rom Woodland's Lookout Point – the highest point in the city – Dayton’s skyline far surpasses the dreams of John Van Cleve, one of the city’s important leaders and Woodland’s founder. By the 1840s, Dayton was outgrowing its original cemetery at Third and Main Streets. Dayton’s pioneer families faced the problem. The village was growing and a larger, more suitable cemetery was needed, preferably on some of the beautiful wooded and rolling land with which Dayton was surrounded. Selecting from thousands of available acres, the original trustees, led by John Van Cleve, chose 40 acres remarkable for their hilltop views and their wide variety of trees. Opening in 1843, it was for that natural beauty that they chose to call it “Woodland.” At that time those acres seemed quite far from the center of the little city. Little did they know that, in the decades to come, Dayton would reach out to Woodland and then surround it on all sides.

In those days, Ohio was most popular for settling because of the value of our farm products. Southwestern Ohio had very good farms and had the largest Ohio city, Cincinnati, with a population of over 100,000. Dayton had about 20,000 people, one out of every four being foreign-born, mainly Irish and German, who had come to build the Miami-Erie Canal in the 1850s. Half were Ohio-born, with a few African-Americans. Dayton was already becoming industrial with the Barney & Smith Car Works, a leading producer of railroad cars. Streets were dirt, often mud, with wooden sidewalks. The Courthouse downtown was the best building there. It was built in the 1840s.

In early times, many children died before they were 10, women died in childbirth and epidemics often killed several members of the same family. The cemetery was a place to “talk” to the deceased while honoring them with flowers. Family picnics were commonplace in large, park-like cemeteries. The park-like cemetery remained popular until about World War I. By that time, many diseases had been conquered and early deaths of family members were less common. Cemeteries were rarely visited and often neglected.

Today, Woodland’s 200 acres make up one of the nation’s oldest “garden” cemeteries. Its Romanesque gateway, chapel and office, completed in 1889, are on the National Register of Historic Places. The chapel has one of the finest original Tiffany windows in the country. 100,000 monuments, ranging from rugged boulders to Greek statues and temples, note the lives of people who helped to shape a young nation and a young city. With more than 3,000 trees on its rolling hills, Woodland is recognized as one of the area’s finest arboretums. Many of its trees are more than a century old. Having burial space for many years to come, Woodland offers several types of burial services. In the Garden of the Soaring Spirit, lawn crypts provide the advantage of a modern memorial along with a smaller burial space.

Other parts of Woodland provide more efficient use of the land, featuring cremation and mausoleums. The beautiful architecture of Woodland Mausoleum with its rock and bronze face, features twenty-two varieties of imported marble and twelve large stained glass windows, inspired by famous literary works. The crematory and columbaria (storage for urns) in the building give families more options for remembering their loved ones.

Woodland Time Line

1840
  John Van Cleve initiates movement to establish rural cemetery.

1841
  First organizational meeting of subscribers to new cemetery.

1843
  Cemetery opened and lots offered for sale. Cemetery dedicated on June 21. First interment in cemetery on July 9.

1844
  Work begun on sexton’s house, roads, fences, etc.

1847
  Receiving vault built as an Egyptian style temple in the theme of Thebes and Karnak.

1848
  Cholera epidemic, 225 burials.

1849
  Plans for gateway, chapel, office. Stone fence for cemetery. First high school in Dayton. Courthouse at Third and Main finished.

1850
  Railroad comes to Dayton.

1851
  James Hanna family and others removed from an old burying ground at northeast corner of Third and Main.

1852
  Samuel Forrer, an engineer, makes survey of cemetery grounds and lays out roads.

1861
  Civil War (ended 1865). Dayton has 20,000 people.

1877
  First well sunk. A steam pump raised water to a reservoir on the summit.
  Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

1878
  New residence built for cemetery superintendent. Old house used for office and reception rooms.

1880
  Dunbar publishes first book of poetry, Oak & Ivy.

1881
  Boonshoft Museum of Discovery begins as Dayton Museum of Natural History.

1882
  Carriages permitted in Woodland on Easter Sunday.

1884
  Spanish-American War (April to August 1898).

1885
  Pumping station built on Wyoming St. to pump water to summit.

1886
  Plans for gateway, office and chapel buildings, using stone from the cemetery fence.

1903
  First airplane flight by Wright Brothers.

1904
  Window for north wall of Chapel installed by Heinegke & Bowen of N.Y. (Tiffany Studios).

1908
  35 acres of land purchased from University of Dayton.
  Tunnel built under Stewart Street to connect it to main cemetery.

1909
  Cemetery lot owners denied permission to drive automobiles inside cemetery.

1910
  Automobile hearses allowed in cemetery. Cars and trucks purchased for cemetery work.
  Rules prepared for autos in cemetery. Kettering invented electric ignition for cars.

1912
  Shelter house and iron gates completed at Waldo Street.

1913
  Dayton flood. Fifty victims of flood interred during March.

1913
  U.S. entered World War I (ended 1918).

1914
  Influenza epidemic.

1915
  Stone vaults, first used, purchased from Portsmouth Stone Co.

1916
  Dayton Daily News produces largest single-day paper in world.

1929
  Stock market crash, the Depression begins.

1935
  Wood box burials prohibited for adults.

1936
  U.S. entered World War II (ended 1945). World War II manpower shortage.
  400 sheep “employed” to keep grass “mowed.”
  Discontinued next year because of “difficulty in controlling natural grazing habits.”

1950
  Korean War (ended 1953).

1951
  Pump house windows bricked and well filled, no longer used after City water available.

1955
  Kettering becomes a city.

1961
  Acreage south of Stewart Street opened for sale.

1965
  Vietnam War (ended in 1973).

1968
  Ground broken for mausoleum and crematory, completed in 1970.

1969
  First cremation in new crematory. First moon walk.

1970
  Bronze marker for Wright Brothers erected. “Avenue of Flags” dedicated for all veterans.

1974
  Xenia tornado.

1976
  Nation celebrates its 200th birthday; Woodland celebrates its 135th birthday.

1978
  The big blizzard.

1979
  Main office building, gates, and old chapel placed in National Register of Historic Places.

1980
  96-niche unit built at center of Lawn Crypt area with bronze “Soaring Spirit” feature statue placed above it.

1981
  Land exchanged between cemetery, State of Ohio (Mental Hospital grounds), and UD, adding seven
  acres of land bounded by Wilmington Avenue and east line of Dayton City Reservoir.
  Lake drained to remove mud and debris and repair banks.

1984
  First computer purchased for cemetery. New uniform signage system designed and erected.

1986
  New park-like water stations installed.

1988
  Stewart Street underpass renovated and landscaped.

1990
  Woodland documentary video produced.

1991
  Woodland celebrates 150th birthday. $1.2 million building and renovation project completed.
  Woodland Arboretum Foundation established. Woodland’s history book written.

1995
  Inaugural Board of Trustees of Woodland Arboretum Foundation formed.

1996
  Cemetery roadways resurfaced.

1998
  Free audio tours offered by Arboretum Foundation.

2000
  Woodland Mausoleum renovated; Victorian columbarium room and fountain added.

2001
  www.woodlandcemetery.org.