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PARK AND CEMETERY. 
ORGANIZING and DEVELOPING a MODERN CEMETERY 
By Sid J. Hare and S. Herbert Hare, Landscape Architects, Kansas City Mo. 
VI. — Lots and Lot Sections. 
In the last chapter the road system was 
discussed as a necessary means of access 
to the lot sections, and in turn the factor 
that, with due regard to the size and topog- 
raphy, determined 'the form of the sec- 
tions. 
Just as the roads give access to the sec- 
tions, the individual lots must have ready 
means of approach from the roads. 
Formerly in many of the old graveyards 
it was customary to have paths on each side 
of every lot. The paths were usually made 
quite apparent, either by paving in some 
manner, or by depressing them below the 
general level of the lots. As a result of 
this system 50 per cent or more of the land 
was occupied by the pathways; the paths 
made unsightly gashes in the lawns, ren- 
dering care of lots very difficult, and there 
was no opportunity for a person to acquire 
an uninterrupted piece of ground more 
than one lot in extent without eliminating 
some of the intervening walks, and thus 
starting a custom which led to confusion. 
Later, it was realized that there was no 
more necessity for a walk on all sides of a 
cemetery lot than for a street on all sides 
of a residence lot, but the elimination of 
the path as an apparent feature of the sec- 
tion was a later development still ; in fact, 
in some large modern cemeteries there is a 
custom still in vogue of defining some of 
the more important lots by paved walk- 
ways. The results are seldom pleasing. 
Therefore, the walk in the modern cem- 
etery is more or less in the nature of re- 
serve land, which will be used very little 
until the sections become so filled with 
graves that walking across the lots will be 
difficult. As the walks are not an apparent 
feature of the design as seen on the ground, 
it is futile to try to itiake ornamental fig- 
ures or schemes out of the arrangement of 
the walks and lots on the plan. To be sure, 
they look quite "pretty” on a drawing, but 
usually result in lots of irregular and un- 
suitable shape. An exception to this may 
be in the case of a group of lots designed 
for a lodge or society, in such a way that 
the arrangement of graves will make the 
scheme apparent. This would be true in a 
portion of section 7 of the accompanying 
plan of two blocks in Graceland Cemetery, 
Racine, Wis. This portion of the section 
could be screened by planting from the re- 
mainder and made a unit with a central 
monument and radiating graves. 
There is a growing tendency, especially 
in the cemeteries of some of the larger 
cities, to feel that it is not at all necessary 
that each lot have access to a walk ; that 
one walk will serve three or four tiers of 
lots. Just how far this form of economy 
can be carried is difficult to say. It hardly 
seems worth while to go to extremes. In 
the case of single graves or fractional lots, 
frontage on a walk cannot be expected. 
Where the roads follow circuitous routes 
to gain good grades, a certain number of 
paved walkways for pedestrians through 
the sections as cross-cuts may be desirable. 
These walks should be designed with the 
same care that the roadways receive as 
regards adjustment to the ground in plan 
and profile. About the entrance and chapel 
and connecting the various buildings, walks 
are quite necessary. Aside from this, the 
driveways will be just as useful for pedes- 
trians as for vehicles. A well-constructed 
road forms a very satisfactory walk in all 
weather, and as the traffic in a cemetery is 
not fast moving or congested, there is lit- 
tle danger from walking in the roadways. 
A width of five feet for the walks or re- 
serve strips through a block is ample for 
the pallbearers on each side of a casket. 
Four feet is in use, and is probably suf- 
ficient in most cases, as there is some mar- 
gin between the grave and the lot lines. It 
is well to have these spaces wide enough 
to allow a cart to pass through, for re- 
moving the surplus earth from the grave. 
Much wider walks can be left under un- 
usual conditions. 
A direct route from the road to the 
grave is desirable, therefore the main walks 
should lead across the sections rather than 
lengthwise. It will be seen that the roads 
follow the contours of the ground so far 
LOT SUBDIVISION OF TWO SECTIONS IN GRACELAND CEMETERY, 
RACINE, WIS. 
Showing relation of lots to the base lines and the arrangement of regular and 
irregular lots along the roads. 
