Mount Auburn Cemetery

Established in 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the first rural cemetery in the country. 19th-century records tell the story of the initial vision and how it is has evolved as a designed landscape and burial site. Including letters between its founding horticulturalists, commissions for works of art and buildings, trustee minutes and reports, and correspondence to and from the Cemetery. These pages detail all aspects of cemetery business, the rural cemetery movement, and the history of American landscape management and design. Read our transcribing conventions here. Visit our collections database to discover even more of our unique holdings.