History

Mount Moriah Cemetery, incorporated in 1855 and established by an act of the Pennsylvania legislature, was operated under the auspices of the non-sectarian Mount Moriah Cemetery Association. The original cemetery occupied 54 acres in southwest Philadelphia, along Cobbs Creek. It boasted an ornate Romanesque entrance and gatehouse built of brownstone, on Islington Lane, today known as Kingsessing Avenue. Noted Philadelphia architect Stephen D. Button (1813-1897) designed this structure.

Mount Moriah Cemetery was among a number of cemeteries established along the "rural ideal" in vogue at that time. Philadelphia was a booming city, and many of its older, smaller urban graveyards, located in city blocks and alongside churches, stood in the way of development. The concept of large pastoral cemeteries originated in Paris, and Laurel Hill Cemetery brought this concept to Philadelphia in 1836, followed closely by Monument Cemetery and in 1840 by the Woodlands Cemetery. A spate of new cemeteries, including Mount Moriah, followed these and put the bucolic rural cemetery within the grasp of much of Philadelphia's middle class.

The following notations are all from the Philadelphia Inquirer. It's really just a list of people that I found interesting. All were buried in Mount Moriah or are related to someone buried in Mount Moriah. I initially tried to find famous people but as I read obituaries I realized that every day people often have very interesting stories to tell. They are in no particular order.

[Added 12:56 PM 11/29/2006 by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ]