Join us for Mt.Auburn guide for a walk around Mt Auburn Cemetery. The paths are mostly paved with very little elevation change. The guide charge is $150 for a 1.5 hour tour so I will ask that each participant give me $10. She/he will focus on the history of the cemetery and historical figures buried there.

Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown,4 miles (6.4 km) west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, as well as being a National Historic Landmark.

Dedicated in 1831 and set with classical monuments in a rolling landscaped terrain, it marked a distinct break with Colonial-era burying grounds and church-affiliated graveyards. The appearance of this type of landscape coincides with the rising popularity of the term "cemetery," derived from the Greek for "a sleeping place," instead of graveyard. This language and outlook eclipsed the previous harsh view of death and the afterlife embodied by old graveyards and church burial plots.

The 174-acre (70 ha) cemetery is important both for its historical aspects and for its role as an arboretum. It is Watertown's largest contiguous open space and extends into Cambridge to the east, adjacent to the Cambridge City Cemetery and Sand Banks Cemetery. It was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2003 for its pioneering role in 19th-century cemetery development.

For further information check out this website https://www.nps.gov/places/mount-auburn-cemetery.htm

Parking is available either at the entrance or along one of the roadways. You can park free on any of the cemetery pathways that are NOT marked green. We will meet at the Egyptian Revival gate near the Mt Auburn Street entrance.