Grave Mistakes

by Laura McPhee | Jun 28th, 2006

Crown Hill Cemetery lies just north of downtown Indianapolis, and for nearly 150 years it has been both a place of rest and refuge for the citys residents. Across more than 500 acres, the sprawling hills and lush landscape have provided a quiet oasis of forgotten beauty for both the living and the dead since its dedication in June of 1864.

Over the past century and a half, the graves of poets, presidents, playwrights and gangsters have given the cemetery its caché as a symbol of Indianas historic past, especially those buried atop the now prestigious Crown Hill, the highest geographic point in the city and the county. With its panoramic views and its social prestige, it seems the closer an individual is buried to the peak of Crown Hill, the closer he or she is to immortality if not closer to heaven. The large headstones will at least guarantee the living go on remembering these lives and their legacies for countless generations to come.

In sharp contrast to the names of Riley, Harrison, Tarkington, Ayres, Eiteljorg, Kittle, Tutweiller and Irsay that mark the most impressive tombs on Crown Hill proper, there is a much smaller, much easier to overlook plot of land known as Community Hill. These graves tell a different type of story about our Hoosier past one of poverty, neglect and social amnesia; stories most of us dont know or dont want to know. Community Hill is where the citys indigents, widows and orphans have been unceremoniously buried for more than a century. In most cases, these lives and histories have been omitted from history, if not erased.

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