Spring Hill Cemetery
| Nestled in the
rolling hills southeast of downtown Huntington, Spring Hill Cemetery
is the oldest, most historic, large, publicly owned cemetery in and
about the city. Its heritage stems from the early nineteenth century,
and the lives of the people interred therein represent the founding,
growth, and diversity of the City of Huntington. It promises to continue
far into the future.
Side by side of the famous are the great cross-section of citizens whose everyday lives created the dynamics of both our rural and urban societies. Farmers, housewives, business people, laborers, skilled craftsmen, railroaders, glass makers, teachers, children, doctors, lawyers, and countless others make up the mix of people buried within the cemetery. Although the first recorded burial dates back to 1838, it was not until 1871, when the City of Huntington was founded, that 29.8 acres were set aside to become the "city cemetery." At that time, the land was outside the city limits. Today its 110 acres is surrounded by the city neighborhoods and passed daily by thousands of motorists. It has become a beautiful refuge, not only for the deceased, but for walkers, bikers, and others who enjoy its pastoral setting and who are drawn to its history. When the Board of Park Commissioners City of Huntington was legislated in 1925, Spring Hill Cemetery became part of the park system. Today it is owned, administered, and maintained by the Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District. Along with being
the resting place of one Confederate General, Albert Gallatin Jenkins,
and one Union General,
John Hunt Oley, Spring Hill Cemetery contains six Veteran sections.
There is an African-American Veterans section, Soldiers Field, Soldiers
Rest, the Union section, the Confederate section and a newly developed
Veterans' Companion section for Veteran's and their spouses. Spring
Hill Cemetery also houses four Jewish sections and the Pallottine
Missionary Sisters of St. Mary's Hospital also have a section in
Spring Hill Cemetery. Situated on the ground's northwest promontory
is the Marshall Memorial
dedicated in 1971 to those who passed away in the tragic 1970 Marshall
football team plane crash. |
Picturesque
landscape design and attractive monumental architecture draw visitors
from near and far. Of particular interest are the names and inscriptions
on the cemetery's tombstones, monuments, and stately mausoleums.
Many belong to the city's founding fathers such as Delos Emmons
