Zion Hill Cemetery
Caretaker's Cottage (November 2021)
Details
Establishedcirca 1840
Location
520 Zion St., Hartford, Connecticut
CountryUnited States
Coordinates41°45′14″N 72°41′28″W / 41.754°N 72.691°W / 41.754; -72.691
Size24 acres (9.7 ha)
No. of interments14,000
Find a GraveZion Hill Cemetery

Zion Hill Cemetery is a city-owned cemetery that was established in the 1840s, which is located at Ward and Zion Streets in the Frog Hollow neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut.

Description and history

Zion Hill Cemetery was known originally as Zion's Hill Cemetery. Established in the 1840s on what was then farmland, the cemetery was expanded southward in the early 1900s to encompass an area called Mount Pleasant.[1][2] The cemetery has one of the highest elevations within the city of Hartford.[3] The southern edge of the cemetery abuts the campus of Trinity College.

Within the 24-acre bounds of Zion Hill Cemetery, there are several small, independently managed Jewish cemeteries dating back to the 1880s.[4] A now-abandoned red brick building on the property is the historic Deborah Chapel, a Jewish mortuary constructed in 1886 where bodies of the dead were prepared for burial according to Jewish custom.[5][6]

Early on, Zion Hill was touted as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in New England.[7] However, the cemetery has long been the site of vandalism and criminal activity, including a fire in 1870, arrests for drunkenness and vagrancy dating back to 1905, the toppling of a monument in 1915, the smashing of glass panes by teens in 1950, and the destruction of numerous headstones throughout the years.[8] in recent years, a local group has been working to rehabilitate the property.[9]

Significant burial plots in the cemetery include those of 201 men who fought in the Civil War, veterans of other U.S. wars,[10][11] and the president and director of G. Fox & Co department store, Beatrice Fox Auerbach.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Cemeteries Committee Has Lots For Sale: Opening Up Mount Pleasant Addition". The Hartford Courant. July 19, 1906. p. 4.
  2. ↑ O'Maxfield, Karen. "Burial Grounds: Zion Hill Cemetery". Hartford, Connecticut: Landmarks – History – Neighborhoods. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  3. ↑ Gruber, Samuel D. (October 25, 2021). "USA: Rare Jewish Cemetery Mortuary Chapel in Hartford, CT, Threatened with Demolition". Samuel Gruber's Jewish Art and Monuments. Retrieved 27 November 2021. The Deborah Chapel is a mortuary chapel (Beth Tahara, Beis Tahare) at the corner of Ward and Affleck streets, set on edge of the Beth Israel Cemetery on Zion Hill, the highest point in Hartford.
  4. ↑ Provost, Kerri. "Zion Hill Stories". Real Hartford and Beyond. Retrieved 27 November 2021. Zion Hill Cemetery, proper, is a city cemetery. But within this footprint operates many others, and it's not entirely clear even when looking at a map which are independently managed and which fall within the Association of Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Hartford; however, in the mix: Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Ados Israel, Agudas Achim, All Jews Cemetery, Capital City Lodge, Dreyfus Lodge, Hartford City Lodge, Hartford Hebrew Benevolent, Hartford Sick Benefit, Moses Montefiore, Share Torah, and a potter's field.
  5. ↑ "Chapel Dedication : The Ceremonies at Zion Hill Yesterday – Many Addresses". Hartford Daily Courant. October 18, 1886. p. 2.
  6. ↑ Gruber, Samuel D. "USA: Rare Jewish Cemetery Mortuary Chapel in Hartford, CT, Threatened with Demolition". Samuel Gruber's Jewish Art and Monuments. Retrieved 27 November 2021. The building is architecturally noteworthy and historically significant for its role in Jewish funerary tradition and as a representation of the strong role of Jewish women within the Jewish religious and communal organizations in 19th-century America. It is the second oldest surviving purpose-built Jewish building in Connecticut. ... The Deborah Chapel is a mortuary chapel (Beth Tahara, Beis Tahare) at the corner of Ward and Affleck streets, set on edge of the Beth Israel Cemetery on Zion Hill, the highest point in Hartford. It was built in 1886 by the German-speaking Hartford Ladies' Deborah Society. ... It is not clear exactly what role Deborah Society women played in preparing the bodies of the dead following Jewish ritual and custom; but the washed bodies were placed in shrouds that had been sewn by the ladies. After 1886, this took place in the Deborah Chapel at Zion Hill, which was built thanks to the money raised by these women. The Chapel was built at a cost of $5,000 (approximately $140,000 in today's dollars). The women ran the building itself and arranged for its maintenance. The 2½-story brick-and-brownstone chapel included facilities for preparation of the body downstairs and living quarters upstairs for a cemetery caretaker.
  7. ↑ "Zion's Hill Burying Ground". Hartford Daily Courant. July 7, 1851. p. 2.
  8. ↑ Provost, Kerri. "Zion Hill Stories". Real Hartford and Beyond. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "Friends Of Zion Hill Cemetery". Instagram. Retrieved 27 November 2021. Community members looking to improve & preserve the historic Zion Hill Cemetery. Located in the Frog Hollow neighborhood of Hartford, CT.
  10. ↑ "Zion Hill Cemetery". Hartford In The Civil War. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Zion Hill Cemetery". Hartford.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "Beatrice Fox Auerbach". Find A Grave Memorial. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
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