Secrets Revealed from Philadelphia's (Underwater) Monument Cemetery

The Athenaeum was established in 1814 as a subscription library, at a time when the free public library system did not exist and collections of books, available for reading or research, were still mostly limited to institutions, schools or colleges.The Athenaeum of Philadelphia nurtures curiosity in members and neighbors, strengthening community through learning and discourse.The Athenaeum of Philadelphia is one of 16 membership libraries that collaborate through the Membership Libraries Group. Some, like the Charleston (est. 1748), New York Society (est. 1754), and Newport (est. 1741) libraries, date from the 18th Century.

Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Photographer Ed Snyder dives into the long forgotten Monument Cemetery

Monument Cemetery was a rural cemetery located at the current day intersection of Broad and Berks Street in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1837 to 1956. It was the second rural cemetery in Philadelphia after Laurel Hill Cemetery. It was approximately 20 acres in size and contained 28,000 burials. It had a grand gothic gatehouse and a 67-foot high obelisk monument to George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette at the center of the cemetery.By the 1950s, the cemetery had fallen into disrepair and was sold to Temple University and the Philadelphia Board of Education. About 8,000 bodies were claimed by families and the remainder were relocated to an unmarked grave in Lawnview Memorial Park. Many of the remaining headstones, and the monument, were used as riprap during the construction of the Betsy Ross Bridge and can be seen on the shores of the Delaware River at low tide. The land is now part of the campus of Temple University and Carver High School.Zoom information will be sent out the day of the event to the email address used during registration.Questions? Contact Tess Galen at events@PhilaAthenaeum.org

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