Abandoned Cemetery: Mount Moriah , Philadelphia PA

Mount Moriah Cemetery was established in 1855; using the concept of Parisian ornate cemeteries, it utilized ornate Romanesque entrance and gatehouse built of brownstone. It was a grand rural cemetery for the accessible to the middle class.

Mount Moriah began with 54 acres and eventually expanded by 380 acres, enough space to build churches, allow for fraternal organizations to establish their own subsections within its bounds, and intern nearly 100,000 people. Mount Moriah contains over 5,000 war veterans including 400 Civil War Soldier's, a ten-acre Naval Asylum Plot residents of the Naval, a dept of veterans affairs area with over 2,000 burials, as well as sections holding Masons (Keystone Chapter No. 175), Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and American Mechanics. It was also once the resting place of Betsy Ross. It also holds the interns who were moved from 10 other closed church cemeteries as well as of course many other citizens who are unsung heroes in their own right. There are aproximately 80,000 people interned at Mount Moriah Cemetery.

As suburban cemeteries grew popular and many left the area, combined with the high perpetual care, Mount Moriah began to fall into neglect. As neighborhood crime increased, along with homeless rates, theft. And vandalism, the cemetery fell into abandonment.

Even its it state of disarray, the beauty of Mt. Moriah Cemetery is obvious; it is recognized as a historical landmark on the Philadelphia Register of historical places. This cemetery truly needs some TLC- while there are constant clean up efforts and attempts to recruit volenteers, it is a somewhat dangerous neighborhood as well as a huge undertaking, given its size. The Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery Group is dedicated to its preservation and actively seeks members to assist in restoration. I urge anyone in the area to join in these efforts.

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