Mount Auburn Cemetery

Mount Auburn Cemetery Celebrating the many facets of Mount Auburn Cemetery, America's first landscaped cemetery.
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Join us for one of our June events including Walking Tours, Book Club and our annual Summer SOLSTICE event! Visit our w...
06/01/2026

Join us for one of our June events including Walking Tours, Book Club and our annual Summer SOLSTICE event! Visit our website to see details and register >> https://buff.ly/4ciJPmj

Thank you for joining us for Early Bird Hours during the spring migration! Tomorrow, June 1, we will return to our norma...
05/31/2026

Thank you for joining us for Early Bird Hours during the spring migration! Tomorrow, June 1, we will return to our normal summer hours 8am - 8pm. Birding is a year-round activity at Mount Auburn—look for late migrants and breeding birds in June!

Do you have a favorite birding memory from this spring?

Photo by Jason Barcus, Tree Swallow at a nesting box.

As Preservation Month comes to an end, we're highlighting our most visible current preservation project—the Egyptian Rev...
05/29/2026

As Preservation Month comes to an end, we're highlighting our most visible current preservation project—the Egyptian Revival Gateway! Earlier this spring, masonry contractors began their careful preservation work on the Egyptian Revival Gateway in tandem with the landscape enhancements that will make up Mount Auburn's new Welcome Center, which will open this summer.

As with all stone features in our landscape, exposure to the elements over time has caused degradation especially to the mortar which requires occasional repointing. However, advanced mortar deterioration over the past decade—especially on the north side of the building—prompted staff to take a closer look at the original details of the granite construction. Certain details at the perimeter of the granite roofs such as the slope of the cornice stones and lack of a proper drip edge were not promoting the proper drainage of water off the structure, resulting in walls that were saturated with water, especially during winter months.

To address this, the masonry contractor has cut a slot along the underside of all of the cornices, which will cause rainwater to drip off the building’s edge instead of running down the walls. Second, the top of the cornice stones that support the roof slabs of the alcoves have been altered to create positive drainage off the roof and walls. This will reduce the pooling of rainwater on top of the cornices, and the resulting leaking of water into the alcoves.

Though the alterations to the granite will mitigate the effects of water damage, it is also essential to ensure the new mortar is able to withstand the moisture it does face. To this end, the contractor is repointing the Gateway with a modified mortar with better adhesion and applying a breathable water repellant to exclude rainwater but allow water v***r to ev***rate out of the joint.

We can't wait for you to see this iconic landmark as it is unveiled as part of our Welcome Center this summer!

Images 1 & 2: Masonry contractor applying modified mortar to dampened joints
Image 3: The newly cut drip edge on the underside of the cornice
Image 4: Staining on north facade of the Gateway prior to preservation, 2025.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Mount Auburn's Book Club earlier this month! We enjoyed a lively discussion abou...
05/28/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Mount Auburn's Book Club earlier this month! We enjoyed a lively discussion about "Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner" by Natalie Dykstra—a very fitting choice to start off our relaunched book club in Story Chapel, which was designed by architect Willard T. Sears, who also designed the Gardner Museum and was a friend of Mrs. Gardner’s.

Join us for our next meetings where we will be discussing "H is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald (Wednesday, June 10) and "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl (Wednesday, July 8).

Register for free: https://buff.ly/B5QNi0a

The "Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone" Exhibit at Peabody Essex Museum is closing soon. Have you been to the museum to explo...
05/27/2026

The "Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone" Exhibit at Peabody Essex Museum is closing soon. Have you been to the museum to explore the first retrospective of acclaimed 19th-century Black and Indigenous sculptor Edmonia Lewis? This is your last chance to see this incredible collection of her artwork before it closes on June 7!

Here at Mount Auburn we have one of her most enduring works, a funerary monument, Hygeia. Pioneer female physician Harriot Hunt (1805-1875) commissioned Lewis to create a statue of Hygeia, the Greek goddess of health and hygiene for her memorial in her family lot at Mount Auburn.

See our pinned story for highlights from the exhibition and visit if you're able!

Image 1 Hygeia on Lily Path
Image 2 Edmonia Lewis exhibit panel
Image 3 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow bust by Edmonia Lewis
Image 4 Exhibition Gallery

Did you know?Mount Auburn has over 470 road and path signs across the landscape! Every single one has been surveyed and...
05/26/2026

Did you know?

Mount Auburn has over 470 road and path signs across the landscape! Every single one has been surveyed and mapped.

This work allows us to track condition and prioritize which signs need attention next, helping us stay proactive in preserving these unique and delicate cast iron beauties.
Below, Julio applies the final coat to a batch of ten signs that were recently sandblasted and primed. In addition to restoring the sign faces, we’ve also begun preservation work on the posts. After piloting this effort last year, we’re expanding, doubling the number of posts treated this year.

It’s all part of our ongoing commitment to thoughtful preservation, ensuring these essential wayfinding features remain clear, durable, and beautiful for years to come.

One of Jacob Bigelow's most enduring contributions to Mount Auburn is the colossal granite Sphinx, which honors Union so...
05/25/2026

One of Jacob Bigelow's most enduring contributions to Mount Auburn is the colossal granite Sphinx, which honors Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. Bigelow, a founder of the Cemetery and its second president, designed the memorial. He associated the Sphinx with "repose, strength, beauty, and duration," qualities he saw as emblematic of a newly united America. He incoporated US symbols, including an eagle headress instead of the traditional asp, an American water lily, and an Egyptian lotus symbolizing human life, into the ancient form.

Carved in 1872 by sculptor Martin Milmore from a single 40-ton block of granite quarried in Hallowell, Maine, the statue measures 15 feet long, 8 feet high, and 3 feet across the face. For more than 150 years visitors have paused before the monument to read its powerful inscription in English on one side and Latin on the other:

American Union Preserved
African Slavery Destroyed
By the Uprising of a Great People
By the Blood of Fallen Heroes

Last weekend the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Sons of the American Revolution, and Daughters of the American...
05/24/2026

Last weekend the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Sons of the American Revolution, and Daughters of the American Revolution held a Memorial Ceremony to Remember and Memorialize Paul Joseph Revere and Edward H.R. Revere, Grandsons of American Patriot Paul Revere who gave their lives during the American Civil War to preserve the Union and end slavery.

Paul Joseph Revere (1832–1863) graduated from Harvard in 1852 and entered military service in 1861 as a Major in the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He served as aide to General Charles Sumner and was later promoted to lieutenant-colonel. In July 1863 he commanded his regiment at Gettysburg, where he was mortally wounded on July 3. Paul Joseph Revere died on July 4, 1863.

Dr. Edward H.R. Revere (1827–1862), an older brother of Paul Joseph, he earned his M.D. from Harvard and became Assistant Surgeon of the 20th Massachusetts. He fought alongside his brother in the early war. On September 17, 1862, at the Battle of Antietam he was tending wounded men on the field when he himself was shot and killed.

Both men's bodies were returned to Boston and interred in the family lot on Walnut Ave.

A collection of White flowers in bloom now. While the landscape is lush and green, the white really pops!
05/23/2026

A collection of White flowers in bloom now. While the landscape is lush and green, the white really pops!

Complimentary American Flags for veterans’ graves are available in front Story Chapel starting today while supplies last...
05/22/2026

Complimentary American Flags for veterans’ graves are available in front Story Chapel starting today while supplies last.

Address

580 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA
02138

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm
Saturday 8am - 6pm
Sunday 8am - 6pm

Telephone

+16176071980

Website

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