The Lake Effect team headed to Forest Home Cemetery for the latest event in its Lake Effect On-Site series. We learn about the origins of the cemetery with historian John Gurda, explore the many trees and plants that inhabit the cemetery, and the young Milwaukeeans who keep it looking beautiful. Plus, they learn about the honey bees that live at Forest Home and look at nearby tavern Holler House, which boasts the oldest sanctioned tenpin bowling alley in the nation.
Forest Home is the oldest cemetery in Milwaukee. This year it’s celebrating its 175th anniversary. In that time, the cemetery has become the resting place of some of Milwaukee’s most well-known residents; as well as a community gathering place, where Milwaukeeans of all stripes come to connect with the landscape and our shared past.
Although the cemetery was founded by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1850, historian John Gurda says it’s always been open to people of all faiths.
“They had a vision of what they called a cemetery for the city… they said, ‘We could’ve made this just for Episcopalians, we decided to make it for everybody. And they also said they wanted to make it a monument to the taste and liberality of Milwaukee, so they wanted something kind of a cut above,” he explains…