Oakwood Cemetery is an amazing location full of scenic beauty, incredible history (and multitudes of historic figures), unique memorials and architecture, and a lovely place to rest in peace. I have a family plot here and visit often. Many folks come just to walk the miles of roads and trails in the peace and scenic nature here. With over 60,000 graves from the early 1800's thru today spread out over 325 wooded and hilly acres, makes it very difficult to maintain. Grounds crews do what they can with limited budgets and personnel to keep the grass and weeds cut and trimmed but all except the front lawns sometimes get a bit overgrown before the grounds crews cycle back thru all the sections. The front lawns near the main entrance on Oakwood Ave are always kept looking good. Many memorials that were placed on the 1800's and early 1900's without adequate foundations are often leaning and toppled but the caretakers have been making a valiant effort at restoring and repairing as many of these old memorials as they can. I often volunteer here with locating and photographing memorials for Find-a-Grave and the office staff is very helpful in assisting in locating specific graves even though all records are manual with very little digitized. The manual system they use is ancient but it works for them. I do wish it was fully digital and searchable though.
If you come to enjoy this place for whatever reason, please respect the people buried here and the families that may be visiting their lost loved ones. Maintaining an air of peace and quiet and reverence is what keeps this beautiful location special. read more