During his consulate of France, Napoleon Bonaparte declared, “Everything citizen has the right to be buried regardless of race or religion.” Accordingly, he established what has become known as “Père Lachaise”; and in 1804, as Emperor Napoleon, he dedicated that celebrated Paris cemetery. From France, the abandonment of graveyards in favour of cemeteries spread to other countries, and the Industrial Revolution generated the capital for creating these more expansive and artistic burial sites promising the “perpetual care” of graves.
The first cemetery created in the United States – Mount Auburn Cemetery in greater Boston Massachusetts – was established in 1831, and soon many eastern cities followed suit with their own “rural” or “garden” cemeteries. Whereas the old graveyards had reeked of death, these new park-like necropolises exuded natural beauty, art and poetry. They contained winding drives and paths through landscapes marked by shady nooks, splendid flora, and substantial monuments. This proved to be the standard in burial for more than a century and a half.
As a conservative community, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, hesitated to embrace the new mode of burial. When its citizens began debating the merits of a public cemetery, the borough limits of Waynesboro included four graveyards: Union (Lutheran-Presbyterian), German Reformed, Roman Catholic, and Methodist Episcopal; and the circumjacent township of Washington contained several more graveyards (Covenanter, German Baptist, and German Reformed) and countless private burying grounds. Many residents of Waynesboro considered the existing arrangement quite satisfactory or even preferable to a garden cemetery. But when the townspeople finally saw the light, some forty years after Mount Auburn opened for business; their deliberations resulted in an outstanding “city of the dead” – Green Hill Cemetery.
Founded in 1873, Green Hill Cemetery is situated on sixty-five gently sloping acres at Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. Seven miles of paved driveways provide convenient access to nearly 17,000 interments.
Green Hill offers a variety of burial and inturnment options. Please call or visit us to select the lot or niche which best serves your needs.