Powell's Remains

[L Verge]

Amen to that. These were termed rural cemeteries once church yards were full and also when people began to worry about graves contaminating the waters in towns and villages. The new, rural cemeteries were designed as works of art in an almost park-like setting where the Victorians could spend time (many Sunday afternoons) communing with their deceased loved ones. As their wealth increased, many plot owners almost competed with others to see how attractive the markers and the landscaping of their plots could be. Many great landscape architects like Frederick Law Olmstead and sculptors like Saint-Gaudens left their marks in these wonderful cemeteries.

Unfortunately, we design perfectly flat stretches of land in our new "labor saving" cemeteries and defy anyone to put shrubs in that need maintenance or tombstones that have to be mowed around. If you can't run a lawnmower over the entire cemetery without impediments, then you have failed as a designer.