Landscape Information
Established in 1845 this 33-acre cemetery located approximately one mile north of downtown occupies the majority of a rectangular block, bordered to the west and southeast by residential and commercial development. Characterized by slightly rolling topography, the non-denominational cemetery began as an informal burying ground and was improved in 1881 by landscape gardener Thomas McClunie, who laid out gridded drives in the northwest portion. Twenty-three years later two sections were allocated for African American burials.
Spring Grove’s primary entrance, located along Main Street, is nestled between the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and Masjid Umar Ibn Al Khattab mosque. The entrance features a Gothic Revival style gateway (1870s) composed of rusticated granite pillars and iron fencing. A linear drive, edged by a red maple allée, leads to the interior of the cemetery. This area is characterized by a grid of rectangular lawns delineated by ordered rows of erect burial markers and interspersed with coniferous and deciduous canopy trees and shrubs. Several family plots, each surrounded by ornamental metal fencing, are located throughout the grounds. The cemetery’s northern and southern perimeters are defined by metal fences and are edged, respectively, by allées of coniferous trees and oaks. A densely canopied grove in the northwestern corner of the property provides a vegetative screen of the adjacent residential lots.
The cemetery holds the remains of 350 Civil War veterans, as well as veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I. Notable burials of include Hudson River School painter Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900) and Hartford resident, African-American firefighter William Henry Jacklyn (1871–1927). Spring Grove was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
