. Anyhoo - he has this gianormous monument at the cemetery:


Not too shabby of a final resting place for someone who wasn't president all that long.

I love the ornate tile work and the $8.79 Home Depot 'welcome' mat. I love the fact that they are welcoming you to someone's tomb. JFK could learn a thing about hospitality from JAG.

......at least the crypt got top billing!

I wasn't expecting the caskets to be above ground, or not encased in marble. Ruckiry, (not Jon's boss) the stench has mostly dissipated over the last 120 years. The two urns (if you can see them) are his daughter and son-in-law.

And from the observatory deck (yes, they have one) you see downtown Cleveburgh.


The woman at the information center in the monument was quite unhelpful. Yes, Garfield had other children. No, she didn't know where they were entombed. She made it quite clear she really didn't know about anything she was supposed to know about. Nor did she seem to care.



Song by: Paula Cole

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wha WHA WHAT!?!? A swastika?? He was a NAZI!!!

ROR...kidding.

Pretty monument.

Anonymous said...

Great eye jonny!! I've never noticed that during my visit.Out of town guests find this to be an interesting attraction.
If the woman at the information desk HAD been helpful, would you really have been in Cleveland?
Monday moaning and the letters to the editor of the PD are the true voices of our city.