Book Description

The Lake View Cemetery, founded in 1869, was modeled after the great garden cemeteries of Victorian England and France. Over 107,000 individuals are interred on the sprawling 285 acre expanse that is located four and one-half miles from Cleveland's Public Square. According to an 1870 Plain Dealer report, the cemetery was designed to combine all the attractive features that "nature and true art can produce" to harmonize nature's alphabet--"stone, earth, wood and water." The landscape was laid out with broad avenues and shady walks "near the fountains in view of many a rustic pile [edifice] and quiet grave and stately monument." The cemetery became the burial place for many of Cleveland's prominent citizens including James A. Garfield, John D. Rockefeller, and J. H. Wade. Cleveland photographer Barney Taxel has spent over a decade, during all seasons, exploring the stunning landmark. The culmination of the personal project is this collection of over two hundred of his creations that reveal the spirit and essence of the Lake View Cemetery. Not only are images of the famous Garfield monument and the Wade Chapel captured, but so are the artistic splendors of the landscape, stonework, and memorials. To provide context, the book also includes a history of the Lake View Cemetery based on archival research.