NEWARK, NJ — Through the splendid 50-foot tall Victorian Gothic gates of Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Broadway in the Newark’s North Ward, you enter the city’s oldest burial ground. The property was conceived in 1843 by jewelry maker Horace Baldwin who envisioned a rural cemetery as a planned oasis on the outskirts of the city. A walk through the 40-acre grounds is a walk through history, a walk back in time.
On Saturday, June 24, from 2 to 5 p.m., the Newark Preservation and Landmarks Committee and Mount Pleasant Cemetery Association will present a special tour of the cemetery’s historic grounds.
Established in 1844, the Mount Pleasant Cemetery is the resting place of some of Newark’s prominent leaders, industrialists and inventors. The June 24 tour will introduce visitors to those people and their place in history through volunteers dressed in period costumes enacting some of the cemetery’s famous figures.
Visitors will have the opportunity to meet Thomas A. Edison as he sits on the bench that he designed for the gravesite of his first wife, Mary Sitwell. John Dryden will be seen at his mausoleum where he will tell visitors about the founding of the Prudential Insurance Company. And Peter Ballantine will be there to talk of his immigration from Scotland and his founding one of America’s largest breweries. Samuel Ward, composer of “America the Beautiful,” will sing a verse of his famous hymn, while a deceased Newark firefighter will tell the story of his tragic death and the history of “The Firemen’s Plot.” There will be more stories to hear among the winding paths of this beautiful and historic space.
The cemetery includes interesting styles, inscriptions and designs on the grave markers. Mount Pleasant boasts some of the best funeral sculptures ranging from simple graves to elaborate mausoleums designed in architectural styles ranging from Romanesque and Egyptian Revival to baroque, Victorian and art deco.
The cemetery is located at 375 Broadway in Newark, and parking is available next to the cemetery at Rafael Hernandez School. Tour admission is $5 per person and the tour’s rain date is Sunday, June 25.
For more information, call 973-483-3348.
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