LSA 220 Intro to Landscape Architecture

Jake Mosher

Oakwood Cemetery Lecture by George Curry

George Curry took me and my orientation seminar class on a field trip through Oakwood
cemetery. Having George explain the different background era each gravestone came from was really
interesting. George showed us how the Cemetery used things like painted plywood to represent stained
glass windows on the chapels windows. George Curry talked a lot about the history of the cemetery and
how Landscape Architecture and Architecture students used to rent out the top room in the chapel to
live and study in. I think it would feel really creepy to live in a graveyard as I studied design. George
showed us the destruction of graves, building, and paths in the graveyard from human and natural
effects. He knew where every interesting grave was and the background of most families buried in
Oakwood. I think the coolest grave in Oakwood is the pyramid grave. It is a towering and unique black
stone pyramid. The burial room is located underneath the base of this massive pyramid to protect the
caskets from the elements and people. The 55 acre cemetery was founded in 1859 and designed by
Howard Daniels. Daniels plan for the cemetery is still pretty much intact and he designed the cemetery
to battle weathering very well. Daniels water drainage system was a massive undertaking and was very
well thought out. The Oakwood cemetery is one of the oldest and most unique cemeteries I have ever
walked through.