Directions!

For your next stop, you’ll need to maneuver back onto the road and continue on deeper into the cemetery. At the first fork in the road, with the tall ‘William’s monument, you will take the right. In 130 feet or 40 meters, you’ll encounter a second fork for which you will also take the right.

As you walk, I can tell you a little about how the cemetery came to be. The first Chicago City Cemetery was built on what is today, Lincoln Park, but it was far too close to the waters of Lake Michigan, so bodies were buried in water or otherwise resurfaced after they were interred, and they needed to be moved elsewhere. At this time, in the late 1850’s, where you are walking today was outside of the Chicago city limits and this was a new rural cemetery. Thus, many of those bodies were moved here. Graceland’s topography is ideal for a cemetery. It was built on a prehistoric ridge that was the original shoreline for lake Michigan. The entire cemetery used to be underwater as a massive glacier receded northward and carved a great lake in its path. Lake Michigan is small now and further away, but the sand left underfoot today is ideal for drainage into the ground. As a result, Graceland doesn’t have those same watery issues the first city cemetery did.

After you’ve taken both your rights at the forks. You should start to see a statue of a hooded figure about 200 feet up ahead and slightly to the right. Once you find it you should go to it. The statue is the next stop. Remember too if you ever get confused you can always consult the map. I’ll see you at the statue.

Photo by Madi Delk, 2021. Published with permission.