Cincinnati was thawing out – ever so slowly. It was January 29th and this was the first day above the thirties in over a month. Snow remained from the 14 inches we received 3 weeks prior but, as the title photo shows, the sun was shining, beckoning us to get outside. Wanting to research trees for another project, we headed to Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum to pay homage to the majestic trees that grace the campus.
The cemetery was established in 1844 by the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, perhaps foreshadowing its future botanical focus. The first burial at Spring Grove Cemetery took place in 1845. In 1855, landscape architect Adolph Strauch was hired to beautify the grounds, setting the future for the property. At 733 acres, it is the third largest cemetery in the United States and is home to 1,200 species of trees and shrubs. Spring Grove has at least 27 state champion trees and one national champion tree.
What drew us there on a mild, sunny January day was the promise of clean roadways to walk and an assortment of stately trees to admire. I told the photographer that I was going to the cemetery to do some field study for an upcoming article on conifer trees and she eagerly volunteered to accompany me – suggesting a smidgen of cabin fever.
We stayed on task when we first arrived, noting a nice grouping of Bald Cypress trees hugging Cedar Lake.
But we soon realized that we were within a Union Army Civil War burial plot, symbolized by the upturned cannon. Some graves were marked while others were unknowns. The 13th Kentucky Infantry, noted on the stone below, was organized in Greensburg, Kentucky and was attached to the Army of the Ohio. This was just the first of many historical distractions of the day.
Nearby was this statue of an unidentified Union soldier, which was cast in 1865, shortly after the war ended.
The trees remained a focus of our outing but the beauty of the memorials, mausoleums, and statuary was distracting. While this photo captures a line of 4 obelisks, it also displays the park like setting provided by the well spaced trees.
I have read that Cincinnati was a wealthy community in the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s and that is clearly reflected in the hardscape of the cemetery.
Mingling amongst these antique memorials was this tastefully done, modest, modern marker. It was an interesting contrast.
A walk through Spring Grove is a stroll through Cincinnati history, with memorials to many notable families. At 574 feet and 49 stories, the 1930s Carew Tower, named for this family, was until recently the tallest building in Cincinnati.
We also noted stones commemorating men for whom two Cincinnati Public High Schools are named:
John Withrow was a renowned Cincinnati gynecologist and long term member and president of the Cincinnati School Board. At the turn of the 20th century he led efforts to improve the quality of school buildings and helped to initiate Cincinnati’s school lunch program, the first for public schools in the country. When he retired from the school board in 1924, the name of East High School in the Hyde Park neighborhood was changed to Withrow High School.
Thomas Hughes lived on a thirty acre farm on Liberty Street in what is now the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of downtown Cincinnati. When he died he left his estate in a trust to educate poor children. The first Hughes High School was built in the west end where I-75 now runs. In 1906, the beautiful Hughes High School was built in Clifton and still stands today. Hughes was originally buried in the cemetery that is now the site of Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine. His remains were moved to Spring Grove in the 1860s and the Hughes High School Alumni erected this memorial marker in 1871.
The photographer was excited to see markers for the three most famous names in Cincinnati retail business: Shillito, Pogue, and McAlpin, all famous department stores.
I, on the other hand, paid respects to two of Cincinnati’s earliest and best known brewery owners: John Hauck and William Windisch. They initially started in business together but later opened successful independent breweries. Unfortunately both breweries went out of business after prohibition started in 1919. In the late 1800s Hauck was also the principal owner of the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the baseball team that would eventually become the Reds.
To demonstrate that we did not totally lose track of our mission we did document a couple of interesting tree encounters. First was this newly planted grouping of Aspens, a tree rarely seen in the Ohio River Valley; clearly demonstrating Spring Grove’s ongoing arboretum efforts.
And we were taken aback when we rounded a curve on our route and noted the architecture of this specimen. Notice the tan tinge to the snow beneath this tree.
As we got closer we noted these.
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of winged seeds were floating to the ground from the open seed pods of this Katsura tree. This tree was once the Ohio champion Katsura tree, but now another Spring Grove Katsura bears that title. The Katsura is native to Japan, China, and Korea.
Lastly, to demonstrate the park-like, treed setting of Spring Grove, this beautiful lake image.
The lake was home to a majestic pair of Mute Swans. They hardly said a word.
Some people may take offense with our recreational jaunt through the hallowed grounds of a cemetery, but in fact, Spring Grove encourages respectful visitation, even sponsoring formal walking routes of various lengths. The rolling terrain makes for a great cardio workout amongst the best collection of landscape trees in Cincinnati. In addition, the cemetery hosts outings on many topics including Nature Walks, Mausoleum Walking Tours, and Moonlight Strolls. I have provided a link at the end of the article to Spring Grove’s Event Calendar.
In summary, Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a great community asset that Cincinnati is blessed to have. While we did get a bit distracted by the history and monuments, we had a outstanding walk through a spectacular landscape. Winter is a great time to visit Spring Grove to appreciate the textures and architectures of this outstanding collection of trees. While always a good outing, it is an especially nice place to walk when wet weather has made dirt trails less passable. Many cities have well landscaped cemeteries, like Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville and Lexington Cemetery in Lexington – do some research and find one of these gems near you.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview:
Location – 4521 Spring Grove Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45232
Parking – large asphalt lot just to the right inside of the gate. You can also pull over and park on the roads.
Facilities – in the foyer of the Customer Service Center.
Trail Conditions – this is a stroll on the lightly used roadways of the the cemetery.
Print Trail Map Link – https://assets.takeshape.io/af54a46e-9d1d-4a13-84ea-ea820654ba30/dev/5d7beeda-d7d3-4c82-966c-d22f93ebe751/2023_Visitor%20Map_current%20champion%20trees%20(2).pdf
Benches – several integrated into the landscaping.
Picnic Tables – none.
Kids – may not be appropriate given the occasional traffic, etc.
Dogs – not permitted.
Paired Hiking Trails – none.
Links:
https://www.springgrove.org/locations/spring-grove-cemetery-arboretum/