PARK AND CEMETERY. 
202 
DEVELOPING A NEW CHICAGO CEMETERY 
Mount Auburn Cemetery, a fine nat- 
ural tract of 101 acres near Berwyn, a 
suburb of Chicago, has been under de- 
velopment since May, 1907, as a modern 
lawn plan cemetery and is reported to 
be in excellent condition. 
It was laid out by 0. C. Simonds and 
is under the management of Superin- 
tendent George Schrade. 
Ten acres of this tract was once be- 
fore bought as a cemetery, but no in- 
terments were made, and in two years 
the ground was sold on a foreclosure 
proceeding. A new company bought 
this and other land and incorporated as 
the Chicago Park Cemetery Company, 
but retained the name Mount Auburn, 
as under that charter they have the 
privilege of extending the cemetery to 
420 acres. In the coming summer an 
extension of the Metropolitan Elevated 
will be built past this cemetery, and as 
the nearest' cemetery on the west side to 
the city, it will then have excellent 
transportation facilities. 
About $8,000 was expended in im- 
provements in 1909, the work including 
grading, drainage, road making, and 
tree planting. More extensive work is 
planned for the coming season. About 
30 acres are in use and some 300 inter- 
ments have been made. About $30,000 
worth of lot sales at 30, 35 and 40 
cents a square foot have been made. 
It is a non-sectarian cemetery for 
white people. The land extends from 
Oak Park avenue and 39th street south 
to the South Branch river, which is 
one or two blocks north of the Drain- 
age Canal. They run a bus from Ber- 
wyn car to the cemetery free of charge. 
Trains on the C., B. & Q. R. R. to Ber- 
wyn run out in 21 to 25 minutes. On 
the south of the cemetery land is the 
Santa Fe R. R., but arrangements for 
trains have not yet been made on this 
road. 
There is a good natural growth of 
oak, with some big trees on the ground, 
and the landscape development through- 
out is receiving careful attention. A 
receiving . vault has been built and a 
chapel is planned as one of the future 
improvements. 
It has a rolling surface and a diver- 
sity in topography which make it easy 
to obtain fine landscape effects. With 
what nature has already done to adorn 
the cemetery, the management will not 
interfere, but much will be added in 
the way of trees, shrubs and flowering 
plants to greatly enhance the appear- 
ance of the grounds. 
The soil is all sandy and porous, like 
that of Graceland, Rosehill and Oak- 
woods, and the elevation of the land 
is more than twenty feet above the wa- 
ter line of the Drainage Canal, and 
about twelve feet above the water of 
the Chicago river. 
Shrubbery, which enters so largely 
into every pleasing landscape, will be 
skillfully and generously employed in 
the ornamentation of Mount Auburn. 
Thousands of shrubs and plants of 
many varieties have already been plant- 
ed, and this work will go on contin- 
uously. 
Mount Auburn keeps a duplicate set 
of interment records and has a down- 
town office at 92 La Salle street. Su- 
perintendent George Schrade was for 
many years superintendent of Wald- 
heim and Montrose cemeteries and is 
on the grounds at all times. 
The cemetery issues some very well 
planned advertising literature, including 
a booklet, section maps, with prices, 
etc., on them, souvenir cards, blotters, 
etc. 
