Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery is a rural cemetery at 701 Delaware Avenue in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1843, it contains over 21,000 burials on about 25 acres.
Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery | |
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Details | |
Established | 1843 |
Location | 701 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 39°45′03″N 75°33′12″W / 39.7508°N 75.5533°W |
Type | private |
Size | 25 acres |
No. of graves | 21,000+ |
Website | http://wilmingtonbrandywinecemetery.org/ |
Find a Grave | Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery |
The cemetery was envisioned in 1843 by Sam Wollaston, who sought to establish one of Delaware's first non-sectarian cemeteries on 10 acres of his farm, which was outside the city of Wilmington at the time.[1] His venture was quickly a success, and the following year, Wollaston formed a company to expand and landscape the site with Willard Hall serving as president. Engineer George Read Riddle was hired to design the cemetery.[2] In 1850, James Canby planted an imported cedar of Lebanon at the entrance of the cemetery.[3]
One corner of the cemetery, named Soldier's Graveplot, contains the remains of 121 U.S. Civil War soldiers who died from their wounds or war-related illnesses at the old Delaware Hospital.
The cemetery's chapel, designed by architect Elijah Dallett Jr.,[4] was built in 1913 of Foxcroft stone with window sills of Indiana limestone.[5]
In 1917, the cemetery received remains originally interred at the 18th-century First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington's Rodney Square. The church was moved to Park Drive to make room for a new library.[6]
In 2014, the cemetery launched the Eternal Rest 5K Walk/Run to raise money to maintain the cemetery.[7]
wilmington and brandywine cemetery.