Odd Fellows Cemetery (Philadelphia)
Cemetery in Pennsylvania, US
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Odd Fellows Cemetery was a 32 acre cemetery located North and South of Diamond Street and between 22nd and 25th Street[1] in the North Philadelphia West neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1849 by the Odd Fellows fraternal organization for the burial of their members. The eighty-one foot high, brown stone, Egyptian Revival gatehouse was designed by architects Stephen Decatur Button and Joseph C. Hoxie.[2]
| Odd Fellows Cemetery | |
|---|---|
Odd Fellows Cemetery entrance gate | |
 Interactive map of Odd Fellows Cemetery | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1849 |
| Location | 24th and Diamond Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 39.9867°N 75.1727°W |
| Type | private |
| Owned by | Odd Fellows |
| Find a Grave | Odd Fellows Cemetery |
The Odd Fellows Cemetery was located a short distance from Old Glenwood Cemetery and adjoined the smaller United American Mechanics' Cemetery.[3]
The cemetery was a part of the United States National Cemetery System during the American Civil War with a leased lot within the cemetery for 277 soldiers[4] that died in nearby hospitals. The soldiers' remains were reinterred to the Philadelphia National Cemetery in 1885.[5]
In 1951, the cemetery property was acquired by the Philadelphia Housing Authority for construction of the Raymond Rosen housing project.[6] The bodies were moved to two other cemeteries owned by the Odd Fellows – Mount Peace Cemetery in Philadelphia and Lawnview Memorial Park in Rockledge, Pennsylvania.[7] However, in 2013, workers unearthed 28 graves and remains that were not moved and were still under the playground of the William Dick school built in 1954.[8]
Notable burials
- Manuel Azadigian (1901–1924), painter and sculptor
- Peter Cross (1815–1862), U.S. Mint assistant engraver
- Charles Kochersperger (1826–1867), Union Army officer
- George Lippard (1822–1854), Novelist, journalist, playwright, social activist and labor organizer[7] The Lippard grave and memorial were moved to Lawnview in 1951.[9]
- John Francis Staunton (1821–1875), Union Army Colonel[10]
