Rural Cemetery & Crematory
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The far-sighted Worcester citizens who, in 1837 "prayed the Legislature" for the right to own a cemetery, were horticulturalists at heart.
"His choice of land proved to be one of nature's prizes, with a rolling contour and a great many beautiful trees, a place where sun and shade played well together." - Mildred McClary Tymeson When the charter was granted "incorporating a unique association providing for individual proprietorship," they saw to it that it included a provision for the planting and care of trees, shrubbery and "other o
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180 Grove St
Worcester, MA
01605-1711
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By 1900, 21 mayors and 4 Massachusetts governors were buried in Rural Cemetery, joined through the years by U.S. congressmen such as William W. Rice, judges such as Francis H. Dewey, inventors such as George Crompton (the power loom). The Salisbury family, Stephens I, II, & III, whose mansion and house still stand, and to whom the Worcester Art Museum, itself, is a monument, are also here. Here are Milton Prince Higgins, one of the founders of the Norton Company, who conceived the idea of vocational high school; his wife, Katherine Chapin, who pioneered the Parent Teachers Association; his son, John Woodman Higgins, whose collection of medieval armor, the largest private collection in the Western Hemisphere, is now The Higgins Armory Museum.
The history here is endless. Other noted burials worth looking into include (but certainly are not limited to the following:) Isaiah Thomas, Andrew Haskell Green, Schofield Thayer, William Jennison, Ellen F. Rogers, Lucy and Sarah Chase, Brevet Brigadier General George H. Ward, General George B. Boomer, Daniel Farber, Dr. Harry Phillips Davis, Levi Lincoln Jr., Daniel Waldo, Moses Dresser Phillips, Ichabod Washburn, Fanny Bullock Workman, and George Bancroft.
*UPDATED: Please feel free to stop by the cemetery office, now located in our new crematory and conference building to the right of the cemetery entrance for additional information about the cemetery's history, noted internments, a tour of our brand new state-of-the-art modern cremation facility, information about our Columbarium, or for a walking tour of the grounds.