When a cemetery is for the living to enjoy it as a work of art.

In March of 2021 I found myself getting a free ride to Thornrose Cemetery, where my sister was doing some historical research on our family tree. What I found was a cemetery unlike any I’d come across before. Now where I live, we do have Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia; and it dates back to 1853, and has some very unique accolades to those who have passed. But nothing like what I saw and documented here.

Burials in a local cemetery in Staunton began around 1750 on a 2 ½ acre plot of Augusta Parish Church. Ninety years later, in the late 1840’s the Augusta Parish Church cemetery had become so crowded that records state it was “nearly impossible to dig a new grave without unearthing an old one.” Staunton needed a new cemetery.

“A committee was formed in 1848 to pursue the creation of a new burial ground, and on February 24, 1849, Thornrose Cemetery Company was chartered by act of the Legislature. Twelve acres west of Staunton were bought and laid off in lots, roads and walkways. The first recorded burial in Thornrose occurred on March 29, 1853.”

Later that month the new cemetery being formally dedicated on the 28th of May, 1853.

In the early 20th century a local architect, T. J. Collins, was commissioned to design the stone walls surrounding the property, as well as the Bridge and Tower, Mortuary Chapel, and most importantly, and most impressively, the limestone Gatehouse Entrance.

This may sound odd to us now, but prior to the 1900s many people did not have access to public parks as we know them now. “It was the fashion to make cemeteries as park-like as possible, so that people without a lot of land of their own could enjoy their beauty…Arista Hoge, a city treasurer and longtime cemetery board member, led the movement. Some call Thornrose Cemetery Hoge’s “city of the dead.”

Because of the light this day, and the subject matter, shooting black and white, medium format film, just seemed a good idea.