Overview

Greenwood Cemetery, established in 1869, is 43 acres in size and contains approximately 20,000 graves. George Chandler Paul, a member of the Knights of Pythias, established this cemetery to provide burials for its members and others.

The historic house at the entrance may date to 1750–1775, though recent evidence suggests the house was built in the 1830s or later.

Cemetery Design

The cemetery was designed by architect Thomas S. Levy after cemetery designs created for soldiers from the American Civil War. The plans were grand with rolling hills, naturalistic plantings, and pathways arranged in a spoke-and-circle pattern. A planned artificial lake and large gatehouse were never developed. Behind the house is a receiving vault with Knights of Pythias insignia and inscribed with the date 1870.

Later Neglect

In later years the cemetery suffered from abandonment and vandalism. Tons of industrial waste dumped at the cemetery buried some plots under 20 feet of debris. Many graves were vandalized, the cemetery was littered with abandoned cars, and the rear of the cemetery became overgrown and reverted to woods. The Knights of Pythias made an unsuccessful attempt to have their name removed because of the condition of the cemetery.

Revitalization

On August 9, 2000, Greenwood Cemetery was listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. That year, the cemetery came under the management of a private company. Also, the nonprofit Friends of Greenwood Cemetery was established in 2003, dedicated to preserving the records, tombstones, and grounds of the cemetery.

In 2008 the adjacent Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Eastern Regional Medical Center acquired a majority share of the cemetery. Their sister company, Greenwood Holdings, began revitalizing the cemetery. More that 1,500 graves were moved from a wooded section for construction of a 200-space parking lot for expansion of CTCA. The bodies were reinterred in new concrete vaults with a new memorial placed on top of the mass grave. The historic house has received major repairs.

This summary was derived from "Greenwood Cemetery (Philadelphia)" in Wikipedia.