Abandoned Mt. Moriah Cemetery - A Heartbreaking Beauty

Today's blog post is about an abandoned cemetery: Mount Moriah Cemetery in Pennsylvania. 

Founded in 1855, Mount Moriah Cemetery was one of the popular rural burial grounds for the victorian elite of Philadelphia.

http://hiddencityphila.org/

Estimated  to be 380 acres, abandoned since 2011, the 85,000+ graves are now hidden by overgrown grass and weeds and home to wild foxes and deer.

Historic map of Mt. Moriah Cemetery, Pennsylvania
Source: Friends of Mount Moriah

Ownership of Mount Moriah Cemetery is in complicated legal limbo similar to many other cemeteries in North America where management responsibilities (and costs associated to maintenance) are in a state of constant confusion and "Perpetual Care Funds" dry up.

Thankfully, genealogists and local historians cherish these historic treasures and, in the case of Mt. Moriah, the "Friends of Mount Moriah" are actively involved. Their website http://friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org/  is filled with information and documentation.

Mount Moriah Cemetery
Source: Find A Grave

Links

• Find A Grave: Mount Moriah Cemetery
• Roadtrippers: Mount Moriah Cemetery
• Hidden City Philadelphia
• Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery website
• The Friends Of Mount Moriah Cemetery: Facebook
• Video: Friend of Mt Moriah: Ken Smith (*so lovely*)
• Video: Antiquity Echoes: Mt. Moriah
• Atlas Obscura: Mt. Moriah
• Maps of Mt. Moriah cemetery grounds
• Internment.net: Incomplete Headstone Records = 298
• Wikipedia: Mount Moriah Cemetery
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1634 "Mount Moriah Cemetery Gatehouse" 
• Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. PA-4-A, "Mount Moriah Cemetery, Mt. Moriah Soldiers Lot" 
• Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. PA-4-B, "Mount Moriah Cemetery, Mt. Moriah Naval Lot"