Citizens in the Cemetery

Entrance to Rosehill feating Station and Tracks

Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum

Veterans were not the only visitors to Rosehill. 

During its early history, Rosehill was a site for recreation.  Easily accessible via rail, the “garden” cemetery of north served as an escape from the pressures of city life.

Chicago Tribune, May 26, 1895

With the installation of monuments and the growing prevalence of Decoration Day, the public’s interaction with the memorial landscape at Rosehill changed.  The cemetery became, not a site of pleasure, but a site of remembrance and commemoration.